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Robert L. Robinson, Jr
Regents Professor and Amoco Chair Emeritus

TEACHING INTERESTS:

Rob began as an Assistant Professor in the Fall Semester of 1965, following two years as a Senior Research engineer at Amoco Production Company in Tulsa. During his tenure, Rob says he has taught "everything we offer except the kinetics courses." He is best known to thermodynamics students, having taught the Engineering Science thermo course as well as the Junior-, M.S.- and Ph.D.- level courses many times.

RESEARCH INTERESTS:

Research activities by Rob, his students, and co-workers have centered on the measurements and prediction (correlation) of phase equilibrium and thermophysical properties. Knowledge of phase equilibrium is required in essentially all aspects of chemical processing, and the development of accurate methods to predict the behavior of fluids in multiple-phase operations is of critical importance.

The types of systems studied by Rob’s (and Khaled Gasem's) group have covered the range from rare gases at cryogenic temperatures to high-temperature coal-fluid systems. Recent work included the study of improved solvents for use in extractive distillation, with the objective of developing methods to "design" solvents with the appropriate molecular structures to separate specific close-boiling mixtures. Currently, these same design principles are being used to identify molecules which can facilitate the transport of drugs across the human skin (transdermal drug delivery).

Other typical projects include the following. First, research has been done on the phase behavior and interfacial tensions for CO2 (and light hydrocarbon gases) in mixtures with heavier hydrocarbons. This knowledge is targeted for enhanced oil recovery by miscible gas injection and, in particular, on the effects of interfacial tension on the oil displacement process. Second is a project which deals with the phase behavior of components found in coal-derived liquids. This work involves the systematic study of the solubilities of light gases in heavy naphthenic and aromatic solvents. The resultant data are designed to furnish input for the development and testing of models to predict phase behavior in coal-fluid systems. Third is another coal-related project addressing the adsorption of light gases such as methane, nitrogen and carbon dioxide on coal. Detailed knowledge of the adsorption behavior of these mixtures is important in developing improved techniques for production of coalbed methane as an energy source. More recently, adsorption of carbon dioxide on coal is receiving attention as a mechanism to sequester this greenhouse gas from the atmosphere.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS:

1. Goodman, A. L., A. Busch, M. Bustin, L. Chikatamarla, S. Day, G. J. Duffy, J. E. Fitzgerald, K. A. M. Gasem, Y. Gensterblum, C. Hartman, C. Jing, B. M. Krooss, S. Mohammed, T. Pratt, R. L. Robinson, Jr., V. Romanov and K. Schroeder. "Inter-laboratory Comparison II: CO₂ Isotherms Measured on Moisture-Equilibrated Argonne Premium Coals at 55 °C and Pressures to 15 MPa." International Journal of Coal Geology, in press, 2007.

2. Fitzgerald, J. E., R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M. Gasem. “Modeling High-Pressure Adsorption of Gas Mixtures on Activated Carbon and Coal using a Simplified Local-Density Model." Langmuir, 22 (23), 9610, 2006.

3. Row, K. H., R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M. Gasem. "The Modified Park-Gasem-Robinson Equation of State: Asymmetric Mixture Predictions." Journal of Chemical Engineering Communications, accepted, 2006.

4. Godavarthy, S. S., K. A. M. Gasem and R. L. Robinson, Jr. " SVRC-QSPR Model for Predicting Vapor Pressures of Pure Fluids.” Fluid Phase Equilibria, 246, 39, 2006

5. Godavarthy, S. S., K. A. M. Gasem and R. L. Robinson, Jr. "QSPR Approach for Melting-Point Prediction.” Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, 45, 12, 2006.

6. Sudibandriyo, M., J. E. Fitzgerald, Z. Pan, R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M. Gasem. "Adsorption of Methane, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Their Mixtures on Wet Tiffany Coal." Fuel, 84, 2351, 2005.

7. Schroeder, K., A. Busch, G. Duffy, J. E. Fitzgerald, K. A. M. Gasem, Y. Gensterblum, A. L. Goodman, B. M. Krooss, J. Levy, E. Ozdemir, Z. Pan, R.L. Robinson, Jr., M. Sudibandriyo and C. White. "An Inter-laboratory Comparison of CO₂ Adsorption Isotherms Measured on Argonne Premium Coal Samples." Energy & Fuels, 18 (4), 1175, 2004.

8. Sudibandriyo, M., J. E. Fitzgerald, Z. Pan, R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M. Gasem. "Adsorption of Methane, Nitrogen, Carbon Dioxide and Their Binary Mixtures on Dry Activated Carbon at 318.2 K and Pressures to 13.6 MPa." Langmuir, 19 (13), 2003.

9. Schult, C., R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M Gasem. "Predicting Phase Densities of Refrigerants Using the SVRC Correlating Framework." Heat Transfer Engineering, 24 (5), 2003.

10. Gao, W., R. L. Robinson, Jr. and K. A. M. Gasem. "Alternate Equation-of-State Combining Rules and Interaction Parameter Generalizations for Asymmetric Mixtures." Fluid Phase Equilibria, 213, 19-37, 2003.

11. Fitzgerald, J. E., K. A. M. Gasem and R. L. Robinson, Jr. "Modeling the Adsorption of Pure Gases on Coals with the SLD Model." Carbon, 41, 2203, 2003.

B.S., 1959, Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University

M.S., 1962, Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University

Ph.D., 1964, Chemical Engineering, Oklahoma State University

E-mail: rrobins@okstate.edu