Qualifications:
MA Camb, PhD Oklahoma, CEng PGCAP Nott, MIChemE, MRSC
Subject:
Chemical Engineering
Role:
Fellow and Tutor; University Lecturer
Where I can usually be found:
Thom Building room 6.07 or 2 Fyfield top floor front flat
Contact number:
01865 273027 or 01865 274192
I grew up in the Peak District of Derbyshire, and went up (though by no means geographically) to read the Chemical Engineering Tripos at Trinity College, Cambridge. My doctoral and post doctoral research was at Oklahoma University and Pennslyvannia State University in the USA and, in the UK, Bristol University.
After that I spent several exciting and eventful years, first with Shell Exploration and Production Research based in The Hague, Holland, then with Aspen Technology – an engineering simulation software company – back in Cambridge.
I then spent six years as a lecturer at the University of Nottingham and arrived at LMH as a Chartered Engineer.
You can also look out for my contributions as a travel writer in the Guardian Travel section, BBC Wildlife, and Italy magazine, amongst others. All that time abroad had its effect on me!
You can find out more about my work here.
Research interests:
My research interests have evolved into two principal themes:
- Colloidal and Interfacial Processes. Read more...
This exciting area of research studies the application of colloids, surfactants, and interfaces in process technology, particularly in Potable and Waste-water Treatment. This includes: the removal and recycle of organic acid pollutants from industrial effluent by Adsorptive Micellar Flocculation; the removal of Natural Organic Matter during potable water treatment, including the application of pre-coagulants to enhance the effectiveness of Membrane Filtration; novel techniques for brackish and sea-water desalination; the flocculation behaviour of Synthetic Activated Sludge; the removal of Endocrine Disrupting Compounds from waste-water; and the effectiveness and ultimate fate of contaminants in Surfactant-Enhanced Ground Remediation. In minerals processing, I have previously investigated the role of Surfactant Adsorption on mineral sulphides and oxides in mineral flotation and fabric cleaning;
- Non-linear Wave Propagation. Disturbance phenomena in process unit operations can often be investigated usefully as ‘non-linear’ waves, in order to elucidate ‘cause’ and ‘effect’. Current projects include the propagation and fate of composition and temperature disturbances in Multi-Component Fractionation, and in continuous-flow Packed Bed Reactors.
I have established the Oxford University Centre for Sustainable Water Engineering at the Begbrooke Science Park.
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