PSE Advanced technical support options: Mentoring & Sabbaticals
Interview with Phil Han of LG Chem
Dr Sang Phil Han enjoying himself at Wimbledon on a rare day off.
Dr Han spent a year's sabbatical in PSE's London office.
Dr Sang Phil Han is the Team Leader of the CFD team at LG Chem's Research Park in Daejon, Korea.
Blessed with a company policy that encourages its key employees to take Sabbaticals to aid their career development, Phil decided to spend a year at PSE in London gaining an in-depth knowledge of Advanced Process Modelling.
We interviewed Phil just before he left, to find out why he chose PSE and what he gained from the experience.
What made you decide to come to PSE?
I came to PSE because I am very interested in the combination of CFD and Advanced Process Modelling, and I wanted to learn more about gPROMS and how I could apply it to different challenges facing LG Chem. In particular I wanted to see how we could apply these technologies to different areas in LG – not just to chemicals, but to electronics materials manufacture, for example.
Why do you see this as an important area?
I believe that it is the way of the future. Only by combining detailed fluid models with detailed phenomenological (or multiphysics) models can you get perfect insight into what is happening inside a unit such as a reactor or fuel cell, for example. This enables you to make informed decisions on important design questions, and to see the results of decisions quantitatively. This allows us to perform our own detailed design, for example. This type of capability is very important for us in order to develop our own design capability, and to innovate rapidly.
What did your company think of your choice?
They leave it up to the individual to decide what is best. If I wanted to go to a university or another plant, that would have been fine. I chose PSE because I could learn a lot of new things while at the same time achieving a number of project aims and developing skills that I could transfer to my group back in Korea.
What were your aims?
My first aim was to get a much more detailed understanding of gPROMS, and in particular the [AML:FBCR] fixed-bed catalytic reactor models that we applied on the [confidential] project. Then I wanted to address 4 different areas: multitubular reactors, cracking furnace, fuel cells and polymerisation processes. All of these can benefit significantly from the combination of these two powerful technologies – CFD and APM. In all cases the fluid dynamics and the complex chemical reactions play an equally important part.
Have you achieved these?
Yes, I have covered all four areas in detail, as well as completing several projects with PSE's assistance, especially in areas of detailed mass transfer and reaction modelling and parameter estimation. These include applications such as fixed-bed reactor design and the fuel cell study. In addition I have a number of other key projects in different stages of completion. For example, work is continuing on the interfacing of the cracking furnace [large-tube furnace where the furnace side is modelled in Fluent® and the cracking reactions inside the tube in gPROMS] and the polymerisation model. For the fixed-bed reactor models, I wrote detailed documentation so that we can understand what we are applying in the future. I will continue the projects with my team and some assistance from PSE when I return to Korea.
What is your most memorable experience?
There is no one experience, but the weekends generally we enjoyed very much. There is so much to do here and so much to see.
What are your plans when you return to Korea?
A key aim for me and my team [of 12 engineers and scientists] is to spread the application of modelling in LG Chem and develop a "modelling culture", so that modelling is applied as a matter of routine to complex problems, and also to help bring together the different disciplines in the organisation around a common set of tools.
What do you think has been the biggest benefit?
One of the biggest benefits is that I have had access to the various PSE consultants with their different areas of expertise. On the other hand they are busy and sometimes it has been difficult to get hold of them!
What will you miss most?
The weekends! My wife in particular will miss this.
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