2000 Henry H. Storch Award
Yuzo Sanada
Professor Yuzo Sanada from Hokkaido University has been
awarded the 2000 Fuel ChemistryDivision Henry H. Storch
Award. The award recognizes distinguished contributions to
fundamentalor engineeringresearch on the chemistry and utilization
of all hydrocarbon fuels, with the exception of petroleum. Over
the past forty years, Professor Sanada has brought a broad
spectrum oftools to bear incharacterizingthe chemistryofcoal
and other fossilfuels,their reactionpathways,and the chemical
and morphological natures of the transformation products.
ProfessorSanadahasbeen a dominant figure in Japanese coal
science and one of the most highly regarded internationalcoal
chemists withmore firsts to his credit than any other practicing
coalscientist. He was the first to realize that coals were glassy
macromolecular systems, an important insight. He made the
first quantitative solvent-swelling measurements on coals, paving
thewayforanenormous amount ofsubsequent work. He carried
out the first NMR relaxation measurements on coals and was
the first to use high temperature and pressure NMR to study
coal transformations. He was also among the first to use ESR
to study coals and their transformations.
Heis principallyresponsible forthe initial productive application
of polymer chemistry techniques and concepts to coals. He
did this, first using mechanical property measurements that
demonstrated the glassynature of the solid, and then, showed
how it could be altered by adding solvents. He made the first
quantitative solvent-swelling measurements and first applied
the Flory-Rehner equation to coals. These concepts came early
(1960's) and illuminated all of his subsequent work. He was
the first to show that NMR relaxation could be used to characterize
the complex thermal behaviors of coals. He used ESR similarly.
These approaches have been further developed by others and
constitute a major area of coal chemistry. His work in coking is classical, having studied not only coals but also petroleum
heavyoils. His production of carbon microbeads is particularly
noteworthy, anticipating in some ways the modern interest in
special forms of carbon.
Prof. Sanada received his B. Eng. Degree from ToyamaUniversity
in1954 and Ph.D. fromTohokuUniversityin1964. He worked
at the NationalResearch Institutefor Pollutionand Resources
from1954-1975. He was a professor at Hokkaido University,
CoalResearchInstituteand the Center for Advanced Research
of Energy Technology from 1975-1995. Presently, he is an
Emeritus Professor at Hokkaido University and Senior Director
of Scientific Research, Petroleum Energy Center in Tokyo,
and Visiting Research Fellow at King Fahd University
of Petroleum and Minerals in Saudi Arabia.
Professor Sanada has published 286 research papers
and 20 books. He has been active in a number of societies
and advisory panels in fuel chemistry. During his long
career, he has published numerous papers on all ofthe
following topics and made significant contributions in each
ofthese areas coal carbonization, mesophaseformation
and structure,macromolecular coal structure,NMR and
ESR applied to coals, and direct coal liquefaction.
The impactofProfessorSanada'sworkonthe field over
the last several decades has been truly extraordinary.
His original view of coal as having a three-dimensional
network structure has had a far reaching impact on our
present
understanding of this complexmaterial, and this
concept is still at the forefront of coal research today.
His useofadvancedspectroscopic techniques, as a means
to unravel coal structure, was pioneering for its time.
The award was presented at the Spring ACS Meeting
in SanFrancisco, along with a special symposium honoring
Professor Sanada.