John Kramlich

Biography

John Kramlich received his undergraduate degree in Chemical Engineering and his graduate degrees in Environmental and Mechanical Engineering, focusing on the chemical kinetics occurring during energy transformation processes. Following completion of his graduate work in 1980, he joined Energy and Environmental Research Corporation (currently a General Electric subsidiary) in Irvine, California, where he eventually became Vice President for Process Research. During that time, he was involved in basic contract research directed at the development of pollution reduction techniques for large-scale energy systems. He also worked on a number of consulting projects involving energy systems at power plants, oil refineries, and biomass conversion facilities. He joined the UW Department of Mechanical Engineering in 1991. He served as the department's Associate Chair for Academics from 2002 to 2025 and as acting department chair in 2015.

Education

• Ph.D. Mechanical Engineering, Washington State University, 1980
• M.S. Environmental Engineering, Washington State University, 1975
• B.S. Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, 1973

Research Statement

Prof. Kramlich’s two current research interests are:

1. Development of clean residential cookstoves for the developing world, in conjunction with Prof. Jonathan Posner. In conjunction with Burn Design Laboratories the UW team has developed the Kunoikoa, a wood-burning stove that is focused on the rural East Africa market whose goal is both reduced emissions and reduced fuel consumption. This stove is presently manufactured in Kenya. This work has been supported by the US Department of Energy and by Global Good (papers 3, 9 below).
2. The use of supercritical fluids for synthesis, hazardous materials neutralization, and energy conversion, in conjunction with Prof. Igor Novosselov. This chemistry-intensive work focuses on developing a portable system to neutralize nerve agent stockpiles in the field. Out of this has grown fundamental work on characterizing chemical kinetics in the supercritical environment (papers 4, 6, 7, 8, 10 below), work on supercritical reactor design (papers 1, 2, 11 below), as well as work on synthesizing advanced reactive materials (paper 5 below). This work has primarily been funded by the US Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency.

Select publications

1. LI, J., C. AUSTIN, S. MOORE, A. PUROHIT, S. WANG, J. HU, N. CONSOLAZIO, J. C. KRAMLICH, AND I. V. NOVOSSELOV: Ammonia and organic carbon transformation in autogenic continuous flow supercritical water oxidation reactor. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, in press (2025).
2. CHAROENSIN-O-LARN, R. AND J. KRAMLICH: Modeling of soot emission in turbulent diffusion flames impinging on a cold surface. Combustion Science and Technology in press https://doi.org/10.1080/00102202.2024.2390191 (2025).
3. VIJLEE, S. Z., A. PUNDLE, J. C. KRAMLICH: Effects of hydrogen injection and temperature on enhancing homogeneous mercury oxidation by chlorine. Journal of the Air & Waste Management Association, in press (2025).
4. CHAROENSIN-O-LARN, R., A. PUNDLE, AND J. KRAMLICH: A new thermodeactivation model for soot surface reactivity toward O2 in turbulent hydrocarbon diffusion flames. Combustion Science and Technology 196(6), 838-849 (2024).
5. WANG, Z., Z. SHU, S. REN, R. MA, J. KRAMLICH, M. CHEN, AND D. GAO: Development of electromagnetic warming technology for cryopreservation. Annual Review of Heat Transfer 27, 319-356 (2024).
6. RASMUSSEN, E. G., J. C. KRAMLICH, AND I. V. NOVOSSELOV: Synthesis of metal-organic framework HKUST-1 via tunable continuous flow supercritical carbon dioxide reactor. Chemical Engineering Journal 450(1), 138053 (2022).
7. MOORE, S. J., B. R. PINKARD, A. L. PUROHIT, J. A. MISQUITH, J. C. KRAMLICH, P. G. REINHALL, AND I. V. NOVOSSELOV: Design of a small-scale supercritical water oxidation reactor. Part I: experimental performance and characterization. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 60(30), 11450-11457 (2021).
8. PUROHIT, A. L., J. A. MISQUITH, B. R. PINKARD, S. J. MOORE, J. C. KRAMLICH, P. G. REINHALL, AND I. V. NOVOSSELOV: Design of a small-scale supercritical water oxidation reactor. Part II: numerical modeling. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research 60(30), 11458-11469 (2021).

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