Professor Siaka Dembele

Faculty of Engineering, Computing and the Environment
Department of Mechanical Engineering
School of Engineering
Roehampton Vale
Cyber, Engineering and Digital Technologies

School Director of Research and Enterprise & Professor

[email protected]

About

I am a Professor of Thermofluids. I hold a PhD in Thermal & Energy Engineering from the Engineering Institute INSA (Lyon, France) and have over 25 years research and teaching experience. My main research interests are in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and fire safety engineering (fire modelling and protection by sprays and sprinklers). From my educational background I have a strong interest in topics related to Thermal Engineering, Energy Engineering and Sustainability. My work in fire research, which started with a PhD project funded by some major oil and gas companies and the European Commission, has helped progress the understanding of fire thermal radiation interaction with water sprays for applications in buildings and industry. My research work was the first to characterize experimentally the spectral nature of water spray attenuation and is widely used as a reference in the field.

Since joining Kingston University London in 1998, I have been involved in and led, as principal and co-investigator, research projects funded by industry, research councils and the European Commission, covering various aspects of fire modelling, CFD, radiative heat transfer, fire suppression by sprays, spray modelling, the impact of fires on structures such as glazing, energy and sustainability related topics. I have published numerous research papers on these topics and supervised many PhD and research students. I am currently Director of Research & Enterprise for the School of Engineering at Kingston University London, and leader of the Fire and Fluid Dynamics research group. I sit as elected member in both the Executive Committee of the International Centre for Heat and Mass Transfer (ICHMT), and the Scientific Council of the International Water Mist Association (IWMA). I am an expert reviewer and evaluator in major international research funding panels, and a member of the UK EPSRC funding council Peer Review College. I am very passionate about teaching Thermofluids to students.

Qualifications

PhD, Institut National des Sciences Appliquees (INSA)-Lyon (France)
MSc, University Claude Bernard Lyon 1 - Lyon (France)
MEng Degree, Mechanical Engineering - Engineering Institute Ecole Nationale Superieure des Ingenieurs d'Abidjan (ENSIA) - Ivory Coast/Côte d'Ivoire
Fellow Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

Domains

My main research interests are in fire modelling with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) approach, fire protection and suppression with water sprays, sprinklers and water mist systems.

I also conduct research in thermal radiation heat transfer in high temperature environments such as fires, and the behaviour of glass under fire conditions. From my background, I have some interests in energy-related topics.

Current research funding

Modelling and numerical simulation of fuel combustion in a blast tube. AWE – Nuclear Security Technologies Grant, 2024-2028. Principal Investigator (PI): Dr Siaka Dembele, co-I: Dr Ali Heidari.

Most recently completed funded research projects

Investigation of new engineering solutions to improve fire protection by water mist curtains. Leverhulme Trust–Visiting Professorship Grant, 2019-2020. Principal Investigator (PI): Dr Siaka Dembele.
Efficient methods for radiative heat transfer analysis in fires and water sprays for fire suppression. EU HORIZON2020 MSCA-IF Grant, 2017-2019. Principal Investigator (PI): Dr Siaka Dembele.
Safe LNG - Numerical characterization and simulation of the complex physics underpinning the Safe handling of Liquefied Natural Gas. EU FP7 ITN Grant 2014-2018. Principal Investigator (PI): Prof. Jennifer X. Wen, Kingston University co-I: Dr Siaka Dembele.
Optimisation of the Fire Protection Performance of Water Mist based on an Advanced Analytical Approach. Royal Academy of Engineering-Distinguished Visiting Fellowship Scheme, 2015. Principal Investigator (PI): Dr Siaka Dembele.

Qualifications

PhD in Thermal and Energy Engineering

Specialisms

Fire and Combustion Systems modelling and simulations with Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD)
Radiation heat transfer and gas radiation modelling in high temperature environments
Fire suppression by water sprinklers, water sprays and water mist
Modelling spray formation in sprinklers and mists
Glazing behaviour in fires
Energy systems

Publications

NS simulations and mathematical modelling of minimum ignition energy for lean to stoichiometric methane-air mixtures for 1–30 bar

Vasudevan, Sooraj Paleli, Muppala, Siva PR, Dembele, Siaka and Heidari, Ali, 2025, Applied Thermal Engineering (279), C, Published

Professor Siaka Dembele

About

Qualifications

Domains

Teaching and learning

Research

Professional practice, knowledge exchange and impact

Leadership and management

Publications

Articles

Book Sections/Chapters

Conference Items