Wendell Earl Dunn Jr. (August 30, 1922 – December 24, 2007) was an American

chemical engineer In the field of engineering, a chemical engineer is a professional, equipped with the knowledge of chemical engineering, who works principally in the chemical industry to convert basic raw materials into a variety of products and deals with the ...

metallurgist Metallurgy is a domain of materials science and engineering that studies the physical and chemical behavior of metallic elements, their inter-metallic compounds, and their mixtures, which are known as alloys. Metallurgy encompasses both the sc ...

, and inventor. His technologies for high temperature chlorination, gold, tantalum and titanium extraction are still widely used.

Early years

Dunn was the first son of educator

Wendell E. Dunn Wendell Earl Dunn, Sr. (October 5, 1894 – July 26, 1965) was a noted educator, longtime principal of Forest Park High School (Maryland), Forest Park High School in Baltimore (1935–1961), and president of the Middle States Association of Colleg ...

, for many years principal of Forest Park High School in Baltimore, and brother of conductor Thomas Dunn. A graduate of

Baltimore City College Baltimore City College, known colloquially as City, City College, and B.C.C., is a college preparatory school with a liberal arts focus and selective admissions criteria located in Baltimore, Maryland. Opened in October 1839, B.C.C. is the thir ...

and

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, Dunn was also awarded a

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

in chemical engineering from Johns Hopkins. After completing the Harvard/MIT V-12 program in 1944, he was engaged in aircraft terrain avoidance

radar Radar is a detection system that uses radio waves to determine the distance (''ranging''), angle, and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It can be used to detect aircraft, ships, spacecraft, guided missiles, motor vehicles, w ...

research in both the U.S. and occupied Germany. Dunn served as

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

in the U.S. Army Air Corps until 1946.

Chemical research

In 1950 Dunn was a key member of the research and development team at

E.I. DuPont de Nemours DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

Wilmington, Delaware Wilmington ( Lenape: ''Paxahakink /'' ''Pakehakink)'' is the largest city in the U.S. state of Delaware. The city was built on the site of Fort Christina, the first Swedish settlement in North America. It lies at the confluence of the Christina ...

which developed an improved process for the production of high-purity

titanium dioxide Titanium dioxide, also known as titanium(IV) oxide or titania , is the inorganic compound with the chemical formula . When used as a pigment, it is called titanium white, Pigment White 6 (PW6), or CI 77891. It is a white solid that is insolubl ...

for use as a paint pigment. He filed his first sole-inventor U.S. patent in 1954. He remained with the firm for 19 years during which time this process grew to become the dominant technology worldwide. In 1968 Dunn left DuPont to form his own contract research and development firm in Delaware and

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, Australia. He worked closely for several years with a major Australian mining house, Peko-Wallsend, to develop a technology to produce a low-cost titanium process feedstock. Thereafter, Dunn returned to

South Dakota South Dakota (; Sioux language, Sioux: , ) is a U.S. state in the West North Central states, North Central region of the United States. It is also part of the Great Plains. South Dakota is named after the Lakota people, Lakota and Dakota peo ...

and for the next three decades made significant contributions to the field of high-temperature chlorination of metal ores. Between 1975 and 1995 Dunn consulted to international corporations Reynolds Metals, Kerr-McGee and DuPont, among others and performed R&D which formed the bases for several start-up ventures in South Dakota and beyond. He worked with the

Lien Brothers A lien ( or ) is a form of security interest granted over an item of property to secure the payment of a debt or performance of some other obligation. The owner of the property, who grants the lien, is referred to as the ''lienee'' and the pers ...

and others in the

Rapid City Rapid City ( lkt, link=no, Mni Lúzahaŋ Otȟúŋwahe; "Swift Water City") is the second most populous city in South Dakota and the county seat of Pennington County. Named after Rapid Creek, where the settlement developed, it is in western So ...

area to develop processes for the extraction of ultra-pure

niobium Niobium is a chemical element with chemical symbol Nb (formerly columbium, Cb) and atomic number 41. It is a light grey, crystalline, and ductile transition metal. Pure niobium has a Mohs hardness rating similar to pure titanium, and it has sim ...

