The Chemical Engineering Department is accepting donations in honor of Adel for a Distinguished Lecture Series. You can use the following link and indicate that it in honor of Adel.
MIT is also accepting donations in honor of Adel. Details can be found at: Adel F. Sarofim (1962) Fund
Presidential Professor Adel Sarofim passed away December 4, 2011, in Virginia. His 50+ year academic career began at Oxford University, UK, where he received a Chemistry BA in 1955. After Oxford, he studied at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving a Chemical Engineering Practice SM in 1957 and Chemical Engineering ScD in 1962. His research advisor was Hoyt C. Hottel, and together they made important and lasting contributions to the field of radiation heat transfer, as evidence by over 1200 citations of their book, Radiative Heat Transfer, published in 1967. He started his professional career in the Department of Chemical Engineering at MIT in 1958 as an instructor. Adel became an Assistant Professor in 1961 and obtained the rank of Professor in 1972. From 1989 until 1996 he was the Lammot DuPont Professor of Chemical Engineering. In 1996 he was appointed as Emeritus Professor of Chemical Engineering and left MIT for Utah.
That year, 1996, Adel became a Senior Technical Advisor for Reaction Engineering International (REI, Salt Lake City, UT), and joined the faculty in the Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Utah as Presidential Professor in 1997. The rank of Presidential Professor "is reserved for selected individuals whose achievements exemplify the highest goals of scholarship as demonstrated by recognition accorded to them from peers with national and international stature, and whose record includes evidence of a high dedication to teaching." Adel was one of the co-founders of REI, playing an important role in REI business for over twenty years and serving on the REI Board of Directors for the past 10 years. He served as a general consultant for REI and its customers in areas related to industrial combustion processes and R&D for the next-generation combustion systems. He was active in these positions at the time of his death.
Professor Sarofim's work encompassed, not only radiative heat transfer, but many important areas of combustion including: NOx formation in combustion systems; furnace design; circulation patterns in glass melts; combustion-generated aerosols; soot and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation; the characterization of carbon structure and reactivity; mercury emissions from coal systems; and health effects from fine particles. A particular focus was on energy and the environment and the interdisciplinary research needed to address these issues. As such, at MIT he served on three interdisciplinary research center steering committees: the Hazardous Substances Group, the Energy Laboratory and the Center for Environmental Health Sciences. He was involved with MIT's 10-year EPA Center for Airborne Toxics (1992-2002). In September 1997 the University of Utah was awarded a DOE, ASCI center, the Center for the Simulation of Accidental Fires and Explosions (C-SAFE). Over C-SAFE's 15-year history, Adel was a key researcher in the Validation Group, contributing his expertise to the center's studies on soot formation and oxidation. For the past 5 years Professor Sarofim served as the Associate Director for Research for the Institute for Clean and Secure Energy (ICSE) at the University of Utah. An ICSE focus is on clean coal and carbon capture technologies. At the time of his death he was serving on the Advisory Board for ICSE.
Adel always said the best indication of scholarship was students and publications. Over the years, he published over 350 peer-reviewed papers and documents, which have almost 5000 citations. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, he supervised and mentored over 80 PhD students, many of whom currently hold prestigious academic, industrial, and governmental positions.
Professor Sarofim received numerous awards for his work including:
- Kuwait Prize for Petrochemical Engineering (1983)
- Sir Alfred Egerton Gold Medal from the Combustion Institute (1984)
- Walter Ahlstrom Environmental Prize of the Finnish Academies of Technology (1993)
- Senior Thermal Engineering and the Towend-BCURA Awards of the Institute of Energy (1994)
- University of Pittsburgh Award for Innovation in Coal Conversion (1995)
- US Department of Energy Homer H. Lowry Award in Fossil Energy (1996)
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Fuels and Combustion Technology Division, Percy Nicholls Award (1996)
- American Institute of Chemical Engineers, Environmental Division, Lawrence K. Cecil Award (1998)
- American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Energy Systems Award (2000)
- American Society of Mechanical Engineers, George Westinghouse Gold Medal (2004)
In particular, his 1996 US DOE Homer H. Lowry Award citation reflects well the sentiments of his colleagues, students and friends: "Adel Sarofim is a compassionate human being who inspires students and colleagues, and who contributes significantly across the full spectrum from fundamental science through real-world design concepts."
