David V. Boger
University of Melbourne
1939 – Present
Chemical Engineer
Fellow, Elected 2016
David V. Boger served as Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Monash University until 2015. He received a B.S. in 1961 from Bucknell University, a M.S. in 1964 from the
University of Illinois, and a Ph.D. in 1965 from the University of Illinois, all in Chemical Engineering. His career spans five decades, beginning at Monash University in 1965 before moving
across town to the University of Melbourne. At the University of Melbourne, he served as Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering, Deputy Director of the Advanced Mineral Products
Centre, and Director of the Particulate Fluid Processing Centre. He also served as the Deputy Dean and Associate Dean for Research, in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Melbourne.
Dr. Boger’s research in rheology ranges from basic polymer and particulate fluid mechanics to applications in the minerals, coal, oil, food, and polymer industries. He is most well-known for
his discovery of constant-viscosity elastic fluids, known widely as Boger fluids. Many of the important insights into the extensional rheology of polymer solutions (for example the development
of filament stretching devices and capillary-breakup extensional rheometry) has relied on the use of Boger fluids. Dr. Boger’s own work with polymer solutions has utilized the well-behaved
viscoelastic properties of these fluids to aid in the understanding of industrially-relevant processes involving the breakup of viscoelastic jets and filaments, spraying, and surface impact of
viscoelastic droplets. His work has also contributed significantly to understanding yield stress phenomena, development of the vane method and other techniques for laboratory characterization
of yield stress fluids. Because of these studies, several sources of experimental error associated with measuring yield stress have been identified and addressed. Through this research, he also
developed the “slump test” and the “bucket rheometer”, used by plant operators to quickly and accurately determine the yield stress of slurries in mineral processing. Dr. Boger also contributed
to our understanding of the effects of surface chemistry and interparticle interactions in controlling rheological properties and the stability of suspensions. This understanding has led to the
development of criteria that allow processing of mineral slurries at maximum packing volume possible while retaining the desired properties of the particulate phase. Dr. Boger is known for
developing an industrial solution, called dry disposal, for the disposal of “red mud” (the waste product arising from processing bauxite ore to extract alumina), reducing its volume by about 50%.
The use of this technique allows the recovery of valuable raw materials and has been critical to developing environmentally-acceptable processes for mining low-grade bauxite in Western Australia.
His research has resulted in the development of a methodology in which the fluidity of high wax content crude oils is maintained for unimpeded pipeline transport, allowing significant financial
gains to the oil industry. Dr. Boger has published over 350 journal articles and conference proceedings, co-authored five books, four of which are specific to rheology, and patented the “Coal
Treatment Process” in the Commonwealth of Australia and Germany. Dr. Boger was instrumental in establishing the Australian Society of Rheology and previously served as its President. He served
as the Australian Delegate to the International Committee on Rheology from 1978-1983 and again from 1990-2004. He has been recognized with many awards, including the Medallion (1994) of the
Australian Society of Rheology, the Walter Ahlström Environmental Prize (1995) of the Finnish Academies of Technology, the Gold Medal (2004) of the British Society of Rheology, and Fellowship (2007)
in the Royal Society of London. In 2017, he was elected to the US National Academy of Engineering.