ELY RESEARCH GROUP

     

   


Research Objectives

Our research objectives are four-fold:

 

 

1)         Fundamental investigation of the equilibrium and nonequilibrium properties of molecular fluids and asymmetric fluid mixtures through computer simulation;

 

2)         Development of advanced, highly accurate predictive models for mixture equilibrium properties and phase transitions through applied molecular theory;

 

3)         Development and application of selection algorithm methodology and results from fundamental theory to the design of high accuracy equations of state;

and

 

4)         Application of new theoretical concepts and insights to the development of improved engineering design models.

We try to achieve these research objectives through an approach where all objectives are integrated, e.g., theory, computer simulation, correlation and applications are very closely coupled.  

 


Research Group Members

     Sergei Kiselev - Research Associate Professor

     Dawn Culley - Ph. D. Candidate

     John Jechura - Ph. D. Candidate

     Heather Barkley - Ph.D.Candidate

     Bin Liu - Ph.D.Candidate

    

     Alumni

 


Sergei Kiselev
Sergei joined the Chemical Engineering Department at CSM in 1998 after spending several years at NIST in Boulder.  His research focuses on applying crossover theory to engineering equations of state and to better understanding of near critical adsorption and metastable fluid behavior.

 

e-mail: skiselev@mines.edu

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Dawn Culley
Dawn received her B.S. degree in both Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in 2000 from CSM.  After working as a chemical engineer, she decided to return to graduate school to obtain a Ph.D, with the long term goal of being a professor. Her research deals with molecular simulations of mixtures and force field development.

e-mail: dculley@mines.edu

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John Jechura
John received a BS (ChE) from the University of Toledo, in 1978 and a MS (ChE) from the University of Michigan, in 1980.  After spending 20 years with Marathon Oil Company, John started to work on his Ph.D. at CSM and also joined the NREL Process Engineering team where he works as a computer modeler & applied thermodynamicist. At NREL he has performed techno- economic studies of the biomass to ethanol conversion process using ASPEN PLUS. He has also done studies of separation via chromatography, mechanism-based reaction modeling, and corrosion rate correlation. As CSM he has been researching advanced equation of state models

e-mail: john@jechura.com

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Bin Liu
Bin received his B.S. degree in China and started his doctoral studies at CSM in September, 2003.   He is working on force field development and simulation of solid-oxide fuel cells and is co-advised with Professor Mark Lusk of the Engineering Division at CSM

 

e-mail: biliu@mines.edu

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Alumni

Joseph D. Kuhach, M.S., A Hard Sphere Expansion Equation of State Applied to Conformal Solution Theory, 1985.

 

Luis A. Chu, M.S., An Experimental Study of Solubility Differences between Phenol and m-Cresol in Supercritical Carbon Dioxide,1986. (co-advised with R. M. Baldwin)

 

Gerald J. Sherman, M.S., Isochoric PVT Experiments for (0.99 CO2 + 0.01 C2H6) and Modeling PVT Behavior of Carbon Dioxide Rich Mixtures, 1988.

 

Dale D. Erickson, Ph.D., A Method for Improving Equations of State Near the Critical Point, 1988. (Rice University, co-advised with T. W. Leland)

 

Jeffery R. Swanson, M.S., Investigation of Dense Fluid Viscosity by Molecular Dynamics Simulation of Hard Spheres, 1989.

 

Tappan K. Bhatt, M.S., Application of Selection Algorithm Methodology to the Development of New Equations of State for Refrigerants, 1993.

 

Laurel A. Watts, Ph.D., The Solubility of ZnO in Supercritical H2O-NaCl Solutions, 1994.

 

Katherine B. Shubert, M.S., Application of linear regression decision algorithms In the development of equations of state for refrigerants R134a and R123, 1994.

 

Jianzhi Ge, Ph.D., Statistical Mechanical Models for the Properties of Asymmetric Fluid Mixtures, 1995.

 

Jurivan Ratanapisit, M.S., Modification of the Lee-Kesler Model Using MBWR-32 Equations of State , 1995.  Ph.D., Studies of thermal Transport Properties Using Molecular Dynamics Simulation Techniques, 1999.

 

Vibha Bansal, Ph.D., Molecular Dynamics Studies of Rheology in Fluid Mixtures, 1996.

 

Bichun Xu, M.S.,  Mixing Rules and a Corresponding States Model for Refrigerant Mixtures, 1996

 

Isabel Marrucho-Ferreira, Ph.D., Extended Corresponding States Theory: Application for Polar Compounds and Their Mixtures, 1997. (co-advised with A. M. F. Palavra, University of Lisbon)

 

Kindra M. Snow, M.S., Development of a Simple, Accurate Equation of State for Alternative Refrigerants, 1997.

 

Karl Maurer, M.S., The Neo-classical Equation of State: Five-Point Contact Revisited, 1997.    

 

Ratan Mandavilly, M.S., Molecular Scale Flow Visualization Using MD Techniques, 2000

 

Charity Garrison, M.S., Design and Construction of a Gas Absorber for the Unit Operations Laboratory, 2003

 

Lixin Sun, Ph. D., Development of Advanced Equations of State for Engineering Application, 2003

 

Haizhong Zhang, Ph. D., Simulation Force Fields for Fluid Transport Properties, 2003.

 

Gina Mabe, M.S., Thermodynamic Property Add-in for Excel, 2004

 

Nuno Galamba, Ph.D., Equilibrium and Non-equilibrium Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Transport Coefficients of Molten Alkali Halides, 2004. (co-advised with C. A. N. DeCastro, University of Lisbon)

 

Brian Dossey, M.S.,  Modified BWR Equations of State for n-Hexane and n-Dodecane, 2005

 

Matthew S. Mitchell, M.S., Virtual Lab Development for Instructional Use in the Thermodynamics Laboratory, 2006.

 

Heather Barkley, M.S., GCMC Predictions for the m68 Force Field, 2007.

 

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