Center Faculty

Gary C. April

gcapril@coe.eng.ua.edu

Gary C. April is University Research Professor and Department Head at The University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, Alabama. His academic and research research covers three areas of importance to the chemical/environmental engineering fields. Chemical waste reduction/ minimization studies deal with the combination of dilute solutions of ammonia and phosphoric acid producing viable end products. Spray drying and membrane separation methods are used as a means of recovering these products. Variables that control commercial properties are also being studied. Dr. April has continuing interest in two other areas: biomass conversion of agricultural and forest wastes using organosolv treatment methods and mathematical simulation of natural and reacting systems. In the former, schemes to produce valuable bulk and specialty chemicals from biomass wastes are investigated in the laboratory. These methods separate the biomass into constituent parts which can be subsequently treated to produce alcohols and other oxygenated chemicals of commercial importance. In the latter, chemical transport and fate studies are made using mathematical simulation models for streams and bays in Alabama's coastal zone. Methods to help non-technical managers of these waterways include interactive computer graphic and dynamic simulation displays of the variables (velocity, water elevation, and chemical concentration) that describe each system.