tells me the problem in understanding gravity is the fact that we have no way of altering it. Until we find some way -of changing it a t will we won’t be able to find out what makes it tick.” He was quoting Ed-one of his own former students-as one refers to an authority. Another example came a t the conclusion of my thesis work. He invited me to sit down with him and the man who had chosen to carry on with further
work in that area. He wanted my thoughts on what should be done from there on. My first experience in consulting! One of Tom’s greatest joys in life was to laugh. He always appreciated a good joke, and relished small pleasantries. This and his genuine thoughtfulness toward those around him created beautiful memories which the passage of forty years has not dimmed.
The Role of Chemical Engineers in New Energy Source Development F. A. L. Holloway Exxon Corporation, New York, New York 10020
I t was the influence of Tom Sherwood and other great teachers that helped to create the willingness and ability of chemical engineers to involve themselves in new fields and new kinds of technology. As Tom said, “Perhaps chemical engineering would not have developed as it has if mechanical engineers had studied physical chemistry.” Another statement was made in the mid-50’s by Harry Drickamer, Professor of Chemical Engineering a t the University of Illinois, “Chemical engineering has become the profession of those who get things done.” For these reasons, I believe our profession is uniquely qualified to join with other engineers, scientists, environmentalists, and social scientists in developing new energy sources in this country. Because chemical engineers have extensive training in chemistry, mathematics, and a variety of engineering areas, they are able to look a t problems in the broadest context and apply this comprehensive range of disciplines to solve them. This can be seen in the important contributions made by chemical engineers in many unexpected industrial areasoffshore drilling for oil and gas, for example, and helping to develop technology for the nuclear industry when it was in its infancy. I believe that the tendency of chemical engineers to be there when new ground is broken assures them of a significant role in the development of new energy sources. Much of the technology that we will see in the future will be new, and much of the existing technology is as yet incompletely defined. This presents a challenge that I believe will be welcomed by chemical engineers. As the nation attempts to solve the problems of energy supply and achieve a position of relative independence, several factors are clear. First, the oil industry is going to be very busy developing new sources of oil and natural gas. Since most of the easily accessible oil has already been found in this country, the search for new supplies will continue to take us into remote and difficult environments, such as the outer continental shelf and the Arctic. Second, the nation will have to conserve its existing supplies as much as possible, eliminating waste and developing more energy-efficient machines. Third, we will have to develop alternate sources of energy, such as coal, nuclear, synthetics from coal and shale as well as such sources as solar electric power and nuclear fusion. This will create a tremendous demand for new research and de6
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velopment capabilities. I t will also require construction and maintenance of major new energy producing facilities. Fourth, we will need to achieve these advances in energy supplies in an environmentally acceptable fashion. By 1990, the U S . will need: several hundred thousand new oil and gas wells; dozens of new oil refineries or their equivalent in expanded facilities; a score of new plants for oil shale and for coal gasification and liquefaction; hundreds of new nuclear plants; over a hundred new coal mines, including a large number of small deep mines as well as high-capacity surface mines. To take on a job of this magnitude, the energy industry will need a growing number of engineers. Conservation efforts will also create a demand for engineers who can produce energyefficient systems and products. The various activities of the government represent a growing field for chemical engineers. The Energy Research and Development Administration, the National Laboratories, regulatory agencies and the committees of Congress all have increasing needs for them. Chemical engineering skills will be in great demand in broad areas such as these: (1)Recovery of oil from tar sands and shale-there is a broad spectrum of challenges in this area going all the way from improvements in mining and materials’ handling techniques to radically different processes for maximizing yields and to new solutions for potential ecological problems. (2) Tertiary recovery of oil-chemical engineers will develop chemically enhanced flooding systems that can release and produce oil economically even under the stringent conditions of temperature and salinity that occur in producing formations. (3) Improved techniques for producing and using coal-there are chemical engineering opportunities here that range from mining techniques and materials handling to enclosed life-support systems for underground miners and revegetation for surface-mined areas. Improvements are needed in slurry pipelines to transport coal. Chemical engineers have an opportunity to help find new ways to improve the combustion of coal, reduce pollutants and fly ash a t coal-fired power plants, and convert coal into gas and liquid fuels. Beyond fossil fuels, we expect to see an increasing amount of electric power generated by nuclear energy. In this field, too, there will be important roles for the chemical engineer to fill. We need better techniques to find more of the richer ores as well as effective and economical chemical engineering methods to extract uranium from lean ores by in situ leaching. We can also use improved enrichment methods to concentrate the
