Lanny D. Schmidt facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lanny D. Schmidt
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Lanny D. Schmidt
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| Born | May 6, 1938 |
| Died | March 27, 2020 (aged 81) |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Chicago Wheaton College |
| Known for | Catalytic Partial Oxidation reactive flash volatilization, millisecond reactors, detailed chemistry, and thermochemical biomass conversion. |
| Awards | Humboldt Prize (Germany, 1994) National Academy of Engineering (1994) Parravano Award (Michigan Catalysis Society, 1987) Neal R. Amundson Award for Excellence in Chemical Reaction Engineering (2013) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Chemistry, chemical engineering |
| Institutions | University of Minnesota |
| Doctoral advisor | Robert Gomer |
| Notable students | Yannís G. Kevrekidis, Raymond Gorte, Bob McCabe, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Dionisios Vlachos, Paul Dauenhauer |
Lanny D. Schmidt (May 6, 1938 – March 27, 2020) was an American chemist and inventor. He was a professor at the University of Minnesota. He was well known for his important work in chemistry, especially how chemicals react on surfaces. He also taught and guided many students. His research included special "millisecond reactors" and finding new ways to create energy.
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Early Life and Education
Lanny D. Schmidt was born in Waukegan, Illinois. He loved science from a young age. In 1960, he earned a degree in chemistry from Wheaton College in Illinois.
He then went to the University of Chicago. There, he earned his Ph.D. degree in physical chemistry in 1964. He also received a special scholarship called the National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship. After finishing his Ph.D., he continued his research at the University of Chicago for another year.
Research at the University of Minnesota
In 1965, Dr. Schmidt joined the Chemical Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota. His research focused on how chemical reactions happen on solid surfaces. This is a very important part of making new materials and energy.
Making Useful Products
Dr. Schmidt worked on processes called catalytic combustion. This is a way to make useful products like syngas (a fuel gas) and olefins (chemicals used to make plastics). He studied how to make these products by partially burning certain chemicals. He also worked on removing harmful gases like NOx from the air.
Understanding Reactions
His research also looked at how chemicals stick to and react on very smooth surfaces. He studied how fast these reactions happen, both in a steady way and when conditions change quickly. He also created detailed computer models of chemical reactors. These models helped predict how industrial reactors would work, especially for making new chemicals and for burning things cleanly.
Millisecond Reactors and New Energy
Since the 1990s, Dr. Schmidt's research focused on a process called catalytic partial oxidation. This involves quickly changing chemicals like methane (natural gas) into other useful products using special catalysts.
In 2004, Dr. Schmidt and his students made an exciting discovery. They showed that ethanol (which can be made from plants) could be turned into hydrogen gas. Hydrogen is a clean fuel used in fuel cells. What was amazing is that they could make more hydrogen than expected! This discovery was mentioned over 200 times in other scientific papers. It also led to Dr. Schmidt being named one of the top 50 researchers by Scientific American in 2004.
Awards and Recognition
Dr. Schmidt was a very productive scientist. He published over 350 scientific papers. He was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, which is a great honor for engineers in the United States.
He was a dedicated teacher and mentor. He guided about 90 students through their Ph.D. studies and 15 students through their Master's degrees at the University of Minnesota. Many of his former students became university professors themselves, including Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos, Raymond Gorte, and Dionisios Vlachos.
Dr. Schmidt received many awards for his important work:
- In 2013, he won the Neal R. Amundson Award for excellence in chemical reaction engineering.
- He received the Parravano Award in 1997.
- He won the Alpha Xi Sigma Award in 1993.
- He was given a Humboldt Prize from Germany in 1994.
He was also invited to give special lectures at many famous universities, including Notre Dame, Yale University, Stanford University, and MIT. In 2000, he was a main speaker at a big international meeting on catalysis in Spain.
Supporting Renewable Energy
Throughout his career, Dr. Schmidt believed that understanding chemical reactions was very important for both chemical engineering and chemistry. In 2004, he published a popular textbook called The Engineering of Chemical Reactions. This book taught students how thermodynamics (energy), kinetics (speed of reactions), and transport phenomena (how things move) all work together to design chemical reactors.
Since 2003, Dr. Schmidt was a strong supporter of renewable energy from biomass (materials from plants and animals). He believed that converting biomass into fuel using heat and chemicals (thermochemical processes) had many advantages over biological methods. He thought these methods could lead to small, efficient plants that turn biomass into fuel, helping to reduce our reliance on petroleum.
Important Discoveries
Dr. Schmidt wrote many important articles that helped advance the field of chemical reaction engineering. His work helped scientists and engineers understand and improve how chemical reactions are used to make new products and energy.
