William C. Pfefferle



William C. Pfefferle (born Philadelphia, Pennsylvania - December 28, 2010) was an American scientist and inventor.

Nicknamed the "father of catalytic combustion," he invented the original catalytic combustor for gas turbine engines in the early 1970s. Gas turbines work by mixing fuel with compressed and heated air, which burns and generates energy to turn the turbines. Unfortunately, nitrogen oxide gases, which contribute to global warming, are emitted during this process. Dr. Pfefferle developed a process that uses a catalyst (a substance used to speed up a chemical reaction) to allow combustion without the significant formation of nitrogen oxides and carbon monoxide.

After 20 years with Engelhard Industries, he became co-founder of Precision Combustion in North Haven, CT in 1986. He continues to work as Principal Investigator. Dr. Pfefferle has dedicated his career to developing clean and efficient technologies for combustion engines. He has also invented the Microlithundefined catalytic reactor for automobiles and fuel processing and the RCL catalytic combustor for ground-power gas turbine machines.

Professional career
Precision Combustion Inc., North Haven, CT, 1986–2010  Chief Scientist/Co-Founder Inventor and developer (with others) of PCI’s catalytic combustor(RCLundefined) and Microlithundefined catalytic reactor technologies. Principal investigator on over twenty federally funded projects.

William C. Pfefferle Associates, NJ, 1977–1986 Consultant on several projects included a heavy oil burning downhole steam system for Dresser Industries.

Engelhard Industries, Iselin, NJ, 1969–1977 Research Associate  Invented Engelhard catalytic combustor technology. Developed catalysts for environmental control, alternate fuels.

Engelhard Industries, Iselin, NJ, 1956–1969 Section Head  Invented Magnaforming. In charge of research on petrochemical processes. Pioneered field of permeation mediated catalysis. Developed Engelhard program for phosphoric acid fuel cells.

Standard OilStandard Oil of Indiana (now BP), 1952–1956 Research Chemist

Honors and accolades

 * 1990 Inductee - New Jersey Inventors Hall of Fame
 * 2003 Honoree - American Chemical Society's Industrial Innovation Awards