fissionable U-235 isotope to the level needed in our power reactors. Chemical engineers will be able to help develop processes that permit ready reduction of the U-235 in the enrichment tailings to very low levels and thereby increase the yield significantly over that experienced today. Enrichment processes will be developed through gaseous centrifuge and, especially, laser-activation techniques. Concentrated chemical engineering efforts will also be needed to develop fuel-cladding materials that will be better able to resist high-temperature aqueous corrosion and high neutron fluxes permitting improvements in design of lightwater reactors. Improved fuel assemblies, possibly based on carbide rather than oxide fuels, must be developed for breeder reactors. In addition, the fuel reprocessing and waste disposal aspects of the nuclear cycle will need continued attention. These are fields of great interest t o chemical engineers. We should expect to use an increasing amount of solar energy to displace electricity, gas, and oil from space heating, space cooling, and water heating. Chemical engineers can become involved in developing cheap, efficient solar-thermal receptors capable of withstanding weather conditions for long periods, techniques for storing thermal energy, and cheap easy-to-install insulation. Of course, we want to generate electricity from solar energy. Here the chemical engineering innovator can devise better ways of focusing solar radiation and develop lower cost photovoltaic generators and storage and retrieval systems. Chemical engineers will also be expected to make significant contributions and take a leading role in energy conservation-raising the overall efficiency with which we use energy. This efficiency involves new technology and new ways of using established technology: closer heat-integration in process design, more efficient power cycles, development of heat pumps with a higher coefficient of performance, and better low-temperature catalysts. In all these areas of activity, chemical engineers will be called on to develop and apply technology to help conserve our physical environment. I hope, as I am sure Tom Sherwood did, that as they expand into new areas chemical engineers will not be burdened by too great a love for what has been done in the past, for the theoretical, the elegant solution, or the overly idealized model. Tom reminded us in this journal seven years ago that new processes are often developed and put into effect before they are completely understood and perfected. “If we waited for understanding,” he wrote, “we would have no catalytic processes, pharmaceuticals or polymers. Since we don’t even yet understand turbulence, we should not have heat exchangers and long pipelines. Research and analysis come along later to explain what industry has been doing, and to suggest how it might be done better.” The challenges and tasks that lie ahead involve more than
technical expertise and scientific judgment. Today’s engineer is called upon to justify his projects-in language that nonengineers can understand-from the standpoint of their economic and social values. A thorough grounding in language, history, the social sciences, philosophy, and political and administrative skills is rapidly becoming as essential as facility with a computer. Of course, not all of this can be packed into an undergraduate program, but if one aspires to professional or management leadership, he must learn to function in these important nontechnical disciplines. Equipping chemical engineers to perform successfully in this wider arena intensifies a current problem in education. Achieving technical competence is more difficult and timeconsuming than ever because the body of engineering knowledge has increased in exponential fashion. At the same time, society’s expectations have also increased and the impact of technology on these expectations must be weighed carefully. An obvious example is the physical environment, a vital consideration when engineering plans are drawn. And the education, hiring, and advancement of minorities and women in engineering is a concern of the entire profession. Although we have to contend with the effects of periodic fluctuations in engineering activity caused by changing national priorities, engineering must continue to be a rewarding profession, both in financial terms and in opportunities for career growth. These are real problevs which professional engineering societies and leaders in the field are trying very hard to solve. If the chemical engineer, whether he is in the government or not, demonstrates sensitivity to the concerns of the various segments of society-environmentalists, consumers, minorities, and others-he can hold his own in any debate with those who believe that growth should be rigidly controlled and freedom of choice limited. With a continuing regard for technical realities and economic costs, the engineer can help society realize its combined environmental, social, and economic goals. The role of the chemical engineer in new energy source development is thus threefold: help provide the technology needed to make new energy sources economically, environmentally, and politically attractive; help improve communication between those grounded in technology and those who are not; and participate in the decision-making processes that affect the nation’s quality of life. I believe Tom Sherwood would agree with this assessment. At MIT, Tom encouraged chemical engineers to tackle broad complicated problems by applying knowledge obtained from all sources. He pushed for initiative, teamwork, and a determination to get the job done in the most efficient and practical way. He stood for engineering excellence and the highest professional integrity, and never lost his warm and personal interest in people. We will miss Tom, but we are fortunate indeed to have this as his legacy.
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