Turbulent combustion is rich in physics and is also a socioeconomically important topic. Much research has been carried out in the past half century, resulting in many important advances. It is simply impractical to review and discuss all of these studies and to explain their results in a single book. Many volumes published in the past reviewed such material, and we draw attention in particular to the two volumes edited by Paul Libby and Forman Williams, published in 1980 by Springer-Verlag and in 1994 by Academic Press, covering both non-premixed and premixed turbulent flames and the book by Norbert Peters published by Cambridge University Press in 2000.

The recent outcry on environmental impacts of anthropogenic sources has resulted in a strong emphasis on alternative means for power generation by use of wind and solar energies. However, for high-energy density applications such as transportation, combustion of fossil or alternative fuels will remain indispensable for many decades to come. Thus more stringent emissions legislation will be introduced and constantly revised in order to curtail the growing impact of combustion equipment on the environment. Fuel-lean combustion in a premixed or partially premixed mode is known to be a potential route to control emissions and to improve efficiency in both automobile engines and gas turbines. These two modes of combustion involve a strong coupling among various physical processes; to name a few of these processes, turbulence, chemical reactions, molecular diffusion, and large- and small-scale mixing are involved in turbulent lean combustion.