Expert Details

Gasification & Pyrolysis of Coal, Biomass and Wastes.

ID: 731111 Minnesota, USA

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Expert has 18 years of research supervision experience with the University of N.Dakota Energy Research center, dealing with lab scale to large pilot scale coal gasification. This dealt mainly with bituminous and subbituminous coals, and extension of same technology to wood and other biomass. Designed various items of material handling equipment related to gasification processes. Was in charge of large scale simulation of ash fouling behavior on boiler tumes for coal and biomass slurry combustion. This was followed by 14 years of intermittent consulting assignments, mostly dealing with evaluation of various biomass gasification processes. This has included overseas assignments in SriLanka, Italy, Malaysia and Mexico. Currently involved in major project for pyrolysis of waste tires to produce carbon black and diesel fuel.

He served for 5 years on a USDOE Committee that met annually to review DOE-funded projects for small scale hydrogen production, to determine which projects show enough promise to justify continued funding. Selection for this committee was based on his years of research in processed to produce hydrogen production from coal and biomass.In 2012, he spent 4 months as a Project Adviser to a major Environmental Engineering firm, to provide technical guidance in preparing a proposal for a large plant to gasify waste coal and conversion to diesel by FT conversion, based on a partially developed process for biomass gasification. He was selected for this assignment, based on his knowledge of gasification process fundamentals, hands-on pilot plant experience and familiarity with the process based on a technical evaluation of the same process in an earlier stage of development, 6 or 7 years previously.For the past 2 years, he is an as-needed consultant to a venture capital firm that is planning to build a plant in the US to convert waste tires to diesel fuel and carbon black, based on a pyrolysis process currently in commercial operation in Malaysia. This involves collection of operating and design data for preparation of reports to investors and request for proposals to US engineering contractors. This is an on-going project.In 1999 and 2000, he served as a consultant to UNIDO (United Nations Industrial Development Organization) and the Sri Lanka Ministry of Power, to review and quantify all sources of biomass and waste materials and available technologies for their conversion to electric power. This included both commercial and developmental options, and assessment of in-country facilities, infrastructure and organisaitonal capacity for implementation. He then prepared functional specifications for wood gasifiers and other recommendations.For a manufacturer of grinding and solids processing equipment, starting from a patent drawing, he designed a novel, proprietary hammer mill, then supervised fabrication and testing of a full-scale prototype. Selection for this project was based on his earlier research experience with a variety of solid processing equipment, and his skill in mechanical design using AutoCad.

Education

Year Degree Subject Institution
Year: 1958 Degree: BS Subject: Chemical Engineering Institution: University of California - Berkeley
Year: 1961 Degree: MS Subject: Mechanical Engineering Institution: University of California - Berkeley
Year: 1979 Degree: None Subject: First year of Law School. - preperation course for CA bar exam. (Then dropped out. Prefer Engineering) Institution: Western States University, Anaheim, CA.
Year: 1953 Degree: None Subject: International Developmengt & Economics. 2 quarters. Institution: Universidad de las Amefricas. Mexico DF

Work History

Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1998 to Present Employer: Undisclosed Title: Owner/Pres./CEO/Etc Department: (Undisclosed)
Responsibilities:
Independent, individual consulting assignments on contract basis for wide variety of technical areas and clients, primarily dealing primarily with independent evaluation of equipment and process for energy recovery from various wastes.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1980 to 1998 Employer: (Undisclosed) Title: Project Manager / Principal Investigator Department: Energy Reseatrch Center
Responsibilities:
In charge of various research projects - laboratory to large pilot scale process development for coal and biomass gasification and slurry fuel development. Design and testing of novel equipment for processing and material handling. Review and evaluation of various coal and biomass process concepts.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1973 to 1980 Employer: (Undisclosed) Title: Senior Engineer Department: Advanced technology Center (DATEC)
Responsibilities:
Evaluation of process and equipment - primarily energy-related - as candidates for acquisition, Reviewed patents. Preliminary process design and economic analysis. In volved in laboratory demonstration of proprietary process concepts.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1966 to 1973 Employer: (Undisclosed) Title: Project Engineer. Department: (Undisclosed)
Responsibilities:
Specification for misc. process equipment. Development of P&ID and general process design documentation, in petroleum, petrochemical and other areas.
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1964 to 1968 Employer: (Undisclosed) Title: Project Manager Department: R&D
Responsibilities:
In charge of small pilot plant for continuous hydrogenation of vegetable oils (cotton and soybean).
Years Employer Title Department
Years: 1958 to 1961 Employer: (Undisclosed) Title: Plant Engineer Department: Berkeley CA production plant.
Responsibilities:
All plant engineering for production of sodium silicate and Epsom salts. Developed process for pressure dissolution of silicate briquettes to liquid product.

Career Accomplishments

Associations / Societies
He is a Senior Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AICHE)
Licenses / Certifications
Professional Engineering License (PE)
Publications and Patents Summary
He has over 50 technical publications.

Fields of Expertise

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