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The 2009 Russian Federation National Award in Science and Technology is conferred to Valentin Parmon for his significant contribution to the development of theory and practice of catalytic methods in high-level processing of raw hydrocarbons and use of renewable resources
Valentin Parmon was born on April 18, 1948, in Brandenburg, East Germany. He is the Director of the Boreskov Institute of Catalysis of the Siberian Branch of the Russian Academy of Sciences and a member of the Russian Academy of Sciences.
Mr Parmon is an exceptional scientist and a leading expert in catalysis, photocatalysis, chemical kinetics in condensed phases, chemical radiospectroscopy, chemical methods of energy conversion, non-traditional and renewable energy sources, and thermodynamics of non-equilibrium processes. He is the author and co-author of more than 650 scientific papers, 6 monographs, 6 textbooks and manuals for higher education schools, more than 100 patents.
Working in the field of photocatalysis and applying catalysis in resolving energy problems, Valentin Parmon developed the scientific basis for photocatalytic methods of converting solar energy into chemical energy (through decomposition of water into hydrogen and oxygen in artificial systems). He led the development, engineering and testing of unique solar catalytic reactors that remain today the most effective and well-known (with efficiency of solar energy conversion as high as 43 percent).
Mr Parmon’s scientific achievements include a fundamentally new approach to direct conversion of ionizing radiation into chemical fuel energy, thereby opening prospects for resolving many problems of nuclear and hydrogen energy in the future. He created and tested the first unique uranium-oxide-based catalysts, which combine the functions of nuclear fuel and catalysts to accumulate chemical energy.
Mr Parmon leads a great deal of important, innovative research to develop high-level processing technology for raw hydrocarbons and to restructure the raw materials base in chemical industry and energy sector. The approaches he has founded are currently developed throughout the world and are regarded as critical for obtaining high-quality hydrocarbon fuels from renewable raw materials of vegetable origin.
A new generation of catalysts for engine fuel production was developed and commercialised under Valentin Parmon’s leadership between 2003 and 2006. In just three years of project implementation, the extra production and sales the Russian oil companies achieved was estimated at more than 8.3 billion rubles, which is sixteen times higher than the project’s budget.
Valentin Parmon also directed the development of APG (associated petrol gas) processing technology, thereby resolving the problem of its use, as well as the development and subsequent large-scale industrial use of the newest generations of various catalysts that have a major economic impact on production of nitric acid (saving 200 kilograms of platinum yearly), production of superhard polymers, and are also used in processing industrial and edible fats.
The Boreskov Institute of Catalysis, headed by Mr Parmon, has become one of the nation’s leading institutions in terms of innovative activity in the chemical industry and environmentally-friendly technologies. In cooperation with its European partners, the institute conducts successful work and research in new, promising areas in energy and transportation (production of high-quality fuels from renewable raw materials of vegetable origin, the creation of compact hydrogen generators, etc.)