Dr. Douglas Harrison: Hard Work
and Gentle Firmness
 In
January, Professor Douglas Harrison celebrated 33 years as part
of LSU’s Gordon A. and Mary Cain Department of Chemical Engineering.
Harrison completed his Ph.D. at the University of Texas in 1966.
After working for Monsanto doing new product research for three
years, he joined LSU’s Chemical Engineering Department as an assistant
professor in 1969, having “always expected to enter academia after
a stint in industry.” Professor Harrison went on to serve as Department
Chair from 1976-1979 and is currently the Alexis and Marguerite
Voorhies Professor.
During his time at LSU, Harrison has taught most of the undergraduate
core courses plus Graduate Reactor Design during his time at LSU. He
as received several LSU teaching awards through the years, including
the Dow Award in 1988, 1995, and 2000, a three-time feat that no
one else has accomplished. Harrison has also remained very active
in regard to graduate mentoring. He has served as major professor
for 10 Ph.D. and 28 M.S. students, and he is currently advising
three doctoral candidates. One graduate student characterizes Harrison
as “a kind, considerate, and patient person” who is also “diligent
and strict in academics.”
Former students also continue to think of Professor Harrison with
respect and fondness. Phillip Westmoreland (M.S. 1974) noted Harrison’s
positive impact on his own career, stating “All of my work in the
chemistry of chemical engineering follows plausibly from the Master’s
that he and I worked on. He has remained my friend and respected
colleague.” Westmoreland said.
David Caillet (B.S. 1974, M.S. 1976, Ph.D. 1980) remarked, “Dr.
Harrison is a great teacher and a great researcher, a combination
that is, in my opinion, becoming increasingly rarer at most universities
where research is the main emphasis. I have nothing but praise for
Dr. Harrison as both a teacher and a researcher, as I have experience
with him in both of these areas." Gaillet said. "The major
professor/graduate student relationship is in many ways similar
to the boss/worker relationship in the industrial world. Having
been in the industrial world for over 20 years and with this similarity
in mind, I consider Dr. Harrison to be the best ‘boss’ I've had. His
‘gentle firmness’ led me to success in both my undergraduate and
graduate work at LSU.”
Gary Focht (B.S. 1983, M.S. 1986, Ph.D. 1988) echoes Westmoreland
and Caillet. “I have heard of others having nightmarish experiences
in graduate school. Mine, under the guidance of Dr. Harrison,
was quite the opposite.” Focht said.
Most of Harrison’s research during his years at LSU has been in
the area of noncatalytic gas-solid reactions applied to gas separations.
Currently, he has three active research projects:
- High Efficiency Desulfurization of Synthesis Gas (with Professor
Elizabeth Podlaha; sponsored by the Department of Energy [DOE]).
Harrison has been working on various aspects of this problem for
about 25 years. He was a member of the organizing committee, lecturer,
and co-editor of the proceedings of a 1996 NATO Advanced Studies
Institute on this topic held in Kusadasi, Turkey. Currently, he
is studying the use of CeO2-ZrO2 sorbents
with the objective of reducing H2S concentrations in
coal-derived gas to the sub-ppm levels required by the DOE Vision
21 concept.
- Hydrogen production using sorption enhanced reaction (with Professor
Armando Corripio; current support from NASA on a sub-contract
from TDA Research, a Colorado firm). The basic idea is to produce
95+% hydrogen in a single reactor containing a mixture of Ni-based
reforming catalyst and Ca-based CO2 acceptor. Professor
Harrison has been working on various aspects of this problem for
about 10 years. His current concept is now receiving worldwide
attention.In addition to the interest from NASA and TDA, other
groups in the US and from Japan and Norway are incorporating the
idea into their research.He was invited in early 2001 to discuss
this work at the 4th Advanced Clean Coal International Symposium
in Tokyo. Harrison has been recognized along with colleagues from
Los Alamos National Laboratory by the Federal Laboratory Consortium
with one of 30 awards in 2001 for advancing "Technology in
Service to Society."
- CO2 Capture from Flue Gas Using Dry Regenerable Sorbents
(supported by DOE under subcontract from Research Triangle Institute
in North Carolina).The objective is to develop a simple and economical
process for retrofit on existing electric power plants to reduce
atmospheric emissions of CO2. This research addresses
the growing concern over global warming associated with the emission
of greenhouse gases.
When he’s not working, Professor Harrison says he enjoys “traveling,
woodworking, and loafing.”
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