Biography
Dr. Kevin Hanley is Senior Lecturer in Chemical Engineering and deputy Head of Research Institute at the School of Engineering in the University of Edinburgh.
His research focuses mainly on the simulation of systems of granular materials of relevance to both the chemical engineering (pneumatic conveyors, silos, granulators) and civil engineering (dams, sand element tests) disciplines. Granular materials are ubiquitous. Around three-quarters of the raw materials used in industry are in a particulate form. Lots of economically significant, and safety-related, problems remain in handling these materials.
A major advantage of simulations is the ready availability of information which is difficult, if not impossible, to measure experimentally such as the forces acting on each individual particle at tiny time intervals. However, physical experiments remain essential to supplement the simulations, e.g., for calibration of model parameters and validation of any implemented model.