Green, Don W. - The University of Kansas

More documents

Recommendations

Info

to form a gel and thereby seal off these zones. Fluid subsequently injected will be forced into other parts of the reservoir, thereby improving efficiency. Another current emphasis is the application of supercritical carbon dioxide for oil recovery in Kansas reservoirs. Carbon dioxide has been used successfully in west Texas and other places. We think there is significant potential for application in Kansas and have implemented a field trial to test the process in Central Kansas. This process literally has the potential to revitalize the Kansas oil industry. Over the years about 90 graduate students have conducted research through TORP leading to their Ph.D. or M.S. degree in chemical or petroleum engineering. A number of undergraduates have also participated. In 1998 Paul Willhite and I published a textbook, Enhanced Oil Recovery, through the Society of Petroleum Engineers. This is a comprehensive book of advanced oil recovery processes applicable for use in senior or graduate courses in petroleum engineering. We have also published numerous articles and reports, and presented a large number of papers at technical meetings related to oil recovery. TORP also has a program of technology transfer which focuses on providing assistance to Kansas operators. Under this program we do cooperative field testing of processes, conduct seminars and workshops and do “one-on-one” consultation with oil operators. Our TORP project has been widely recognized as having one of the best programs of transfer of technology. Q: Did you ever have a sabbatical? 16
A: You know, in the whole time I’ve been here, I have only taken one sabbatical. That was I took a semester off to work on a couple of books. One of those was the book Paul Willhite, your husband, and I wrote a book on enhanced oil recovery. Q: I knew about that one. A: So I was working on that book on sabbatical and also I had become the editor of Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Handbook, so I spent time working on that handbook as well during that sabbatical. But that’s the only time I took a sabbatical in the 45 years I was here. Q: How did you happen to become the editor of Perry’s Chemical Engineer’s Handbook? A: When my family returned from vacation in August 1977, I was surprised to have a letter waiting that had been sent by Bob Perry (Robert H. Perry). He was living in London at the time. Bob was inviting me to be a section editor on the Sixth Edition of Perry’s Chemical Engineers’ Handbook, the work which he had initiated in 1977. Further, his plan was that I would join him as co-editor for the Seventh Edition, which would be targeted for publication about 10 years after the Sixth was published. I was Bob Perry’s first Ph.D. student when he was a chemical engineering faculty member at the University of Oklahoma. While I was a student there, my wife and I became close friends with Bob and his family. While at OU Bob edited the Fourth Edition of the Handbook, and I assisted him in that project in various ways, from working on the Kinetics Section to helping with different “odds and ends.” Bob left OU shortly after I graduated. He had a short stint as a faculty member at another institution and then moved overseas where he worked as a consultant for different international organizations and continued his work of editing the Handbook. He was working on the Sixth Edition when he sent the invitation to me to join him in the project. Bob had two sons, neither of 17
Page 1 and 2: AN INTERVIEW WITH DON GREEN Intervi
Page 3 and 4: AN INTERVIEW WITH DON GREEN Intervi
Page 5 and 6: I was in Air Force ROTC. I was acti
Page 7 and 8: A: After my Ph.D. work was complete
Page 9 and 10: showed that the average ACT score o
Page 11 and 12: Q: I know that you have won several
Page 13 and 14: I was also instrumental in the form
Page 15: In the early 1970s, the country was
Page 19 and 20: esolved. My work started in earnest
Page 21 and 22: Q: Yes. representative for KU. In f
Page 23 and 24: I recall a comical incident a few y
Page 25 and 26: Johnny Cash book over there that I
Page 27: A: You said you would let me look a

Green, Don W. - The University of Kansas

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?