Professor Ray Allen

Prof. Ray Allen

PhD, FIChemE, FEng, FRSA

Director of Marketing & Recruitment

Head - Process Fluidics Group

Tel: +44 (0)114 222 7600
Fax: +44 (0)114 276 2154

email : r.w.k.allen@sheffield.ac.uk

Research interests

Microfluidics, high throughput experimentation,
lab-on-a-chip

Thermochemical cycles for massive scale generation of hydrogen, hydrogen economy

Power fluidics, flow visualisation and modelling

Green chemistry, atom efficiency, the chemistry/chemical engineering interface

Current research projects

  • Membrane Processes for Sulphuric Acid Concentration (Najwa Elbakhbakhi, Rachael Elder)
  • HYCYCLES – EU-funded study of the High Temperature Step of the HyS ands SI Thermochemical Cycles (Rachael Elder, Andy Shaw, Ian Atkin)
  • High Throughput Characterisation of Ionic Liquids (Gareth Braddock, Dmitry Kuvshinov)
  • Keeping the Nuclear Option Open ( Rachael Elder)
  • Micro distillation (Jaime Osorio)
  • HYTHEC: HIx separation Techniques in the Sulphur Iodine Process (Rachael Elder, Manu Minocha)
  • Thermodynamic Properties of Sulphuric Acid decomposition products (Andy Shaw)
  • Decomposition of Sulphuric Acid (Ian Atkin)
  • A Novel approach to the Bunsen Reaction (Marie Taylor)

Previous research projects

  • INNOHYP: A Roadmap for Europe for research in High Temperature Hydrogen Production Processes
  • Optimisation of use of Ionic Liquids as Solvents in Microreactor Systems (Z. Chen)
  • Supercritical Fluids as Solvents in Microchannel Reactors (P.L. Lau)
  • Reactions in Microchannels (X.Du)
  • Design of Axial Flow Cyclones for Off Shore Gas/Liquid Separation (Angie Ng)
  • Elastomeric Gels as Actuators in Microfluidic Systems (V. Das)
  • Dry Sorbent Injection (Egan Archer)
  • Flow and Reactions in Micro-Channel Reactors (X. Hu)
  • Beneficiation of Pyrocarbons Produced from Scrap Tyres (C.W. Chong)
  • Development of a Novel High throughput Catalyst Testing Reactor (Y.Y. Low, O.M. Wilkin)

Selected invited plenary/keynote lectures (Since 2001)

  • International Conference on Incineration (Keynote Lecture and Co Chairman of Conference) 2001
  • Sixth QUILL, Invited Lecture, 8th October 2001, Queen’s University, Belfast
  • “Patent Litigation: An Expert Witness’s viewpoint”, Invited Presentation to the Chartered Institute of Patent Attorneys, London, July 2002
  • “Microchannel Reactors: Switching, Mixing and Moving Reactant Mixtures” Invited seminar, Unilever Port Sunlight, February 2003
  • “Gas Cleaning – Combining Empiricism and Science for Successful Design” Invited lecture to Department of Energy Engineering, Central South University Chang Sha, China, October, 2003
  • “Micro channels – Chemical Engineering in another dimension?” Invited lecture to Department of Energy Engineering, Central South University Chang Sha, China, October 2003
  • “Hydrogen from the Sulphur Iodine Process”, Invited presentation to the I Chem E Subject Group, London, January 2004
  • Invited participant in closed workshop on Nuclear Hydrogen Production, Oarari Japan, July 2004
  • “Massive Scale Manufacture of Hydrogen for the Hydrogen Economy: The Role of Thermochemical Cycles”, Energy Conversion Technology Subject Group Meeting, London March 2005
  • “Thermochemical Cycles and the Hydrogen Economy”; Presentation to The Institute of Physics, Energy Subject Group, Cardiff, April 2005
  • “HYTHEC, High Temperature Routes to Massive Scale production of Hydrogen”, Opening Address, Nuclear Hydrogen Production Session, A I Chem E Annual Conference, Cincinnati, November 2005
  • “Opportunities for Using Process Heat from a High Temperature Nuclear Reactor”, British High Commission/EPSRC sponsored Conference, Pretoria, South Africa, February 2006
  • “Ionic Liquids in Microchannel Systems”, ACS meeting, Atlanta, April 2006
  • “Challenges in the Use of Process Heat from High Temperature Nuclear Reactors”, Turbulence, Heat & Mass Transfer, Dubrovnik, September 2006