In 2003, Professor Sarofim was elected to the National Academy of Engineering, joining the ranks of the "most accomplished engineers". His election citation reads: "For advancing our understanding of the mechanisms and modeling of processes that control radiation in and pollutant emissions from combustors ."
Professor Sarofim had many colleagues all over the world including those who visited in his research group at MIT and the University of Utah and those he visited over the course of his career: University of Naples "Federico II" (1983 and 1974; honorary doctorate in chemical engineering, 1998); Sheffield University (1971); and California Institute of Technology (1979; Lacey Lecturer, 1987). Adel was a collaboration "builder", and as a result of this international recognition, his colleagues at the University of Utah developed, either directly or indirectly, friendships and collaborations with researchers throughout the world, e.g. Italy, Hungary, Colombia, China, Germany, United Kingdom.
In addition to Adel's tremendous scientific and engineering contributions, his mentorship, his collegial nature, and, as one colleague stated, his "natural gentleness", touched hundreds of individuals in our academic, industrial, and governmental arenas. Continuing with my colleague's statement, "Perhaps it is for (these) reason(s) we are all particularly saddened by this loss, beyond that of a prominent colleague." Adel Sarofim's mentorship, wit, wisdom, and friendship were truly his most important contributions to those of us who knew him.
Publications
Journal & Book Publications
Molina, Alejandro; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Pershing, David W., Reduction of nitric oxide on the char surface at pulverized combustion conditions, 2002
Chudnovsky, B.; Talanker, A.; Eddings, E.; Sarofim, A.; Vikhansky, A.; Bar-Ziv, E., Measurements and numerical simulations for optimization of the combustion process in a utility boiler (Abstract only), 2004
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Westbrook, Charles K., Fuel dependence of benzene pathways, 2009
Pershing, D. W.; Sarofim, A. F.; Veranth, J. M.; Fletcher, T. H., Measurement of soot and char in pulverized coal fly ash (Abstract only), 2000
Pershing, D. W.; Sarofim, A. F.; Molina, A.; Eddings, E. G., Char nitrogen conversion: Implications to emissions from coal-fired utility boilers (Abstract only), 2000
Lee, Christina M.; Davis, Kevin A.; Eddings, Eric G.; Valentine, James R.; Sarofim, Adel F., Trends in predicting and controlling ash vaporization in coal-fired utility boilers (Abstract only), 2001
Violi, Angela; D'Anna, Andrea; D'Alessio, Antonio; Sarofim, Adel F., Modeling aerosol formation in opposed-flow diffusion flames (Abstract only), 2003
Zeng, Taofang; Helble, Joseph J.; Senior, Constance L.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Mamani-Paco, Ruben, Gas-phase transformations of mercury in coal-fired power plants (Abstract only), 2000
Dalzell, W. H.; Sarofim, A. F., Optical constants of soot and their application to heat flux calculations, Feb 1969
Levendis, Yiannis; Sarofim, Adel F.; Kandas, Angelo W.; Senel, I. Gokhan, Soot surface area evolution during air oxidation as evaluated by small angle X-ray scattering and CO2 adsorption (Abstract only), 2005
Molina, Alejandro; Eddings, Eric G.; Pershing, David W.; Sarofim, Adel F., Nitric oxide destruction during coal and char oxidation under pulverized-coal combustion conditions, 2004
Lighty, JoAnn Slama; D'Anna, Andrea; Echavarria, Carlos A.; Sarofim, Adel F., Modeling and measurements of size distributions in premixed ethylene and benzene flames, 2009
Sarofim, Adel; Goel, Shakti; Molina, Alejandro, Factors influencing the time-resolved evolution of NO, HCN, and N2O during char oxidation at fluidized bed conditions (Abstract only), 2002
Violi, A.; Kubota, A.; Truong, T. N.; Pitz, W. J.; Westbrook, C. K.; Sarofim, A. F., A fully integrated Kinetic Monte Carlo/Molecular Dynamics approach for the simulation of soot precursor growth, 2002
Zhang, Hongzhir; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., Pollutant emissions from gasoline combustion 1. Dependence on fuel structural functionalities (Abstract only), 2008
