TransForum Vol. 4, No. 1

TWO ARGONNE RESEARCHERS HONORED

A Distinguished Career in Engine Research

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) recently honored Argonne's Ramanujam (Raj) Sekar by elevating his membership to the status of a Fellow, in recognition of his many "significant engineering achievements and contributions to the engineering profession" over a career spanning more than 33 years. Sekar manages the Engine and Emissions Research Group at Argonne's Transportation Technology R&D Center.

The achievements in engine research that the society specifically mentioned in its citation were his involvement in heat exchanger development at Cummins Engine Co. But for Sekar, his greatest achievements have come while at Argonne and include the establishment of the Engine and Emissions Research Group. When he joined Argonne eighteen years ago, Sekar effectively was the Engine and Emissions Research Group. Now this renowned unit includes nine professional researchers and three technicians and has an annual budget of about $4 million. Primary support for Sekar's research at Argonne has come from a number of transportation projects now under the current Office of FreedomCAR and Vehicle Technologies within the U.S. Department of Energy's (DOE's) Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy Office.

The test facilities and programs Sekar has established at Argonne testify to his wide-ranging research interests. Argonne now boasts a locomotive engine test facility fully funded by the Electro-Motive Division (EMD) of General Motors and automotive test facilities for compression-ignition direct-injection (CIDI) diesel engines made by Caterpillar and other manufacturers. Because fuel injection is central to the operation of diesel engines, Sekar's group participates with other researchers across the Laboratory in an innovative fuel-spray research program at the Advanced Photon Source (APS). The idea is to use powerful x-rays from the APS to penetrate and quantitatively map fuel-spray development over time, thereby providing an unprecedented look into the operation of diesel fuel-injection systems. This ambitious program has made Argonne uniquely qualified to conduct fuel-injection research.

The success of the fuel-spray program has sparked Sekar's interest in developing an x-ray engine test facility at the APS to provide fundamental insights into the operation of diesel engines. As with the fuel-spray program, x-rays from the APS will permit scientists to see details of engine operation that cannot be viewed in any other way. Following Sekar's lead, several Argonne divisions have become involved in this area of research. For example, Chemical Engineering (CMT) researchers are now studying soot formation inside diesel engine cylinders at the APS, and members of the Reactor Analysis group are using the data to build computer models of the process. In about a year, a surrogate engine, called a rapid compression machine, will be evaluated at the APS. The next step will be to put a real diesel engine in the APS and study its operation while running.

Sekar's highly focused and inspired long-range vision for engine research has resulted in many awards and groundbreaking innovations, such as the use of gas separation membranes in diesels, which won a coveted R&D 100 Award in 1999. The fuel-spray program has also won recognition in the form of a 2002 National Laboratory Combustion and Emissions Control R&D Award. Sekar has also received two Laboratory Director's Awards for exceptional performance, an Achievement Recognition Award from EMD, an Energy Systems Division Director's Award for sustained accomplishment and consistently high performance, a Federal Laboratory Consortium Award for Excellence in Technology Transfer, and two ASME Internal Combustion Engine Division Awards for worthy contributions and loyal service. Sekar's innovations have also led to seven engine-related patents.

Given this track record, it's not surprising that the list of industrial partners that Sekar has worked with over the years reads like a Who's Who of diesel equipment manufacturers. Included are EMD, Robert Bosch Corp., Detroit Diesel Corp., Mack Trucks, Inc., Caterpillar, Inc., and DaimlerChrysler. His research group also works with small companies, such as Compact Membrane Systems, which is a spin-off company having roots at DuPont. Major U.S. universities have also sought collaborations with his research group, as have researchers at other DOE national laboratories.

Sekar continues to be a very active member of the ASME's Internal Combustion Engine Division. He is currently organizing a session on biodiesel engine technology for the society's next meeting, in Salzburg, Austria.

Another Impressive Fellow...

Ali Erdemir, of Argonne's Energy Technology Division, has been named a Fellow of the Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE). To receive this honor, society members must practice the science and engineering profession of tribology for 20 years, maintain membership in the society for at least 10 years, and be nominated by the STLE Fellows Committee. Fellows must also demonstrate outstanding personal achievements in the fields of tribology or lubrication engineering.

Erdemir certainly meets those criteria. Last year, he received the Al Sonntag Award and the Allan A. Manteuffel Award from STLE's Chicago chapter for his development of a carbon coating that showed the lowest coefficient of friction (less than .001) when tested in a dry nitrogen atmosphere. The coating is 40 times slicker than Teflon, which has a friction coefficient of about .04. The breakthrough coating has many potential applications, including oil-less bearings, spacecraft mechanisms, rolling and sliding gear systems, and ultrahigh vacuum systems.

In addition to this breakthrough, Erdemir has provided his services to STLE for more than 10 years, serving as chairman of the Solid Lubrication Technical Committee, chairman of the 2001 Annual Meeting, and an associate editor for STLE's official journal, Tribology Transactions, from 1995 until 2000. Other honors and awards in recent years include a Fellow Award from ASM-International in 2001, a Distinguished Engineering Alumni Award from the Georgia Institute of Technology in 2000, two R&D 100 Awards (in 1991 and 1998), a Discover Magazine Award in 1998, and an Edmond E. Bisson Award in 1998. He has also published more than 100 refereed journal articles and holds six U.S. patents.

Erdemir is currently working to scale up the near-frictionless coating process for industrial applications, and he's also working on a new coating that will not only be low friction, but also extremely hard and wear-resistant in any type of operating environment. "It feels great to be noticed and recognized by my peers in the field," says Erdemir about his elevation to Fellow. "I feel that our work at Argonne is valued highly, and this brings more visibility and recognition to our laboratory."