1997 Winner: Vladimir Haensel
For the development in chemical engineering of the Platforming ™ process.
Biography
Vladimir Haensel was born September 1, 1914 in Freiburg, Germany, but grew up in Moscow, where his father, Paul Haensel, was a university professor of economics. He moved to the USA in 1930 when his father took up an academic position. He received a bachelor degree in general engineering from Northwestern University and a master's in chemical engineering from MIT in 1937. His ideas, developed while working at Universal Oil Products Inc. (now UPO) in Des Plaines, Illinois, directly affected consumers by leading to the development of unleaded fuel for automobiles.
After his work at UPO he began teaching at UMass Amherst, where he received multiple awards as a professor. He wrote and published over 100 scientific and technical papers.
Prior to his death in 2002, He received many awards for his accomplishments including the National Medal of Science and he was the first recipient of the National Academy of Science Award. Haensel was also a member of the National Academy of Engineering, and served on the board of managers at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and National Materials advisory board.
Platforming™
Platforming™ is an extremely efficient way of making high-quality gasoline from raw oil products. Prior to its invention, it was very difficult to make high-octane gasoline, so most cars used low-octane fuel with lead added to prevent knocking. Thus Platforming™ was instrumental in helping the nation to move away from polluting lead fuel. The process also removes much of the sulfur that is naturally present in oil, further improving gasoline’s environmental impact. In addition, a side effect of the Platforming™ process produces certain carbon-based compounds that are useful for making plastics.
The central technical breakthrough in the Platforming™ process is a way of using platinum to catalyze useful reactions in oil. Although chemists had previously known of platinum’s potential benefits, the metal was far too expensive for wide use. But in developing Platforming™, Victor Haensel found a way to use tiny amounts of platinum for a large volume of oil.
