James B. Riggs

jim.riggs@ttu.edu

 

Professor
Department of Chemical Engineering
Texas Tech University
6th and Canton
Mail Stop 3121
Lubbock, TX 79409-3121
(806) 742-1765

Jim Riggs

Personal Information:


Dr. Riggs, a Professor of Chemical Engineering, earned his B.S. degree in 1969 and his M.S. degree in 1972, both from the University of Texas at Austin. In 1977, he earned his Ph.D. from the University of California at Berkeley. Dr. Riggs has been a university professor for the past 18 years with the first five years being spent at West Virginia University and is currently a professor of Chemical Engineering at Texas Tech University. In addition, he has a total of over five years industrial experience in a variety of capacities. His research interests have centered on nonlinear process-model-based control (PMBC), plant-wide control, and online process optimization. His nonlinear PMBC work has mainly been concerned with control of multi-unit processes (recycle reactors, extractor/stripper systems, FCC processes, coal fired boilers) and distillation systems (high purity distillation, sidestream draw columns, extractive distillation, and crude columns) using detailed simulations of industrial processes. He is also working on unit-wide and plant-wide optimization. Over the past four years, Dr. Riggs has been serving as a control consultant to industry assisting in the commercial implementation of nonlinear PMBC for distillation control, with several notable installations. Dr. Riggs has received awards for both his teaching and research and is the author of two books. An Introduction to Numerical Methods for Chemical Engineers, 2nd Edition, has been used as a required text by over 35 chemical engineering departments in the US and Canada, and Chemical Process Control, published in the spring of 1999.