U.S. patents held

 * 3,928,961 - Catalytically Supported Thermal Combustion. This is the basic patent in a group of over ten covering technology for burning fuels in continuous combustion systems (such as gas turbines and furnaces) without formation of pollutants while improving efficiency.
 * 3,392,107 - Magnaforming. This process for raising octane is now used to produce much of the world's gasoline, improving product yields and lengthening catalyst life.
 * 5,636,511 - Gas Turbine Torch Assembly
 * 5,634,784 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,601,426 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,593,299 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,531,066 - Fuel Injector and Ignitor Assembly
 * 5,466,651 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,453,003 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,440,872 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,437,152 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,421,154 - Exhaust Temperature Control
 * 5,417,933 - Catalytic Method
 * 5,376,345 - Catalytic Method and Apparatus
 * 5,342,591 - Microlith Catalyst Reaction System
 * 5,234,882 - Catalyst Coating Method
 * 5,146,881 - Catalytic Glow Plug
 * 5,051,241 - Microlith Catalytic Reaction System
 * 4,918,915 - Method for Clean Incineration of Wastes
 * 4,905,658 - Catalytic Valve for I.C. Engines
 * 4,896,636 - Catalytic Glow Plug
 * 4,864,811 - Method for Destroying Hazardous Organics
 * 4,819,595 - Method of Operating Catalytic Ignition Cyclic Engines
 * 4,811,707 - Method of Operating Catalytic Ignition Cyclic Engines
 * 4,773,368 - Method of Operating Catalytic Ignition Cyclic Engines
 * 4,646,707 - Method of Operating Catalytic Ignition Cyclic Engines
 * 4,603,547 - Catalytic Relight Coating for Gas Turbine
 * 4,439,136 - Thermal Shock Resistant Spherical Plate Structures
 * 4,407,785 - Minimizing Catalytic Activity Variations in Catalytic Gas Phase Reactions
 * 4,402,662 - Shock Resistant Catalysts
 * 4,384,843 - Combustion Method, Apparatus with Catalytic Tubes
 * 4,341,662 - Method of Catalytically Coating Low Porosity Ceramics
 * 4,337,028 - Catalyst Monolith
 * 4,295,818 - Catalytic Monolith and Method of Its Formulation
 * 4,287,090 - Method and Composition of Treating Flue Deposits
 * 4,276,203 - Catalytic System and Process for Producing It
 * 4,239,499 - Production of Synthetic Natural Gas (SNG) from Methanol
 * 4,094,142 - Turbine System Method and Apparatus
 * 4,073,716 - Process for Producing SNG and High Octane Motor Fuel
 * 4,065,917 - Method of Starting Combustion System Utilizing Catalyst
 * 4,019,316 - Method of Starting Combustion System Utilizing Catalyst
 * 4,011,839 - Low NOx Internal Combustion Engine
 * 3,982,879 - Low NOx Catalytic Furnace
 * 3,975,900 - Gas Turbine Catalytic Combustor Temperature Control
 * 3,940,923 - Reheat Gas Turbine Engine
 * 3,923,011 - Low NOx Internal Combustion Engine
 * 3,914,090 - Low NOx Catalytic Furnace
 * 3,875,047 - Pt Re Reforming Process
 * 3,846,979 - Two Stage Combustion Process
 * 3,705,095 - Use of Pt Re Catalysts in Magnaforming Process
 * 3,705,094 - Use of Pt Re Catalysts in Magnaforming Process
 * 3,679,578 - Platinum Rhenium Paraffinic Naphtha Reforming Process
 * 3,676,329 - Use of Pt Re Catalysts in Reforming Process
 * 3,676,328 - Use of Pt Re Catalysts in Reforming Process
 * 3,658,691 - Serial Reforming: Pt Re on Acidic and Non Acidic Base
 * 3,646,236 - Disproportionation of Toluene
 * 3,620.962 - Low Pressure Hydrocracking Process
 * 3,595,805 - Steam Reforming with Preliminary Hydrodesulfurization
 * 3,567,624 - Hydroforming with Preliminary Desulfurization
 * 3,481,722 - Process for Producing Hydrogen
 * 3,375,191 - Hydrocracking without Net Hydrogen Consumption
 * 3,344,586 - Gas Separation Apparatus
 * 3,290,406 - Process for Dehydrogenation
 * 3,278,268 - Method for Hydrogen Production
 * 3,264,207 - Controlling Hydrogen Partial Pressure in Reforming
 * 3,251,652 - Process for Producing Hydrogen
 * 3,241,293 - Diffusion Purification of Gases
 * 3,198,604 - Hydrogen Generating System
 * 3,144,313 - Diffusion Purification of Gases
 * 3,138,948 - Hydrogen Measuring System
 * 3,087,112 - Trace Gas Analyzer
 * 2,989,574 - Inhibition of Polymer Formation in Alkylation

Published work

 * A Compact Catalytic Combustor System for Small Turbogenerators. ASME International Joint Power Conference, 1997 (with G.Kraemer, T. Strickland, and J. Ritter).
 * Compact, High Efficiency Catalytic Muffler for Utility Engines, Issues in Emissions Control Technology, SAE, 1997 (with S. Etemad, R. Sun, and S. Roychoudhury).
 * Development and Performance of Microlith Light-Off Preconverters for LEV/ULEV. Low Emission Vehicle Technologies, SAE, 1997 (with S. Roychoudhury, G. Muench, J. Bianchi, and F. Gonzales).
 * Experimental & Modeling Results for an Advanced Gas Catalytic Combustor for Gas Turbine Engines. Third Workshop on Catalytic Combustion, AIChE, 1996 (with H. Karim and G. Kraemer).
 * Catalytically Stabilized Incineration of Chlorinated Hydrocarbons. Innovative Hazardous Waste Treatment Technology Series, H. Freeman, ed., Technomic Publishing Company, 1990.
 * Catalysis and Combustion. Catalysis Reviews, J. Carberry, ed., 1987 (with L.D. Pfefferle).
 * Catalytically Stabilized Combustion. Prog. Energy Comb. Science, N.A. Chigier, ed., Pergamon   Press, 1986 (with L.D. Pfefferle).