Remembering Roger Brian Keey, a pioneer in drying technology and Chemeca Award winner

Roger Keey, a pioneer in drying science, died last year aged 89. Shusheng Pang, who went on to follow in Keey’s footsteps as director of Canterbury University’s Wood Technology Research Centre, and Timothy Langrish, who undertook undergraduate studies and a Postdoctoral Fellowship under Keey, look back at the groundbreaking work of their former colleague

KEEY was well-known for his pioneering work on exploring and establishing fundamental theories for solid drying and related heat/mass transfer phenomena. In his main research on drying technology, Keey was central to presenting a clear, concise, and extremely impactful view on drying technology.

His 1972 monograph on “Drying Principles and Practice” was significantly influenced by German texts by Krischer and Kast, nevertheless developing his own perspective. The 1978 monograph “Introduction to Industrial Drying Operations” presents a masterly overview of drying technology, from a transport-phenomena perspective.  His 1992 monograph on “Drying of Loose and Particulate Materials” is a similar masterpiece.

In drying, he was a strong proponent of the concept of a Characteristic Drying Curve (CDC), emphasising its utility, ease of application, and its fitness for purpose, as well as its theoretical roots. Through this CDC concept, Keey has had an enormous practical impact on many industries that use drying on a worldwide basis, again breaking through the obfuscation and waffle that can impede progress.

His quantitative approach to risk management and safety research was also seminal in cutting through the hand-waving and obfuscation that occasionally marks this area. It was an outstanding complement to his outstanding work on drying technology.

'Absolutely captivating'

Timothy Langrish, a professor at The University of Sydney’s School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, remembers an inspirational lecturer: “As a teacher, I have a strong personal view that he was the best teacher of transport phenomena that I have ever seen or heard, and I found his lectures absolutely captivating. He put a great effort into putting his own professional and professorial mastery view into each word and diagram in his lectures, and his teaching style has been a great source of inspiration to me.”

Another colleague, Miles Kennedy (Emeritus Professor at the University of Canterbury), meanwhile, when writing in 1998 to nominate Keey for a Fellowship of the Royal Society of New Zealand, spoke of his wide-ranging influence in the field: “…in 1965, Dr Keey had already begun to establish a solid reputation for his research and teaching in mass transfer operations – a field that lies at the heart of chemical engineering. He soon determined that at that time, drying is critical, technically and economically, in the manufacture of such diverse products as salt and sugar; wool and wallboards; pulp and paper; milk powders and gelatine; clayware and coffee; casein and lucerne; seeds and soap; and instant foods, cement and timber. Drying operation has such significance in regard to the quality and cost of so many of New Zealand's manufactured products, and no other operation had been so steeped in folklore and so shrouded in mystery and empiricism.”

Chemeca Award

Keey’s outstanding work was recognised worldwide. In 1992, he was the recipient of the Proctor and Gamble Award for Excellence in Drying Technology and in 2005 the highly prestigious Chemeca Award for services to chemical engineering in Australasia. He was appointed Professor Emeritus at the University of Canterbury in 1997.

Shusheng Pang conducted his PhD studies with Keey on timber drying, and after a period of working away, rejoined Keey’s team at the University of Canterbury. Pang remembers very well that although being serious and rigorous on research and teaching, Keey showed humour and warm hospitality in social life. Keey also had very broad interests including plant botany, drawing and novel writing, to mention a few.

Keey was also a very fine man, quite knowledgeable and wonderful, a great supporter and friend, and he is greatly missed.