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Nicolas Minesi

Assistant Professor
CentraleSupélec – Université Paris-Saclay

picture_Minesi

My research focuses on plasma-assisted combustion, with a particular emphasis on ammonia combustion, nanosecond pulsed discharges, and their interactions.

Education

2020 – Ph.D., Mechanical Engineering, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France
"Thermal spark formation and plasma-assisted combustion by nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges"

2016 – M.Sc., Physics of Plasmas and Fusion, Université Paris-Saclay, France

Professional experience

2023 – present – Assistant Professor, Laboratoire EM2C, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Scientific leader of experimental activities on NH3 plasma-assisted combustion.

2021 – 2022 – Post-doctoral Fellow, University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), USA
Dept. of Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering, group of Prof. R. M. Spearrin.

2016 – 2020 – PhD student, Laboratoire EM2C, CentraleSupélec, Université Paris-Saclay, France
Supervision: C. Laux, G. Stancu, A. Vincent-Randonnier

Teaching activities

  • Experimental Activities
  • Transport Phenomena 
  • Heat Transfer
  • Soft Skills for Engineers

Current PhD students and postdocs supervisions

PhD students (supervision rate):

  • Adrien Leygonie (main supervisor, 70%) – NH3 flame stabilization and pollutant reduction via nanosecond repetitively pulsed discharges
  • Mateusz Dabrowski (50%) – H2-blended and plasma-assisted NH3 combustion via Laser Absorption Spectroscopy
  • Pierre-Antoine Goutier (33%) – Modeling methane plasmalysis by NRP discharges
  • Sara Delahaie (33%) – Experimental study of methane plasmalysis by NRP discharges

Postdocs:

  • Audren Dorval – Optical characterization of a CH4 plasma for clean H2 production
  • Erwan Morel – Temperature and species sensing in a plasma reactor for decarbonized H2 production
  • Nader Shohdy – Pollutants in pulsated H2/NH3 flames

Honors and Awards

2026 – AIAA SciTech Best Student Paper Award (P.-A. Goutier, co-supervisor)

2022 – AIAA SciTech Best Student Paper Award (co-author, with V. P. Blanchard)

2020 – PhD Award "Impact Science", Fondation CentraleSupélec

2020 – Student Award for Excellence, Gaseous Electronics Conference (GEC)

2019 – Best Presentation Award (Runner-up), Rencontres Scientifiques Plasmas Froids / Lasers

Professional activities/responsabilities

  • Maintainer of RADIS, the open-source line-by-line molecular spectroscopy code (github.com/radis/radis).
  • Reviewer (~5–8 manuscripts/yr) for Plasma Sources Science and Technology, Combustion and Flame, Fuel, Applied Optics, Proceedings of the Combustion Institute, and others.
  • Institutional referent for the EM2C laboratory's open archive (HAL).

Selected publications

(10 selected)

  1. Minesi, N., Stepanyan, S., Mariotto, P., Stancu, G.D., Laux, C.O. (2020). Fully ionized nanosecond discharges in air: the thermal spark. Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 29, 085003. doi:10.1088/1361-6595/ab94d3
  2. Minesi, N.Q., Blanchard, V.P., Pannier, E., Stancu, G.D., Laux, C.O. (2022). Plasma-assisted combustion with nanosecond discharges I: Discharge effects in the burnt gases of a lean flame. Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 31(4), 045029.
  3. Leygonie, A.P., Brionne, T.A.P., Danieli, P.G., Scouflaire, P., Laux, C.O., Minesi, N.Q. (2026). Structure and pollutant emissions of a swirled NH ₃ flame assisted by nanosecond discharges in the thermal spark regime. Proc. Combust. Inst. 42, 106364.
  4. Minesi, N.Q., Richmond, M.O., Jelloian, C.C., Kuenning, N.M., Nair, A.P., Spearrin, R.M. (2022). Multi-line Boltzmann regression for near-electronvolt temperature and CO sensing via MHz-rate infrared laser absorption spectroscopy. Applied Physics B 128(12), 214.
  5. Kuenning, N.M., Minesi, N.Q., Honaker, B.A., Spearrin, R.M. (2024). THz rotational absorption spectroscopy of the hydroxyl radical at high temperatures using a quantum-cascade laser. Proc. Combust. Inst. 40, 105480.
  6. Minesi, N.Q., Lai, L.H., Richmond, M.O., Jelloian, C.C., Spearrin, R.M. (2024). Carbon monoxide dissociation at planetary entry conditions examined by MHz-rate laser spectroscopy. J. Thermophysics Heat Transfer, 1–10.
  7. Sanders, I.C., Kuenning, N.M., Minesi, N.Q., Pineda, D.I., Spearrin, R.M. (2023). Methyl methacrylate thermal decomposition: modeling and laser spectroscopy behind reflected shock waves. Fuel 335, 126846.
  8. Jelloian, C., Minesi, N.Q., Spearrin, R., Tibère-Inglesse, A., MacDonald, M.E., Cruden, B.A. (2023). Mars2020 entry shock layer thermochemical kinetics examined by MHz-rate laser absorption spectroscopy. J. Thermophysics Heat Transfer, 1–16.
  9. Blanchard, V.P., Bechane, Y., Minesi, N.Q., Wang, S.Q.E., Fiorina, B., Laux, C.O. (2024). Experimental characterization and 3D simulations of turbulent flames assisted by nanosecond plasma discharges. Combustion and Flame 270, 113709.
  10. Blanchard, V.P., Minesi, N.Q., Laux, C.O. (2026). Plasma-assisted combustion with nanosecond discharges II: Quenching of N ₂(B) and N ₂(C) in combustion environments. Plasma Sources Sci. Technol. 35, 085006.
     

Full list available on my Google Scholar profile.