Joseph (Jose') Manuel Calo
Professor:
Engineering
Phone: +1 401 863 1421
Phone 2: +1 401 863 3967
Joseph_Calo@Brown.EDU
A central theme in Professor Calo's work is the application of principles of chemical kinetics and transport phenomena to problems in science and engineering. Chemical rate processes, combined with transport limitations and surface-specific characteristics, are of central importance in a diverse range of applications such as the optimization of chemical reactors for chemicals and fuels production, the composition of the earth's atmosphere, or the solution of environmental problems.
Biography
Professor Calo contributed to the founding and development of the Chemical Engineering Program at Brown. Previously, he held positions at the Air Force Geophysics Laboratory, Exxon Research & Engineering Co., and Princeton University.
Professor Calo served as the Conference Chair of carbon2004, an international conference on carbon materials, held at Brown University in July, 2004. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the American Carbon Society, and of the Division of Fuel Chemistry of the American Chemical Society, for which he served as Treasurer and currently as Counselor and Technical Program Secretary.
Interests
Recent work includes the determination of the kinetic mechanisms of heterogeneous gas-solid reactions relevant to gasification and oxidation of coal and carbon materials. The oxidizing gases (e.g., O2, CO2, H2O, NO, etc.) form oxygen complexes on carbon surfaces. At low temperatures, these complexes are permanently chemisorbed, while at higher temperatures they desorb as the oxides of carbon, thereby "gasifying" the material. The key to unraveling the kinetics of these reactions lies in understanding the role and energetics of the oxygen surface complex intermediates. This is a complex problem in view of the variable and evolving physical and chemical nature of the solid reactant which manifests itself in such phenomena as a continually evolving pore structure and a distribution of desorption activation energies of the complexes, among other problems. Related problems include the structural transformation/ordering of carbonaceous materials, as well as the development of characterization techniques for these materials. Examples of the latter incxlude small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), contrast matching, and small angle neutron scattering (SANS) to monitor porosity development.
Another major research direction in Professor Calo's laboratory involves addressing technological problems of environmental import. A new research project is directed at the development of novel spouted-bed particulate electrodes for the removal of metals from aqueous waste streams. Both electrowinning and elecrosorption/desorption of heavy metal species are amenable to this novel approach.
Another project involves a liquid-fluidization technique for the micro-sorting of waste plastic particles for recycling. The process involves separation of plastic particles by density via liquid-fluidized bed classification (LFBC) and particle size/density modification technique (e.g., selective swelling or shrinking of particles as a result of thermal waves imposed on the liquid-fluidized bed or selective swelling solvents). Yet another more recent project involves the application of related segregation in liquid-fluidized beds to coal beneficiation.
Awards
- Union Carbide Corporation Scholarship at Newark College of Engineering, 1962-1966.
- United States Atomic Energy Commission Special Fellowship in Nuclear Science and Engineering at Princeton University, 1966-1969.
- United States Air Force Commendation Medal (for research contributions at the Air Force Cambridge Research Laboratories), 1974.
- NATO Travel Grant for scientific exchange with Centre de Recherches sur la Physico-Chimie des Surfaces Solides, CNRS, Mulhouse, France, 1990.
- Visiting Scholar, Department of Pure & Applied Chemistry, University of Strathclyde, Scotland, UK, 1992.
- Visiting Scholar, Departmento de Química Inorgánica of the Universidad de Alicante, 1992.
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research Summer Faculty Research Associate, 1995, 1996.
- Lucent Technologies Industrial Ecology Faculty Fellow, 1996-97, 1997-98.
- Outstanding Service Award (Treasurer), American Chemical Society Division of Fuel Chemistry, 2004.
- Invited Plenary Lecturer, "Catalysis on Carbon Surfaces: Some Energy and Environmental Applications," VIII Reunión del Grupo Español del Carbon, Universidad Internacional de Andalucia, Baeza (Jaen), Spain, 9 November 2005.
- Outstanding Leadership Award (Conference Chair), American Carbon Society, 2004.
Visiting Scholar, BESSRC/Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National L:aboratory, Argonne, IL, 2006.
- Visiting Senior IUnvestigator, Departmento de Química Inorgánica de la Universidad de Alicante, Alicante, Spain, 2006.
Affiliations
American Chemical Society
American Carbon Society
American Institute of Chemical Engineers
Web Links
Curriculum Vitae
Download Joseph (Jose') Manuel Calo's Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format
