George Burnet
Anson Marston Distinguished Professor Emeritus
2114 Sweeney Hall
Iowa State University
Ames, IA 50011-2230
Phone (515) 294-7642
Fax (515) 294-2689
gxb
iastate.edu
Education
B.S., ChE, Iowa State University, 1948
M.S., ChE, Iowa State University, 1949
Ph.D., ChE, Iowa State University, 1951
Honors and Awards
Fellow, American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE), 1976
Founders Award, AIChE, 1981
Benjamin Garver Lamme Medal, ASEE, 1982
Charter Fellow, American Society for Engineering Education (ASEE), 1983
Linton E. Grinter Distinguished Service Award, ABET, 1984
Charter Fellow, Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET), 1988
Leighton Collins Award, ASEE, 1991
Research Interest
High temperature chemistry, solid waste management
Professional Experience
Commercial Solvents Corporation, Terre Haute, IN, 1951-56
Head, Chemical Engineering Department, ISU and Chief, Chemical Engineering Division, Ames Laboratory, 1961-73
Head, Chemical Engineering and Nuclear Engineering Department, 1973-78
Coordinator, Engineering Education Projects Office, 1983-90
Associate Dean for Outreach and External Affairs, 1990-94
Interim Dean, 1994-95
Professional Society Service
Chair, Council for Professional and Technical Education, ASEE, 1972-74
National President, ASEE, 1976-77
Chair, Engineering Education and Accreditation Committee (now Engineering Accreditation Commission), ABET, 1975-76
Board of Directors, ABET, 1977-83
Educational Activities Coordinating Board, AIChE, 1968-70
Chair, Education and Accreditation Committee, AIChE, 1977-80
Chair, Division of Fertilizer and Soil Chemistry, ACS, 1969-70
National President, Omega Chi Epsilon, 1970-72
U.S. Representative to the World Federation of Engineering Organizations Committee on Education and Training, 1983-88
NSF Advisory Committee to the Directorate on Science and Engineering Education,1984-87
Research Projects
If fly ash from the combustion of powdered coal were an ore, its composition would make it an attractive raw material to mine. Millions of tons of this waste material with high and uniform quality are readily available in fixed locations, and our research has developed two ways to "mine" it economically.
The Ames line-soda sinter process heats fly ash in the presence of lime and small amounts of sodium carbonate to convert the alumina into soluble calcium and sodium aluminates and the silica, the other principal ingredient in fly ash, into an insoluble dicalcium silicate. Using a very dilute sodium carbonate solution to adjust pH, we have been able to extract 90% of the alumina in very pure form leaving a residue of dicalcium silicate, which is useful in making Portland cement.
The HiChlor process uses high temperature to treat metal oxides with chlorine in the presence of carbon to get a stream of gaseous metal chlorides mixed with carbon oxides. The carbon acts as an oxygen getter and removes oxygen from the reaction system to produce a mixture of metal chlorides. Condensing and separating these metal chlorides yields metals in the form of halides.
These kinds of processes, using indigenous raw material, can be quite attractive in the production of alumina and in efforts to recycle waste materials.
Selected Publications
Dobbins, M. S. and Burnet, G., "Carbochlorination of Dispersed Oxides in a Molten Salt Reactor," AIChE J., 34(7), 1086-1083 (1988).
Chesley, J. A. and Burnet, G., "A Two-Stage Reaction Sequence for C3S Formation," Cement and Concrete Res., 19, 837-847 (1989).
Burnet, G., "Use of Videoconferences to Augment Classroom Instruction," Engineering Education, 80, 463-465 (1990).
Fronczak, N. R., Murtha, M. J., and Burnet, G., "Use of High-Sulfur Coal By-Products in the Lime-Sinter Process for Al2O3 Recovery from Fly Ash," Processing and Utilization of High-Sulfur Coals, R. Markuszewski and T. D. Wheelock (Eds.), Elsevier, New York, 781-790 (1990).
Burnet, G., "The Lime-Soda Sinter Process for Resource Recovery from Fly Ash - A New Look," Proceedings 9th International Coal Ash Utilization Symposium, Orlando, FL, 1, Section 6, January 22-25, 1990.
Greisch, J. R. and Burnet, G., "The Ten Most Outstanding Engineering Education and Engineering Technology Achievements of the Past Century," J. of Engineering Education, Centennial Issue, 83, 3-5 (1994).
