Research Group Website

Research Presentation for Prospective Graduate Students

Educational Qualifications

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, The University of Texas at Austin (1986)
M.S., Chemical Engineering, The University of Arkansas (1981)
B.S., Chemical Engineering, The University of Arkansas (1980)

Courses Taught

CHE 473K  Process Design and Operations
CHE 363    Separation Processes
CHE 354    Transport Processes
CHE 317    Introduction to Chemical Engineering Analysis

Focus

The development of separations technologies to meet current and future industrial needs.

Research

The separations research effort can be divided into three groups: traditional technologies, novel technologies, and new applications of traditional technologies. Details of each area are given below.

• Traditional separations technologies – The fundamental understanding of widely practiced mass transfer processes such as distillation and extraction can be expanded through the development of mechanistic models. Research in this area addresses both mass transfer and hydraulic aspects of these technologies.
• Novel separations technologies- Traditional separations processes suffer from high energy consumption and high capital cost requirements. More selective separations technologies offer the potential to reduce these negative factors and produce more cost effective process designs.
• New applications of traditional separations technologies- As frontier areas such as biotechnology and microelectronics fabrication mature, separations issues will become increasingly important. The research effort is targeted at meeting challenges presented in these rapidly expanding areas by evaluating mature technologies for new applications.

Awards & Honors

• Fellow American Institute of Chemical Engineers, elected 2010
• Stice, Wissler, Schechter – TEAChE undergraduate teaching award, 2009, 2015
• The University of Arkansas Academy of Chemical Engineering, 2008; Director, 2010
• Young Engineer of the Year – Oklahoma Society of Professional Engineers, 1993
• Young Engineer of the Year – Bartlesville Chapter of OSPE, 1993

Selected Publications

• L. Macfarlan, A.F. Seibert, M.T. Phan, R. B. Eldridge, “CFD-based Study on Structured Packing Geometry”, Chem. Eng. Sci., (243) pg. 116767, 2021.
• M. Walk, J. Hamacher, J.J. Downs, S.M. Miller, S.A. Owens, R. B. Eldridge, “Validation of Differential Temperature Control for Dividing Wall Distillation Column”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., (60) pg. 1341, 2021.
• M.M. Donahue, M. Baldea, R. B. Eldridge, “Steady State Considerations for Designing Minimum Energy Control Strategies for a Dividing Wall Distillation Column with Trace Components”, Chem. Eng. and Processing: Process Intensification, (145) pg. 107641, 2019.
• M.M. Donahue, J.J. Downs, M. Baldea, R. B. Eldridge, “Managing Trace Components in a Dividing Wall Distillation Column: An Experimental Study”, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., (58) pg. 12687, 2019.
• J.A. Weinfeld, S. A. Owens, R. B. Eldridge, “Reactive Dividing Wall Columns Chem. Eng. and Processing: Process Intensification., (123) pg. 20, 2018.
• M.M. Donahue, B.J. Roach, J.J. Downs, T. Blevins, M. Baldea, R. B. Eldridge, “Dividing Wall Column Control: Common Practices and Key Findings”, Chem. Eng. and Processing: Process Intensification, (107) pg. 106, 2016.