Randall E. Winans

Randall E Winans 06-1988 Henry H. Storch Award in Fuel Chemistry sponsored by Exxon Research & Engineering Co. RANDALL E. WINANS of Argonne National Laboratory is one of the leading authorities on relationships between coal structure and reactivity. He has sought to determine these relationships via two contrasting approaches: characterization studies, in which complex coal macromole-, cules are broken down into simpler, more recognizable structures, and artificial coalification studies, in which coal-like structures are synthesized from lignin and other materials. Coals consist largely of complex and insoluble macromolecules of varied structures. The elucidation of these structures to facilitate the development of improved method for the conversion of coal into usable fuels and chemicals has been the major focus of Winans' research. Very few techniques provide direct structural information on intact coal samples. Therefore, coal chemists have frequently used degradation techniques to break down the matrix into components that can be determined analytically. However, commonly used pyrolytic and oxidative degradation techniques result in secondary reactions or extensive degradation of the basic structural units contained in coal. Winans and coworkers therefore developed a mild oxidation procedure involving the refluxing of coal with pyridine and iodine, followed by oxidation with alkaline silver oxide. The procedure forms a soluble material with little or no alteration of chemical structure. Studies based on this technique have led to a new theory on the aromatic character of coals. Previously, it had been thought that aromatics dominate coal structure. However, in lower-rank coals with less than 80% carbon content, results of Winans' mild oxidation procedure suggest that single-ring aromatics are the major structural unit. In addition to his analytical work, Winans, in association with Ryoichi Hayatsu of Argonne, has succeeded in preparing coal-like structures from biological materials in a geologically realistic environment. One of Winans' colleagues notes that this work necessitated a rethinking of then-current theories on the origin of coals. Winans received a B.S. in chemistry from Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Mich., and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in physical organic chemistry from Cornell University. Following a postdoctoral appointment at Argonne, Winans signed on as a full-time employee of the laboratory, where he is currently group leader of coal chemistry. C&EN November 16, 1987