Selected publications

List of publications

Departmental administration

  • Director of Marketing & Recruitment
  • Chairman of Curriculum Committee

Biographical summary

My personal research interests began with environmental engineering and now straddle microfluidics, green chemical processes and the hydrogen economy. My main focus, however, lies at the chemistry/chemical engineering interface with engineering to develop novel, atom-efficient designs of reactors for example those involving microfluidics through projects associated with lab-on-a-chip, plant-on-a-chip and high throughput screening. Over the last few years, this microchemical engineering has been increasingly supplemented by my work on Thermochemical Cycles for massive scale production of hydrogen, in the long term to fuel the Hydrogen economy and in the short term to provide low carbon routes to transport fuels.

Thermochemical cycles are themselves a paradigm for atom efficient chemical engineering. In the case of a thermodynamically adverse reaction such as splitting water to manufacture hydrogen, only water and heat are put into the process and only hydrogen and oxygen are removed. Typical cycles under study include Sulphur Iodine and the Westinghouse hybrid sulphur process. We have a world leading university centre in these technologies and our collaborations spread across a broad range of countries including France, Spain, Germany, the US and South Africa.

I arrived at Sheffield from the Harwell Laboratory in Oxfordshire in 1995 as part of the nineties AEA Technology diaspora. At AEA I had a number of senior management responsibilities being in charge first of the Separation Processes Service and then HTFS (now Hyprotech) and eventually being Business Development Director for AEA Technology.

After arriving at Sheffield, I was, for five years, head of the newly formed Department of Chemical & Process Engineering. This was a period of intense growth and activity during which we spun off Chemical and Process Engineering as an independent Department, doubled our staff numbers, decided upon our major lines of research and so laid the foundations of the current research group structure. For the first three and a half years at Sheffield I worked on a one day a week secondment to the DTI´s Innovation Unit. There I led the team that set up an infrastructure to support innovation in London.

Activities and distinctions

I am or have recently been:

I have been a member of many International Conference organising committees including being Co-Chairman with Jim Swithenbank and Vida Sharifi of a series of International Conferences on Incineration and Flue Gas Treatment and convenor of the EPSRC and BBSRC funded conference on "Beyond the Molecular Frontier", December 2004.

Recently I have acted as a consultant for iAc, BNFL, Unilever, Buehler Process Plant of Switzerland, Hoover, AEA Technology, Westinghouse and the Government Office for London.

  • President of Engineering Professors’ Council (EPC)
  • Chairman Communications Working Group, EPC
  • Member, Advisory Board Crystal Faraday
  • Chairman IChemE whynotchemeng editorial board
  • Vice-President Elect of the Engineering Professors’ Council
  • Immediate Past Chairman of the UK Standing Conference of Professors and Heads of Departments of Chemical Engineering
  • Member of the Management Committee of the Crystal Faraday
  • Chairman of whynotchemeng Editorial Board
  • Co-Chairman of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE)and Royal Society of Chemistry Committee on Chemistry/Chemical Engineering Interface
  • Member of the Membership Committee of the Royal Academy of Engineering (1996 – 2002)
  • Chairman of Membership Panel 4 of the the Royal Academy of Engineering (1999 – 2002)
  • Member of the Programme Advisory Committee of the Manufacturing Molecules Initiative (DTI) (1999 – 2002)
  • Committee of Chemicals Foresight Panel (1996-1999)
  • The Process Plant subcommittee of the Manufacturing Foresight Panel (1996-1998)
  • Member of Royal Academy of Engineering Working Party on Measuring Excellence in Engineering Research (1998-1999)
  • The Council of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE
  • The Technical Board and Research Committee of the IChemE Wilkinson Implementation Group of the IChemE
  • Editorial Board of Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy (Springer)
  • The Process Plant sub-committee of the Manufacturing Foresight Panel (1996-1998)
  • Member of many International Conference organising committees including being Co-Chairman with Jim Swithenbank and Vida Sharifi of a series of International Conferences on Incineration and Flue Gas Treatment and convenor of the EPSRC and BBSRC funded conference on "Beyond the Molecular Frontier", December 2004.

Teaching

  • CPE202 - Chemical Reaction & Process Engineering to the 2nd year
  • CPE306 - Engineering Management to our third year and other faculty departments
  • CPE407 - Control of Particulate environmental emissions to the MEng and MSc students
Teaching

See also