Michael F. Malone
Michael F. Malone, Ronnie and Eugene Isenberg Distinguished Professor of Engineering, Dean, College of Engineering
Dean's Office, Engineering
125 Marston Hall
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Amherst, MA 01003-3110
413-545-6388 (Office)
413-545-0724(FAX)
mmalone@ecs.umass.edu
Education
B.S., Chemical Engineering, Pennsylvania State University, 1974
Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1979
Professional Positions
University of Massachusetts Amherst: Dean of Engineering, 8/04-present; Ronnie and Eugene Isenberg Distinguished Professor of Engineering, 2/03-present; Department Head, Chemical Engineering, 9/97-8/03; Professor of Chemical Engineering, 9/91-present; Associate Professor, 9/86-8/91; Assistant Professor, 6/80-9/86; Director, Process Design and Control Center, 1/89-8/97, 7/02-8/03. E. I. DuPont Co.: Visiting Scientist, CS&E, 9/93-5/94; Textile Fibers Research, 6/84-8/84.
Awards
Excellence in Process Development Research Award, AIChE Process Development Division (2004);
Samuel F. Conti Faculty Fellowship, UMass Amherst, 2002; Computing in Chemical Engineering Award (with M. F. Doherty) AIChE CAST Division, 1996; University Distinguished Teaching Award, UMass Amherst, 1996; Outstanding Senior Faculty Award, College of Engineering, UMass Amherst, 1996; Best Session, AIChE Spring Meeting, 1997; Best Paper Computers and Chemical Engineering, 1993 & 2001; GE Outstanding Teaching Award, UMass Amherst College of Engineering, 1988.
Consulting or Short Courses
Rohm & Haas, Inc.; Monsanto Co.; Union Carbide Corp., Celanese Co.; E. I. DuPont Company; General Electric Co.; Mitsubishi Kasei Corp. (Japan); BASF AG; Tennessee Eastman Company; Eastman Chemical Company; Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation (Japan); Shell International Chemicals BV (Amsterdam).
Patents
US 6,093,842; US 6,315,868 B1.
Research and Teaching Interests
Conceptual Design, Process Economics & Optimization, Nonideal & Reactive Distillation, Integration of Engineering & Business, Innovation
Current Focus of Research
Separation and Reaction-Separation Systems
The design and synthesis of separation systems can be done systematically for simple mixtures, using simulation tools and heuristic approaches for the generation and ranking of alternatives. We are developing a new generation of tools for the design and synthesis of separation systems for complex mixtures, allowing for the possibility of azeotropes, multiple liquid phases, and simultaneous reaction and separation. The building blocks for these tools are advances in: (i) modeling and data for the phase equilibrium in complex mixtures; (ii) analysis and characterization of nonlinear systems using bifurcation theory; (iii) numerical methods for nonlinear systems; and (iv) systems approaches to chemical processing.
The first generation of these software tools, applicable to mixtures without chemical reactions, has been completed; these tools are collected in the Mayflower software. Our main interest is actually in the development of new methods and the software tools provide a test bed for the methods by application to problems here at the University and also in cooperation with our industrial sponsors. Others have also used these methods as the basis for the development of commercial tools for the conceptual design of distillation systems. Currently, we are focused on developing methods and tools for the synthesis, design and control (control studies joint with Prof. Z. Q. Zheng) of reactive and catalytic distillation. The basic models for these sorts of problems must include both nonideal vapor liquid equilibrium as well as chemical kinetics and reaction equilibrium. To develop and validate such models for use in design and control, there is a close cooperation between theory and experiment. We have recently made the first measurements of a reactive azeotrope in this program. Occasionally, a summer internship is available at one of our sponsoring companies for related work.
In addition to funding from government agencies, there is substantial industrial interest and participation in our program. This gives students, faculty, and practitioners a chance to interact in a meaningful way to solve real problems in chemical processing. This work is jointly supervised with Prof. M. F. Doherty.
Process Design for Polymer Production and Batch Processing
Traditional chemical process design and computer-aided approaches are tailored to the production of low molecular weight materials where specifications of rates and purities are made. In the production of polymeric materials, properties are also important and much work in the modeling of individual units and polymerization reactors has been done. We are interested in using such models in a systems approach to understanding the production process. We are currently interested in finding the feasible ranges of products and the corresponding reactor and mixing systems that can achieve these. The technical approach for single phase reactors can be found in Smith and Malone (1997).
Polymers are also good examples of materials that are often produced in batch processes (agricultural, specialty chemicals, and foods are others). Design tools for batch processing often need to account for a number of different products that can share resources. This leads to many interesting alternatives and optimization problems in the design of manufacturing systems, which we are studying with a variety of methods.
Selected Publications
(More than 100 peer-reviewed papers, 86 meeting papers, 51 invited seminars)
• K. Glinos and M. F. Malone, "Minimum Reflux, Product Distribution and Lumping Rules for Multicomponent Distillation," I&EC Process Design Dev., 23, 764 (1984).
• E. R. Foucher, M. F. Doherty and M. F. Malone, "Automatic Screening of Entrainers in Homogeneous Azeotropic Distillation," Ind. Eng. Chem. Res, 29, 760-772 (1991).
• S. Mani, M. F. Malone, H. H. Winter, J. L. Halary and L. Monnerie, "Effects of Shear on Miscible Polymer Blends: In-Situ Fluorescence Studies," Macromolecules, 24, 5451-5458 (1991).
• Z. T. Fidkowski, M. F. Malone and M. F. Doherty, "Computing Azeotropes in Multicomponent Mixtures," Computers chem. Engng., 17, 1141-1155 (1993).
• G. Venimadhavan, G. Buzad, M. F. Doherty and M. F. Malone, "Effect of Kinetics on Residue Curve Maps for Reactive Distillation," AIChE J., 40, 1814-1824 (1994).
• W. Song, R. S. Huss, M. F. Malone and M. F. Doherty, "Discovery of a Reactive Azeotrope," Nature, 388, 561-563 (1997).
• G. Venimadhavan, M. F. Malone and M. F. Doherty, "A Bifurcation Study of Kinetic Effects in Reactive Distillation," AIChE J., 45, 546-556 (1999).
• M. F. Malone and M. F. Doherty, "Reactive Distillation," I&EC Research., 39, 3953-3957 (2000).
• S. B. Gadewar, M. F. Doherty and M. F. Malone, "A Systematic Method for Reaction Invariants and Mole Balances for Complex Chemistries," Comput. Chem. Engng., 25, 1199-1217 (2001).
• M. F. Doherty and M. F. Malone, Conceptual Design of Distillation Systems , McGraw Hill , NY (2001).
• M. F. Malone, R. S. Huss and M. F. Doherty, "Green chemical engineering aspects of reactive distillation," Env. Sci. Tech., 37, 5325-5329 (2003).
• E. Rodriguez, A. Zheng, M. F. Malone, "Parametric dependence of solution multiplicity in reactive flashes," Chem. Eng. Sci., 59, 1589-1600 (2004).
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