from ore, and tantalum metals for use in electronic applications, and for the efficient separation and recovery of gold from low-grade ore and scrap. From the late-1980s until the late-1990s Dunn joined with European and Asian interests to develop a process for low-cost titanium-based pigments, and worked in India for months at a time. He was an adjunct faculty member in metallurgy at the

South Dakota School of Mines and Technology The South Dakota School of Mines & Technology (South Dakota Mines, SD Mines, or SDSM&T) is a public university in Rapid City, South Dakota. It is governed by the South Dakota Board of Regents and was founded in 1885. South Dakota Mines offers ba ...

, and was working on a patent application at the time of his death. Dunn had a whimsical side, and in 1979 penned a political satire, ''The Sex Tax.''''The Sex Tax'' complete text
/ref> Dunn is interred in Green Mount Cemetery in Baltimore. He was the nephew of civil engineer Everett Dunn.

References

Selected patents

5,004,500 Chlorination process for recovering gold values from gold alloys Filed: February 13, 1989
4,390,400 Aluminum chloride addition to electrolytic cells Filed: May 26, 1981
4,389,391 Process for beneficiating titaniferous ores Filed: June 28, 1981
4,378,337 Still heating process for purifying aluminum chloride Filed: June 1, 1982
4,363,789 Alumina production via aluminum chloride oxidation Filed: April 20, 1981
4,355,008 Chlorination process Filed: April 20, 1981
4,355,007 Two stage chlorination process for aluminum value containing source Filed: April 20, 1981
4,353,740 Chlorine extraction of gold Filed: September 11, 1981
4,349,516 Process for treating the gas stream from an aluminum value chlorination process Filed: April 20, 1981
4,331,645 Alumina from alkali metal-aluminum chloride complexes Filed: April 20, 1981
4,331,637 Process for purifying aluminum chloride Filed: April 20, 1981
4,211,755 Process for beneficiating titaniferous ores Filed: March 3, 1975
4,085,189 Process for recycle beneficiation of titaniferous ores Filed: May 21, 1976
4,081,507 Process for removing chemisorbed and interstitial chlorine and chlorides from a hot titanium dioxide beneficiate-carbon mixture
Filed October 3, 1975
3,960,203 Fluidized bed cooler Filed: April 9, 1973
3,929,501 Novel titanium dioxide composition Filed: June 4, 1973
3,887,694 Production of chlorine Filed: December 22, 1972
3,865,920 Process for beneficiating a titaniferous ore and production of chlorine and iron oxide Filed: March 14, 1973
3,729,543 Process for preparing alkali-metal tetra-chloroferrate Filed: January 21, 1971
3,724,171 Annular flow condenser Filed: April 29, 1971
3,713,781 Cross-flow fluid bed reactor Filed: October 21, 1970
3,699,206 Process for beneficiation of titaniferous ores Filed: March 23, 1970
3,683,590 Dual flue condenser Filed: April 29, 1971
3,376,112 Production of chlorine through oxidation of film of ferric chloride salt complex Filed Aug 3, 1965
3,153,572 Process for the production of niobium pentachloride Filed Jun 1, 1961
3,107,144 Process for converting

niobium oxychloride Niobium oxychloride is the inorganic compound with the formula NbOCl3. It is a white, crystalline, diamagnetic solid. It is often found as an impurity in samples of niobium pentachloride, a common reagent in niobium chemistry. Structure In th ...

to niobium pentachloride Filed Nov 4, 1960
3,009,773 Chlorination of

Filed Mar 31, 1958
2,856,264 Charging fluidizing gas into fluidized bed reactor Filed Apr 9, 1954

External links

Wendell E. Dunn Jr. on Google Patent

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dunn, Wendell E. 20th-century American chemists Johns Hopkins University alumni Harvard University people American chemical engineers American metallurgists 1922 births 2007 deaths Scientists from Baltimore Writers from Maryland American humorists American political writers American male non-fiction writers 20th-century American inventors 20th-century American male writers Inventors from Maryland