The History of Multiphase Science and Computational Fluid Dynamics: A Personal Memoir

This book tells the story of how the science of computational multiphase flow began in an effort to better analyze hypothetical light water power reactor accidents, including the “loss of coolant” accident. Written in the style of a memoir by an author with 40 years’ engineering research experience in computer modeling of fluidized beds and slurries, multiphase computational fluid dynamics, and multiphase flow, most recently at Argonne National Laboratory, the book traces how this new science developed during this time into RELAP5 and other computer programs to encompass realistic descriptions of phenomena ranging from fluidized beds for energy and chemicals production, slurry transport, pyroclastic flow from volcanoes, hemodynamics of blood-borne cells, and flow of granular particulates. Such descriptions are not possible using the classical single-phase Navier-Stokes equations. Whereas many books on computational techniques and computational fluid dynamics have appeared, they do not trace the historical development of the science in any detail, and none touch on the beginnings of multiphase science. A robust, process-rich account of technologic evolution, the book is ideal for students and practitioners of mechanical, chemical, nuclear engineering, and the history of science and technology.

Robert W. Lyczkowski received his BChE in from Cleveland State University, Fenn School of Engineering and MS in Gas Engineering and PhD in Gas Technology from Illinois Institute of Technology.  He worked for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, Idaho National Engineering Laboratory, Energy Incorporated, Goodyear Atomic Corp., Hooker Chemical Corp., and as a faculty member at Illinois Institute of Technology.  He has been involved for over forty years in chemical and nuclear engineering applications of his multiphase theory and computational fluid dynamics expertise especially in the areas of heat transfer and energy conversion to develop models that are now used by industry world-wide to design various two-phase flow equipment.  He is a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers and a recipient of the prestigious Ernst W. Thiele Award.

Most of Dr. Lyczkowski’s career was spent as a Chemical Engineer in the Energy Systems Division at Argonne National Laboratory. He was involved with computer modeling of fluidized beds and dense slurries.  His expertise is in the areas of multiphase flow and heat transfer, erosion, light water and liquid metal nuclear reactors, in-situ processing of fuels, and concentrated suspensions.  He applied multiphase dense slurry modeling to the development of a unique non-Newtonian power-law model for multiphase hemodynamics.  This established a completely new paradigm for analyzing the migration of blood-borne particulates.  This model was used to develop a mechanistic monolayer population balance cell-adhesion model to aid in determining the threshold conditions of atherosclerosis initiation and progression.  He was involved with modeling a novel multiphase concept involving chemical water splitting using high temperature steam bubbling into a bath of molten calcium bromide as the first step in the calcium-bromine (Ca-Br) cycle.

He is the author of over 150 technical publications (over 50 refereed journal articles and book contributions and over 100 conference papers), over 50 reports, and holds 2 U.S. patents.  He contributed significantly to the development of the RETRAN and COMMIX computer programs. He has recently completed a book titled “The History of Multiphase Science and Computational Fluid Dynamics a Personal Memoir”.