Allan H. Harvey (Fed)

Brief Biography

After obtaining his Ph.D. at Berkeley, Dr. Harvey was a National Research Council Postdoctoral Associate at NIST's Gaithersburg, Maryland campus. He then worked in private industry for four years, implementing thermophysical properties and phase equilibria in chemical process simulation software. In 1994, he returned to NIST at its Boulder, Colorado facility. His work involves stewardship of NIST databases for fluid thermophysical properties, representing NIST in international research and standards efforts (particularly those involving properties of water and steam), and performing research to advance knowledge of fluid properties for metrology and industry. Dr. Harvey also serves as Editor of the Journal of Physical and Chemical Reference Data, which is co-published by NIST and the American Institute of Physics.

Google Scholar Citation Page

Research Interests:

Molecular Modeling for Thermophysical Properties
Much of Dr. Harvey's research involves application of molecular modeling to predict thermophysical properties for systems where measurement is impractical or inaccurate. He collaborates with theoretical chemists and physicists who produce first-principles intermolecular potential energy surfaces that can be used to calculate virial coefficients (corrections to the ideal gas law). Applications include water and its mixtures with common gases (important for humidity standards, combustion gases, and CO₂ sequestration), higher virial coefficients of helium and argon (important in metrology), correcting gas-saturation vapor pressure measurements for deviation from ideal-gas behavior, and molecular calculation of diffusive fractionation of water isotopes in air for atmospheric and climate science.

Properties of CO₂-Rich Mixtures
Thermophysical properties of carbon dioxide and CO₂-rich mixtures are a focus of current research. This work has been partially funded by the U.S. Department of Energy, and is geared toward properties needed for combustion and synthesis gases in advanced power cycles, properties for carbon capture and sequestration, and use of supercritical CO₂ as a working fluid in solar, nuclear, and other power cycles.

Modeling Dielectric and Optical Properties of Fluids
The dielectric constant and refractive index of fluids are important in a variety of practical situations, and also are needed for certain applications in metrology. Dr. Harvey has worked to apply molecular and thermophysical information to the estimation and correlation of these properties in several contexts, including a model for the dielectric constant of natural gas mixtures, a description of the effect of dissolved air on the refractive index of water at UV and visible frequencies, and virial coefficients from theory for the density dependence of the dielectric constant and refractive index of noble gases for use in metrology.

Standards for Properties of Water and Aqueous Systems
Dr. Harvey is a leader in international efforts to produce standards for the thermophysical properties of water in all its phases (including the “steam tables” widely used in industry), and of important aqueous mixtures. He has chaired the Working Group on Thermophysical Properties of Water and Steam of the International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (IAPWS), and continues to contribute to IAPWS efforts. Current and recent projects include a new reference equation of state for the properties of heavy water, standard representations of the sublimation and melting curves of ice, a formulation for the static dielectric constant of heavy water, and a formulation for the self-diffusion constant of water.

Honorary Fellow, International Association for the Properties of Water and Steam (2016)

Fellow, American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) (2013)

NIST Bronze Medal (2011)
For application of molecular-based calculations to practice for advanced power generation cycles, humidity standards, and fundamental metrology

NIST Measurement Services Award (1996)
For development of the Standard Reference Database for the properties of water and steam