The far-reaching influence of a theory developed by an Imperial College London chemical engineer has been underlined by its status as one of the most cited papers of the last 30 years- <em>News</em>

Friday 12 October 2007
By Colin Smith

The far-reaching influence of a theory developed by an Imperial College London chemical engineer has been underlined by its status as one of the most cited papers of the last 30 years, according to the American Chemical Society’s Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research journal.

New Reference Equation of State for Associating Liquids describes the Statistical Associating Fluid Theory – SAFT. The SAFT approach permits scientists to make precise predictions about the behaviour for a broad range of liquids including solutions of polymers and surfactants.

The paper describing SAFT was co-authored by Professor George Jackson    from Imperial’s Department of Chemical Engineering. He explains its principles:

“SAFT is based on molecular forces between monomers. Monomers are the building blocks of polymer chains. My co-authors and I worked out a theory which could predict what happens to polymer systems when heated or compressed in macroscopic material. This theory has been extremely important and useful.”

Professor Jackson says the SAFT approach can be used to describe a wide variety of systems. He says the approach helps to treat systems of highly reactive molecules such as surfactants and hydrocarbons.

“Very few equations of state can be used to describe both small molecules and polymers in this way,” he claims.

The SAFT theory was developed in 1990. Since then it has undergone more recent incarnations in the form of SAFT-VR, a simple way of treating molecular polarity, and PC-SAFT.

Professor Jackson says this research now represents one of the most sophisticated and successful theories for complex fluids in industrial applications.

“Due to its accuracy, versatility and firm molecular foundation, the SAFT approach and its more recent incarnations, are rapidly superseding the more traditional chemical engineering equations of state,” he says.

Professor Jackson says his latest collaborative research makes use of the SAFT approach. George and his collaborators have been recently awarded a £4.3 million grant from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council.

“We recently started work in molecular systems engineering, integrating advanced thermodynamic techniques such as SAFT with process modelling and design. This close integration has allowed us to develop new solvents and processes which could potentially capture large amounts of CO2, which is of direct benefit in helping to reduce emissions.”

Professor Jackson’s SAFT co-authors are Walter .G. Chapman, Rice University; Keith .E. Gubbins, North Carolina State University; and Maciej Radosz from the University of Wyoming.

The honour of “most-cited” was created by the Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research journal as part of its impending 100-year-anniversary in 2009.

The first issue of the Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry was published in January 9, 1909. It was later renamed Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, which became the direct precursor of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research.