Polymer Process Technology Expert, Specializing in Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVA)

Technical Consultant #1919

Technology management - global research and development, technology assessments and needs analysis, project prioritization.
Polymer processes and manufacture.
Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and vinyl acetate emulsion process development and scale-up.
Industrial gases applications.
Project portfolio management.
Rheology investigations for quality coatings.
Risk assessment of technical programs.
Pilot plant design and operation.
Stage gate process for new product development.

Independent Consultant, Present

Air Products and Chemical, Allentown, PA, 1978 - 2012

Director, Merchant Research and Development, 2001 - 2012

Global responsibility for development of new applications to support the industrial gas business.
Markets include food, glass, metals, pulp and paper, water and metals processing.
Supervision of labs in U.S., Thailand, Great Britain, China and Spain.
Broad range of technology areas - cryogenics, combustion, reactive atmospheres, water treatment.

Director, Solutions Process Technology, 2000 - 2001

Global responsibility for process technology for all performance chemical products at Air Products (emulsions, epoxy hardeners, surfactants).
Reorganized technology staff and realigned projects to better match the needs of the business.

Manage, Polyvinyl Alcohol (PVOH) Research and Development, 1991 - 2001

New products developed to meet key market areas and integration of these products for manufacturing with minimal operational and environmental impacts.
Major process improvements developed for capital and operating cost savings.
Implemented improved control systems to improve product consistency.
Developed plan to transfer technology to Far East joint venture.
Technology lead for new plant start-up.
Budget and personnel manager for research and development activities supporting the business.

Research Engineer, (Polyvinyl alcohol, Vinyl Acetate Emulsions, Solvent Refined Coal), 1978 - 1991

Developed proprietary process to reduce residual methanol in PVA for improved quality and handling safety.
Designed, constructed and supervised operation of two polymer pilot plants.
Technical evaluations for plant expansions in the areas of polymerization, solids flow, rheology and dust explosively.
Designed and optimized bench scale high pressure emulsion polymerization systems.
Data directly moved to the plants for new product scale-up.
Developed solid/liquid separation process for removing ash in the solvent refined coal (SRC-I) process.

E. I. DuPont de Nemours, Photo Products, Parlin, NJ, 1976 - 1978

Developed methods to improve yields during coating of photographic emulsions. Investigated effects of rheology on coating quality.

Academic and Professional Affiliations

Publications and Patents

Several external publications, many internal (APCI and DuPont) publications.
Two chapters on manufacture of polyvinyl alcohol in polyvinyl alcohol - Developments.
Invited speaker at ACS and AIChE meetings.