Our story begins with Dr. Andrew Jenike in the 1950's, wanting to find a field in which he could make a unique and significant engineering and scientific contribution. He chose bulk solids flow, specifically, flow in bins and hoppers. His primary motivation in choosing this field was the low level of technology that existed at the time. Initially, he set up the Bulk Solids Flow Laboratory at the University of Utah to conduct research. He entered full time private practice in 1962, and in 1966, he organized Jenike & Johanson, Inc., putting his knowledge and insight to work solving numerous industrial bulk solids handling problems.
Dr. Jenike is known worldwide as the originator of modern day bulk solids flow theory. Through his research, Dr. Jenike was able to identify and define mass flow, identify basic flow properties of bulk solids, design equipment to measure flow properties, recognize that feeder design affects flow behavior in bins, develop techniques to predict limiting flow rates from bins, and develop equations to predict loading on bin walls.
Dr. Jenike passed away in 2003, but his approach to problem solving persists at Jenike & Johanson. Our engineers continue to provide solutions to difficult problems, based on the sound principles and design guidelines developed by Dr. Jenike. And as much as Dr. Jenike has done to advance this field, there is still much that remains to be learned. Our firm is continuously developing new tools and advancing new theories, all with the goal of solving and preventing bulk solids handling problems.
EXCERPTS FROM SOLID HANDLING AWARD LETTERS
Below is a sampling of quotations taken from letters sent to Dr. Jenike after being informed that he was receiving the Solids Handling Award presented by IMechE, the largest chartered engineering institution in the United Kingdom. Dr. Jenike was the first non-UK recipient of this award in its history.
"There's no doubt that you have made an outstanding contribution to the science and technology of bulk solids handling. The tremendous advances in research and industrial applications of the field of solids handling over the past 30 or more years are due to you directly as well as to the stimulation you have provided to researchers in various countries of the world. For me personally your research has been instrumental in my professional interest and activity in solids handling in Australia." - Prof. Alan W. Roberts, Director, Institute for Bulk Materials Handling Research, The University of Newcastle, Australia
"The fact that many researchers have followed in your footsteps but still have yet to bring about any significant improvements in the procedures established by yourself is a measure of your contribution to the field. Also the establishment of Jenike & Johanson, Inc. with a view to making available the technology to the solids handling community at large should not be overlooked. The fact that this company has now blossomed into one of the premier consulting organizations in the world in this area is a further testament to the contribution of your pioneering work." - Prof. Alan R. Reed, Director, The Wolfson Centre for Bulk Solids Handling Technology, England
"For industry a tremendous step forward has been achieved by your work. The fact that you not only theoretically analyzed the mechanics of powder flow but also have developed with your shear cell an experimental device for determining all relevant properties for silo design in combination with a relatively easy design procedure has helped engineers throughout the world to solve their problems in solids handling. In addition structural questions as well were addressed by your research work." - Dr. Ing. Harald Wilms, Zeppelin
"The standards you've set, both in creative output and written examination, leave no doubt that you are the preeminent voice in bulk solids flow theory and application. Your contribution to my own education were and continue to be invaluable." - Jerry R. Johanson, Ph.D., President of JR Johanson, Inc.
"We all owe you a great debt for envisioning, creating and becoming the driving force for research and development of the bulk solids handling technology that is now being applied all over the world." - Fred Thomson, DuPont (retired)
"Andrew Jenike was the pioneer of bulk solids flow research leading to a proper understanding of storage equipment behavior. His work has saved the industry millions in avoiding loss production and downtime either by the correct initial design of storage systems or the necessary modification of malfunctioning existing installations. On the academic front his work advanced the science of powder flow into a new era and still after so many years forms the design basis of bins, hoppers and silos." - A.S. Goldberg, Director, Powder Advisory Centre, Israel
"Your determination and single mindedness in working each day on applying plasticity theory to soil mechanics made a very big impression on me. It was your quickness in seeing the possibilities of theory that led us to start writing the paper on the flow of solids beyond Coulomb failure within about three weeks. You supplied the ideas and I helped with the details." - Richard T. Shield, Professor, University of Illinois (retired)
"Nobody has influenced my scientific and professional career the way you did. I am still working in bulk solids technology as my main research topic, have already 28 years of experience both in research and application, and the bases of this work are Jenike's radial stress field, Jenike's effective yield locus, and Jenike's method to design silos for mass flow and for reliable flow without flow obstructions." - Prof. Dr. Ing. Jorg Schwedes, Braunschweig University, Germany
"Your pioneering efforts in this field have done much to make bulk solids handling more of an established science than the `black art' that it was before you started your research." - Stan Grossel, Roche Pharmaceuticals
"Your contribution in the field of bulk solids handling and in particular to formulating the theories of materials testing related to hopper design are acknowledged worldwide. We at Bradford are particularly pleased about the award since my colleague, now retired, Dr. John Williams, has been a leading exponent of your work for the last 30 years." - Derek Geldart, Prof. of Powder Technology, University of Bradford, England
"I think that I and all the other previous recipients of the IMechE Solids Handling Award should apologize to you for having the temerity to receive the award before you. In my view no one has made as large a contribution to the subject nor done as much to improve industrial practice as you have done. To my mind your major contribution is in the introduction of new concepts. The idea of a mass flow hopper, one in which the conditions of flow are satisfied at every point in the hopper is the first innovation. Then came the concepts of the material flow function to characterize the particulate material and the flow factor to relate the powder to the hopper. Methods were then devised to measure the required properties and the necessary theory to use this data in hopper design was provided. You didn't leave much for people like me who were trying to pick up the crumbs. Congratulations that you have at last received this award." - Prof. Ing. John Williams, Dept. of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bradford, England
"It is most fitting that your tremendous contribution to the field of bulk solids has been recognized by being selected as a recipient of the IMechE's Solids Handling Award. It is also most appropriate that the first award made outside the UK should be to such a distinguished contributor." - Prof. J. S. (Stan) Mason, Principal and Vice Chancellor Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland
"Your countless contributions to what we now know about the behavior of bulk solids have advanced the science immeasurably. Since your early days of university research in Utah, you have been recognized as a true world known expert." - Sako Safarian, SMH Engineering, Inc.