Pugmire, Ronald J.; Fletcher, Thomas H.; Zhang, Haifeng; Solum, Mark S.; Sarofim, Adel F. , 13C NMR analysis of soot produced from model compounds and a coal (Abstract only), 2001
D'Alessio, A.; Sarofim, A. F.; D'Anna, A.; Violi, A. , A reaction pathway for nanoparticle formation in rich premixed flames, 2001
Sarofim, Adel F.; Montoya, Alejandro; Truong, Thanh N., Application of density functional theory to the study of the reaction of NO with char-bound nitrogen during combustion (Abstract only), 2000
Sarofim, Adel; Violi, Angela; Voth, Gregory A., The relative roles of acetylene and aromatic precursors during soot particle inception (Abstract only), 2005
Huynh, Lam K.; Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Zhang, Shaowen; Eddings, Eric; Sarofim, Adel; Law, Matthew E; Westmoreland, Phillip R.; Truong, Thanh N., Kinetics of enol formation from reaction of OH with propene (Abstract only), 2009
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., A journey from n-heptane to liquid transportation fuels. 1. The role of the allylic radical and Its related species in aromatic precursor chemistry (Abstract only), 2008
Molina, Alejandro; Santamaria, Alexander; Mondragon, Fanor; Marsh, Nathan D.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., FT-IR and 1H NMR characterization of the products of an ethylene inverse diffusion flame, 2006
Yucel, Hayrettin; Kandas, Angelo W.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Senel, I. Gokhan; Guruz, A. Guniz, Characterization of pore structure of Turkish coals (Abstract only), 2001
Longwell, John P.; Smith, Kenneth A.; Procaccini, Carlo; Bozzelli, Joseph W.; Sarofim, Adel F., Presence of chlorine radicals and formation of molecular chlorine in the post-flame region of chlorocarbon combustion (Abstract only), 2000
Arnott, W. P.; Zielinska, B.; Sagebiel, J.; Rogers, C. F.; Kelly, K. E.; Wagner, D. A.; Lighty, J. S.; Sarofim, A. F.; Palmer, G., Phase and size distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in diesel and gasoline vehicle emissions (Abstract only), 2004
Rogers, C. F.; Sagebiel, J.; Arnott, W. P.; Zielinska, B.; Park, Kihong; Chow, Judith; Moosmuller, Hans; Watson, John G.; Kelly, K.; Sarofim, A.; Lighty, J.; Palmer, G., Evaluation of 1047-nm photoacoustic instruments and photoelectric aerosol sensors in source-sampling of black carbon aerosol and particle-bound PAHs from gasoline and diesel powered vehicles (Abstract only), 2005
Longwell, John P.; Mess, Derek; Sarofim, Adel F., Product layer diffusion during the reaction of calcium oxide with carbon dioxide (Abstract only), 1999
Quinonez, Wiston; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Santamaria, Alexander; Mondragon, Fanor, Average structural analysis of the extractable material of young soot gathered in an ethylene inverse diffusion flame (Abstract only), 2007
Jiang, Pengzhi; Lignell, David O.; Kelly, Kerry; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Montgomery, Christopher J., Simulation of the evolution of particle size distributions in a vehicle exhaust plume with unconfined dilution by ambient air (Abstract only), Apr 2005
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., Criteria for selection of components for surrogates of natural gas and transportation fuels, 2007
Zielinska, Barbara; Arnott, W. Patrick; Fujita, Eric M.; Rogers, C. Fred; Sagebiel, John C.; McDonald, Jacob D.; Griffin, james Brian; Kelly, Kerry; Overacker, Dana; Wagner, David; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sarofim, Adel; Palmer, Glenn, Characterization of submicron exhaust particles from engines operating without load on diesel and JP-8 fuels (Abstract only), 2003
Shihong, Yan; Jiang, Yi-Jin; Marsh, Nathan D.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Pugmire, Ronald J., Study of the evolution of soot from various fuels (Abstract only), 2005
Seifert, Sönke; Ilavsky, Jan; Shah, Naresh; Braun, Artur; Huggins, Frank E.; Kelly, Kerry E.; Sarofim, Adel; Huffman, Gerald P., Size-range analysis of diesel soot with ultra-small angle X-ray scattering, 2005
