Department of Chemical Engineering at the University of Texas at Austin go to home page university of texas at austin college of engineering U T direct
David T. Allen, PhD
Melvin H. Gertz Regents Chair in Chemical Engineering


Office: CPE 3.462 Mailing Address:
Phone: (512) 471-0049 The University of Texas at Austin
Fax: -- Department of Chemical Engineering
Email: allen@che.utexas.edu 1 University Station C0400
UT Mail: C0400 Austin, TX 78712-0231


Presentation made to prospective graduate students 2005

Research

Educational Qualifications:
Ph.D. California Institute of Technology (1983);
Presidential Young Investigator (1986);
AT&T Foundation Fellow in Industrial Ecology (1993);
Award for Excellence in Teaching (UCL A, 1986)

Focus:
Gas phase atmospheric chemistry and the chemistry of fine particles in the atmosphere; development of educational materials that bring environmental issues into the chemical engineering curriculum.

Simplified mapping of the chemistry that occurs in urban atmospheres
Simplified mapping of the chemistry that occurs in urban atmospheres

Research:
Complex networks of organic and inorganic chemical reactions are critical to the cycling of carbon, nitrogen, sulfur and other materials through the atmosphere. When anthropogenic emissions of hydrocarbons, nitrogen oxides and other compounds perturb these reaction networks, undesirable levels of toxic or reactive species can be formed. The goals of our research program are to develop a better understanding of these atmospheric reaction networks and to characterize the chemistry t hat leads to poor air quality in urban areas, particularly in the State of Texas.

  • Laboratory studies are conducted in a smog chamber - a large batch reactor that simulates atmospheric conditions. Compounds emitted to the atmosphere are injected into the chamber and a variety of chemical analysis tools are used to probe both gas phase reaction products and the reactions that lead to the production of fine particles. Chemical pathways are proposed, tested and used to improve models describing the dynamics and transport of air pollutants.
  • The laboratory studies are complemented by field measurement programs. In the past 5 years, our group has measured levels of gas and particle phase air pollutants in Los Angeles, San Francisco, the Great Smoky Mountains, Austin, San Antonio, Dallas a nd Longview (Texas). These field measurements are being used to identify reaction pathways that control the formation of air pollutants. Once identified, these critical reaction pathways can be studied in more detail in the laboratory smog chamber.

Selected Publications

  • "FTIR Analysis of Aerosol Formed in the Photooxidation of Isoprene and ß-Pinene" Atmospheric Environment, 26A: 1239-1251 (1992) (with E.J. Palen, S.N. Pandis, S.E. Paulson, J.H. Seinfeld and R.C. Flagan)
  • " Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy of Size Segregated Aerosol", Aerosol Science and Technology, 21: 325-342 (1994) (with E.J. Palen, S.V. Hering and J.R. Young)
  • " Loadings, Size Distributions and Sources of Compound Classes in Los Angeles Aerosol", Inhalation Toxicology, 7: 723-734 (1995)
    " FTIR Analysis of Aerosol Formed in the Photooxidation of 1,3,5-trimethylbenzene', submitted to Aerosol Science and Technology (1996) (with A. Holes, A. Eusebi, and D. Grosjean)
  • " Pollution Prevention for Chemical Processes", Wiley (1996) (with K. Rosselot)

 

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