"The IMechE Solids Handling Award is small recognition considering the tremendous impact that you have had on the solids handling industry in general and in the careers of many people around the world, including me in particular." - Prof. Peter Arnold, Professor, The University of Wollongong, Australia
"These days millions of tons of powdered and particulate materials are handled using bulk solids technology. The safe storage and operation of materials in silos and hoppers is key to a vast array of industries. A major step forward in this achievement must be your contribution on the design of silos and hoppers." - T. Taylor, Chairman, IChemE Particle Technology Group, England
"The Solids Handling Award was a splendid gesture to the man who lit up the way to the mysterious world of bulk material handling." - D. Schlesinger, Dafna Engineering, Ltd., Israel
"The worth of your ideas have proved themselves time and time again. I honor you and I honor your creativity. The reception I get from plant managers who have mass flow bins and hoppers tells me that industry also honors you." - Dr. Harold Wright, Dr. Harold Wright & Associates, England
"I am grateful for the unique contribution which you have most definitely made to the world of bulk solids handling. I believe that the `Jenike Method' for classifying and measuring the flow behavior of solids has and still will influence many decisions in the field of bulk solids." - Prof. Dr. Ing. Farid Rizk, BASF Aktiengesellschaft, Germany
"Your work is still the base from which we can try to expand our knowledge of solids behavior. Even if we have to admit how little still is known, it is good to realize that our first insight in this field was gained while standing on your shoulders." - Gerard Haaker, University of Twente, Netherlands
"Your work opened possibilities for measurement and calculation of mechanical properties and behavior of bulk solids and demonstrates that bulk solids can also behave like liquids, gases, or like solids. You clearly defined flow properties of bulk solids and especially their flow behavior in and out of silos. Many universities around the world opened a new faculty in some countries denominated as `Mechanical Process Technology' being a combination of unit operations in chemical industries and basing on your research work. In industry, design of silos became more and more successful due to performance of Jenike tests of bulk solids." - Bernd Kühnemund, Switzerland
"This is certainly worth our congratulations for a well deserved award and it would be another nice feather in your cap." - Henk Colijn, H. Colijn & Associates
"At Delft all students follow a compulsory basic course in particle technology as part of their chemical technology degree. One part of that course discusses the properties of bulk solids and is lifted straight out of your test and design procedure. For me your very special achievement was to have a good idea, to develop and apply it and then to evangelize it for a prolonged period. Such tenacity is rare." - Prof. B. Scarlett, Delft University of Technology, Holland
"As scientists and engineers, rarely do we accomplish something that changes the way that people think and behave to such a degree that our name becomes synonymous with its application. You achieved this to such a degree that there is no storage bin or other solid flow equipment that at some time has not been designed using your principles and your name." - Reg Davies, DuPont
"Due to your pioneering work in the 50s and 60s bulk solids handling became a science upon which all further development was based. Your theories were the foundation of modern mechanics of particular solids. Your approach had a tremendous impact on the storage and processing of bulk solids in industry. During later years you have always led the way in scientific and technological advancement. Your presentations at symposia and congresses were always the highlight at which unbelievable phenomenon of bulk solids flow were disclosed. You were the first to penetrate into the extremely complex behavior of particulate solids." - Dr. Jan Novosad, Chairman of the Working Party on the Mechanics of Particulate Solids of the European Federation of Chemical Engineering, Czech Republic
"Breathe there the man with soul so deep who ne'er of his fellow man has asked: `What's his angle?' Can anyone deny Andrew Jenike's fame based on an angle of internal friction? You've helped make everyone in the physical sciences aware of a property of bulk solids that has been the key to solving a host of otherwise baffling observations." - Fred Zenz, PEMM Corp.
"I think the work you have done is a significant landmark in the engineering field. On many occasion the student designed projects have included a dominant materials handling component. The students have found your work to be indispensable during the design process." - Virendra M. Puri, Professor, Penn State
"Your tremendous contribution to the field of bulk solids handling, flow and storage is well recognized all over the world." - Muhammad E. Fayed, Professor, Ryerson Polytechnic Institute, Canada
"As a publisher and editor of an international journal in this field I have the distinct feeling that your Utah paper must be the most widely referenced article in this field. I cannot remember any other work that is quoted so often as your fundamental research paper." - Dr. Ing. Reinhart H. Wolhbier, Trans Tech Publications (Bulk Solids Handling), Germany
"It makes me very happy that your pioneering work in developing the only method for safe design of silos for reliable flow is recognized by the Annual IMechE Solids Handling Award." - Gisle G. Enstad, POSTEC Research, Norway