Shihong, Yan; Palotas, Arpad B.; Pugmire, Ronald J.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Eddings, Eric G., Prediction of sooting tendency for hydrocarbon liquids in diffusion flames (Abstract only), 2005
Longwell, John P.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Smith, Kenneth A.; Procaccini, Carlo; Bozzelli, Joseph W., Formation of chlorinated aromatics by reactions of Cl„, Cl2 , and HCl with benzene in the cool-down zone of a combustor (Abstract only), 2003
Smith, K. A.; Procaccini, C.; Gullett, B. K.; Sarofim, A. F., The role of chlorine in dioxin formation (Abstract only), Jan 2000
Che, J.; Ames, M. R.; Sarofim, A. F.; Senior, C. L.; Zeng, T.; Olmez, I.; Huggins, F. E.; Shah, N.; Huffman, G. P.; Kolker, A.; Mroczkowski, S.; Palmer, C.; Finkelman, R., Distribution of trace elements in selected pulverized coals as a function of particle size and density (Abstract only), 2000
Huggins, Frank E.; Huffman, Gerald P.; Wirick, Sue; Braun, Artur; Shah, Naresh; Jacobsen, Christopher; Kelly, Kerry; Sarofim, Adel, A study of diesel PM with X-ray microspectroscopy (Abstract only), 2004
Sarofim, A. F.; Truong, T. N.; Violi, A. , Quantum mechanical study of molecular weight growth process by combination of aromatic molecules, 2001
Solum, Mark S.; Veranth, John M.; Jiang, Yi-Jin; Orendt, Anita M.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Pugmire, Ronald J., The study of anthracene aerosols by solid-state NMR and ESR (Abstract only), 2003
Senior, Constance L.; Zeng, Taofang; Sarofim, Adel F., Vaporization of arsenic, selenium and antimony during coal combustion, 2001
Flemings, Merton C.; Tester, Jefferson W.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Benavides, Jose; Senel, Gokhan I., The evaporation rates and mechanisms of cadmium from a bubble-stirred molten copper bath (Abstract only), Apr 2001
Sarofim, Adel F.; Violi, Angela; Truong, Thanh N., Kinetics of hydrogen abstraction reactions from polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons by H Atoms (Abstract only), 2004
Sarofim, Adel F.; Montoya, Alejandro; Truong, Thanh N., Spin contamination in Hartree-Fock and density functional theory wavefunctions in modeling of adsorption on graphite (Abstract only), 2000
Eyring, E. M.; Konya, G.; Lighty, J. S.; Sahir, A. H.; Sarofim, A. F.; Whitty, K., Chemical Looping with Copper Oxide as Carrier and Coal as Fuel (Abstract only), Apr 12, 2011
Palotįs, Į. B.; Winkler, L.; Eddings, E. G.; Szemmelveisz, K.; Szucs, I., Examination of the combustion conditions of herbaceous biomass (Abstract only), 2009
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., Mechanism reduction and generation using analysis of major fuel consumption pathways for n-heptane in premixed and diffusion flames (Abstract only), 2007
Sarofim, Adel F.; Senior, Constance L.; Helble, Joseph J., Emissions of mercury, trace elements, and fine particles from stationary combustion sources (Abstract only), 2000
Lee, Christina M.; Sarofim, Adel; Davis, Kevin A.; Heap, Michael P.; Eddings, Eric, Modeling the vaporization of ash constituents in a coal-fired boiler, 2000
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., Olefin chemistry in a premixed n-heptane flame (Abstract only), 2007
Huggins, F. E.; Kelly, K. E.; Sarofim, A.; Jacobsen, C.; Braun, A.; Shah, N.; Wirick, S.; Francis, H.; Ilavsky, J.; Thomas, G. E.; Huffman, G. P., X-ray scattering and spectroscopy studies on diesel soot from oxygenated fuel under various engine load conditions (Abstract only), 2005
Zeng, Taofang; Yang, Lynn I. Shen; Oye, Kenneth A.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Beer, Janos M.; Fang, Jinghua, Coal utilization in industrial boilers in China--a prospect for mitigating CO2 emissions (Abstract only), 1999
Topical Reports
Baxter, Larry L.; Eddings, Eric G.; Fletcher, Thomas H.; Kelly, Kerry E.; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Pugmire, Ronald J.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Silcox, Geoffrey D.; Smith, Philip J.; Thornock, Jeremy N.; Wendt, Jost O. L.; Whitty, Kevin J., Clean coal program research activities: Final report: Reporting period 07/01/2006-05/31/2009, May 2010
Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S., Characterization of particulate emissions: Size fractionation and chemical speciation, Dec 2003
