UKZN was recently ranked the best in the country for engineering and physical sciences.
UKZN’s Thermodynamics Research Unit (TRU), housed within the discipline of chemical engineering in the school of engineering, has set itself apart when it comes to excellence in research and teaching. Over the past 30 years the unit has established itself as the leading research group in South Africa for the study of chemical thermodynamics and separation technology. The group’s expertise lies in chemical thermodynamics and separation studies, which have been applied in process engineering, essential oil extraction and purification, high pressure plasma reactor studies, biorefining, waste to energy concepts and recycling e-waste.
In UKZN’s school of engineering alone, which was recently ranked the best in the country for engineering and physical sciences, the TRU produces 40% of research outputs. It produced 36 publications in 2015 alone, and has produced 150 since 2012. Other notable achievements include several patents and spin-off companies.
TRU was founded in the early 1980s by Emeritus Professor David Raal and organised into a unit in 2004. It is now led by Professor Deresh Ramjugernath, the department of science and technology/National Rresearch Foundation South African research chair for fluorine process engineering and separation technology, and deputy vice-chancellor for research at UKZN.
The unit benefits from Professor Ramjugernath’s collaborative approach to research capacity development, which has led to the formation of bilateral research partnerships in several countries including Germany, France, Sweden, Poland and Italy. The large team comprises researchers, postdoctoral fellows, PhD and master’s students and research assistants.
The unit is known around the world and is the only group of its kind in South Africa; it gained special attention in July 2014 after the International Conference on Chemical Thermodynamics (ICCT) was hosted in Durban — the first time the event was held on the African continent. Notable visitors to the unit include the director of the renowned US measurement standards laboratory, the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The TRU was commended by visitors as one of the best-equipped laboratories worldwide, and has won many awards including the SAIChE Innovation Award, the NRF President’s Award and a National Science and Technology Forum (NSTF) Award.
The TRU’s research is focused on phase equilibrium studies (measurement and modelling) and separation technologies, and it is home to some of the best equipment available for this research. An extensive range of equipment, much of which is patented, has been developed for phase equilibrium and thermophysical property measurements. The laboratory-based information thus derived, together with the latest computational techniques — particularly for thermodynamic and thermophysical properties — ensures cutting-edge research output. Under Ramjugernath’s leadership, research has extended into several new areas, including the use of ionic liquids as solvents, gas hydrate technology, plasma reactor technology and predictive methods for mixture properties.
The extremely active academic group publishes regularly in internationally recognised journals. The TRU has also been of tremendous value to the industry, both locally and internationally, in delivering information and data. Industrial and collaborative partners include the South African Nuclear Energy Corporation, Pelchem, Sasol, Eskom, Illovo Sugar, the CSIR and the Sugar Milling Research Institute.
The TRU aims to continue its training of master’s and PhD students, particularly for the petrochemical and emerging industries, as well as maintaining its world-class facilities to act as a first port of call for industrial solutions. It also aims to promote and expand expertise in chemical thermodynamics and separation technology in South Africa and Africa, through national and international collaboration.
Sally Frost is the public relations manager of the college of agriculture, engineering and science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal