Prof. Chen's 1966 article is now an ASME classic

Among heat-transfer experts, especially those who design refrigeration systems, power generators, chemical plants and oil refineries, John Chen has a world-wide reputation.

Chen, the Carl R. Anderson Professor of chemical engineering and former RCEAS dean, has published more than 200 technical articles in his 40-year career.

None has had as lasting an impact as "Correlation for Boiling Heat Transfer to Saturated Fluids in Convective Flow," which was published in 1966 in the journal Industrial and Engineering Process Design and Development, now known as I&EC Research.

Recently, Chen received the Classic Paper Award from the Heat Transfer Division of ASME (the American Society of Mechanical Engineers) International for his 1966 article. The award recognizes seminal papers published at least 15 years ago that are "particularly exceptional in their contribution to the technology and science of heat transfer."

In the 37 years since it was published, Chen's article has been used as a reference by countless other scholars. The model he created, now known as the "Chen Method," is described in almost all heat-transfer textbooks.  It predicts the rate of heat transfer in boiling, the process of turning liquid into vapor. His model and correlation helps engineers avoid the guesswork and trial-and-error that previously attended efforts to design phase-change systems.

Chen's model has become the standard for designing vapor-liquid boiling systems used in the chemical, power, refrigeration, petroleum, nuclear and gas industries. It has also found application in electronics, materials engineering, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Chen, who is the first non-mechanical engineer to win the Classic Paper Award, says he is especially pleased that his research helped shed light on two phenomena - two-phase convective enhancement and nucleate boiling and its suppression due to flow.

The Classic Paper Award is the 17th major national or international award Chen has received. Last year, Chen received the Max Jakob Memorial Award, the top international prize for achievements in the science and technology of heat transfer.