Lighty, J. S.; Arnott, W. P.; Rogers, C. F.; Kelly, K. E.; Sarofim, A. F.; Zielinska, B.; Prather, K. A., User guide for characterizing particulate matter: Evaluation of several real-time methods, 2003
Smith, Philip J., Clean and Secure Energy from Domestic Oil Shale and Oil Sands Resources: Quarterly progress report: January 2012 to March, Apr 2012
Smith, Philip J.; Deo, Milind; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Gneishen, K.; Hradisky, Michal; Kelly, Kerry; Mandalaparty, P.; Zhang, H., Underground Coal Thermal Treatment - Task 6 Topical Report, Utah Clean Coal Program - Reporting Period October 2009 - September 2011, Dec 13, 2011
Lighty, J. S.; Wagner, D. A.; Kelly, K. E.; Sarofim, A. F.; Arnott, W. P.; Rogers, C. F.; Zielinska, B.; Prather, K. A., Appendix 1: User guide for characterizing particulate matter, Sep 2003
Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Smith, Philip J.; Whitty, Kevin J.; Eyring, Edward; Sahir, Asad; Alvarez, Milo; Hradisky, Michael; Clayton, Chris; Konya, Gabor; Baracki, Richard; Kelly, Kerry, Chemical Looping Combustion Reactions and Systems Task 5 Topical Report, Utah Clean Coal Program - Reporting Period October 2008 to March 2011, Aug 2011
Conference Papers
Baraki, Richard; Tucker, Kevin R.; Konya, Gabor; Ring, Terry A.; Eyring, Edward M.; Sarofim, Adel F., Effect of pressure on copper/copper-oxide system functioning as an oxygen carrier in chemical looping combustion, Jun 10, 2010
Conference Presentations
Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S., Analysis of solid fuel combustion process by chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (CLOU) (Abstract only), Jun 2011
Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S., Insights From Process Engineering Simulations for Envisioning Design of Chemical Looping Combustion Process for Solid Fuels (Abstract only), Nov 10, 2009
Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Sohn, Hong Yong, Quantitative Rate Analysis of Experimental Data relevant to chemical looping with oxygen uncoupling (Abstract only), Sep 2011
Eyring, E. M.; Konya, G.; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Whitty, K., "Chemical looping with copper oxide as carrier and coal as fuel", 1st International Conference on Chemical Looping (Abstract only), Mar 2010
Eddings, Eric G.; Sanchez, Astrid; Wang, Liyong; Wagner, David; Mondragon, Fanor; Sarofim, Adel F., Fundamental studies and pilot-scale evaluation of oxycoal firing in circulating fluidized bed boilers (Abstract only), Mar 06, 2008
Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S., Preliminary Analysis of a Chemical Looping Combustion of Coal Scheme by ASPEN PLUS Simulations (Abstract only), Oct 2009
Zhang, Hongzhi R.; Eddings, Eric G.; Sarofim, Adel F., Coal devolatilization at very slow heating rates (Abstract only), Dec 09, 2007
Sahir, Asad H.; Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sarofim, Adel F., Design Aspects and Insights From Experimental Data in Chemical Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling for Solid Fuel Combustion (Abstract only), Nov 2010
Sahir, Asad H.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Lighty, JoAnn S., Determination of Burnout Profiles for Coal Chars in a Chemical Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling Process (Abstract only), Mar 2011
Lighty, JoAnn S.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Sahir, Asad H.; Eyring, E. M.; Konya, G., Chemical Looping with Oxygen Uncoupling: Design calculations and process engineering simulations using kinetic data (Abstract only), Oct 2010
Bockelie, Michael J.; Denison, Martin K.; Chen, Zumao; Linjewile, Temi; Senior, Constance L.; Sarofim, Adel F.; Holt, Neville, CFD modeling for entrained flow gasifiers, 2003
Lighty, J. S.; Sahir, A. H.; Sarofim, A. F.; Clayton, C. K.; Whitty, K. J.; Eyring, E. M.; Konya, G., Coal Combustion using Chemical Looping with Copper Oxide as Carrier, Aug 06, 2010
Kelly, K. E.; Dumas, J.; Sarofim, A. F.; Pershing, D. W., Evaluating opportunities for reducing life-cycle, well-to pump GHG emissions from conventional and unconventional fuels, Apr 28, 2010
