Yurii Sh. Matros

"80th anniversary of Yurii Matros" Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS. September 16, 2017. http://en.catalysis.ru/news/detail.php?ID=32213

His achievements have become the basis for a scientific school, which focuses on unsteady state processes in catalysis and which attracts post graduate students and collaboration among scientists from the former Soviet Union and other countries, such as Bulgaria, Hungary, India, Belgium, France, Switzerland, Poland, Germany, China, Italy and the United States. His books were published in Russian, English and Chinese, and they have now become reference books in most chemical engineering university departments across the world. Matros is the organizer and chairman of the traditional International Conference of Unsteady State Process in Catalysis which takes place periodically in Russia, Canada, Japan or the United States, every 3 to 4 years on average. Matros is often invited to give plenary lectures (PL) at prestigious international conferences. There are only two examples: 1. XIX International Conference on Chemical Reactors CHEMREACTOR-19, September 5–9, 2010, Vienna, Austria; PL by Matros was "How to Design Optimal Catalytic Reactor." The lecture was dedicated to Professor Mikhail Slin'ko. 2. International Conference took place in Novosibirsk, Russia in June 2007. It was dedicated to the 100-year anniversary of academician Boreskov's birthday. The PL was about a new type of catalytic processes based on forced unsteady state conditions, was presented by Matros. It was written: “An excellent lecture delivered by Prof. J. Matros, ... to create a fundamentally new type of catalytic processes based on non-stationary mode. ... The lecture was summarized the application of this technology in the industry around the world over the last several decades.”

In 1993 Matros founded a scientific consulting company called Matros Technologies, Inc. (MT) which gained recognition and became well known in the development different catalytic processes based on reversed-flow reactor conception. In 2008 MT received two awards:

Matros’ role in international conferences reflects recognition in this field of science. In 1992, as a famous scientist, Matros received a green card on the basis of recommendations given by about 25 world authorities in chemical engineering: James Wei (Dean, Pomeroy and Betty Perry Smith Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science, Princeton, NJ, USA); Larry D. Schmidt (Professor, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA); W. Harmon Ray (Steenbock Professor of Engineering, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI, USA); Dan Luss (Cullen Professor and Chairman, University of Houston, TX, USA); Gilbert F. Froment (Directeur: Professor, Dr. Ir., Universiteit Gent, Belgiё); Gerhart Eigenberger (Professor. Dr. Ing., Universitat Stuttgart, Head of Institut f. Chemische Verfahrenstechnik, Germany); Dr. Blumenberg, BASF (Vice President, Process Chemistry, Ludwigshafen, Germany); Professor, Dr. Ir. von Dierendock (Senior Research Fellow, prof. of RUG, DSM; Dr. Jan J. Lerou (Du Pont, Wilmington, Delaware, Director of Research) and others. All of them reflected their own experience of scientific collaboration with Y. Matros.

One example of a recommendation includes the following fragment from BASF, signed by Vice President of Process Chemistry, Blumenberg, on April 27, 1992: “He is one of the most famous chemical engineers, who are concerned with reactor technology ... BASF as one of the largest and most experienced chemical companies worldwide has acknowledged this by inviting Prof. Matros as a speaker on the occasion of its 125th anniversary in 1990 ... Prof. Matros has, besides his excellent research work, emphasized sharing of his knowledge with the scientific community. Excellent textbooks and numerous publications have contributed to the spread of scientific progress around the world.” Another example of a recommendation includes the following fragment from the Head of Institute of Chemishe Verfahrenstechick of the University Stuttgart, Prof. Gerhat Eigenberger from April 23, 1992: “This letter attests to academic and experimental credentials of Dr. Y. Sh. Matros ... Dr. Matros is director on leave of the Department of Unsteady State Catalysis Processes in Novosibirsk, Russia. The institute of Catalysis is the best known and the highly respected institution on Catalysis in the whole former Soviet Union, and Dr. Matros is certainly one of its internationally best known researchers and representatives. Among his many achievements in the field of catalytic reaction engineering, I consider as highest his contributions to the dynamic operation of fixed bed reactors with periodic flow reversal, which is now referred to as the «Matros reactor» concept ...”

His main scientific results, however, were developed from the 1970s to 1995. These results showed a new direction in theory and practice of forced unsteady-state processes in heterogeneous catalytic reactors as a way to significantly increase the efficiency of catalytic processes as a whole. Matros faced criticism by his opponents who claimed that he wants to construct a "perpetuum mobile". In reality, however, his theory was proven to be true, and now most chemical engineering science teams of universities and industry use it. The most frequently encountered example of unsteady-state operation is the reverse flow system (Matros reactor) in which the flow through reactor with fixed bed of catalysts is periodically reversed in order to store heat and/or mass, to regenerate heat/catalysts in situ, or to avoid kinetic limitation of a system at equilibrium.

His more than thirty years of academic and applied research has been focused on the gas-solid fixed and fluidized bed reactors. In the 1960s and 1970s, he analyzed various levels of mathematical modeling of catalytic reactors, beginning with the reaction process over the catalyst surface and ending with the processes in catalyst pellet and catalytic reactor itself. As one of the first researchers in the field, he described non-standard patterns of fixed bed reactor behavior, such as wrong way behavior and multiplicity of steady-state solutions. He contributed greatly to the theory of formation and movement of creeping fronts through the packed bed.

Matros was born in Odessa, Ukraine in 1937. As an overachieving student, he graduated from Odessa National Polytechnic University in 1959 with a red diploma (highest academic distinction). After four years of research at this university, while simultaneously working at the Novosibirsk chemical plant, he received his PhD degree in 1964. His science career was developed at the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis in its world-famous science center in the academic city of Novosibirsk (Akademgorodok), where in 1974 he received the degree of full doctor of chemical engineering and the official academic title of professor. Afterwards he became the head of the department which studied unsteady state processes in catalysis.

Former president of the Siberian Branch of Academy of Sciences of USSR (1925–2013) (now Russian Academy of Sciences), Gury Marchuk remarked that this was the most influential idea in chemistry during last 50 years.