Summary
Biography
| Date | Role | |
|---|---|---|
| 2009- | Associate Provost (Institutional Affairs), Imperial College London | |
| 2008-2010 | Principal of Faculty of Engineering | |
| 2001-2008 | Head of Department, Chemical Engineering | |
| 1995-1999 | Director of UG Studies and Deputy Head of Department, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. | |
| 1994- | Professor of Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. | |
| 1992-1994 | Reader in Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. | |
| 1987-1992 | Senior Lecturer, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. | |
| 1984-1985 | Nuffield Foundation Science Research Fellow. | |
| 1978-1987 | Lecturer, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London. | |
| 1976-1977 | Research Fellow, Chemical Engineering Department, Cambridge University, UK, Field: “Injection Moulding of Thermoplastics and Rubbers” | |
| 1975-1976 | Rolls Royce Research Assistant, Chemical Engineering Department, Cambridge University, UK, Field: “Trans-sonic Flow” | |
| 1972-1975 | PhD in Chemical Engineering, Chemical Engineering Department, Imperial College London, Thesis Title: “Numerical Solution of the 3D Navier-Stokes Equations” |
Research interests
The rapid depressurisation or blowdown of a vessel or pipeline is a standard way of reducing the risk posed by a process emergency. The blowdown itself is, however, also a hazardous operation, the hazard arising from the low temperatures generated in the fluid in the vessel or line. These low temperatures can lead to a drop in the temperature of the walls below the ductile-brittle transition temperature of the steel from which the vessel or line is made. With my colleague, Dr Graham Saville, I have developed a computer program called Blowdown which is the only properly validated program which can simulate and predict what happens during blowdown. It has been extensively used offshore (over 120 oil and gas platforms) and onshore (over 20 gas terminals and many other petrochemicalplants). It has also been used to provide evidence in major accident investigations such as those following the tragedies on Piper Alpha and at Longford.
Links
MFS Multiphase Fluid Systems programme
Selected Publications
Journal Articles
Wakeham WA, Richardson SM, 2021, The Torsional Quartz-Crystal Viscometer, International Journal of Thermophysics, Vol:42, ISSN:0195-928X
Tighe CJ, Maraj MP, Richardson SM, 2021, Sharing good practice in process safety teaching, Education for Chemical Engineers, Vol:36, ISSN:1749-7728, Pages:73-81