Skip to Main Content U.S. Department of Energy
Energy and Environment Directorate

Rick Orth

Rick Orth

Energy and Efficiency S&T
Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
PO Box 999
Richland, WA 99352
(509) 375-6709

Biography

Dr. Orth joined PNNL in 1992. During his career at PNNL, Dr. Orth has been involved in process development activities both at the technical and project management levels. More specifically, Dr. Orth has been involved with the development of processes for the pretreatment (enzymatic and acid/heat treatment) and subsequent separations of agricultural by-products to produce value-added chemicals. These activities include processes for the recovery of value-added chemicals from wheat mill feed and corn fiber. Other activities have included heat treatment of biosludge, hydrothermal treatment of organic-laden wastewater and hydrothermal treatment for the precipitation of radionuclides from radioactive wastewater. Dr. Orth has is currently managing several projects and is serving as Group Manager for the Chemical and Biological Processes Development Group.

Education and Credentials

  • Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, 1988
  • M.S., Chemical Engineering, Washington State University, 1985
  • B.S., Biology, University of Washington, 1981

Affiliations and Professional Service

  • Technical Proposal Reviewer (National Bioenergy Center), 2004-2005
  • Member of the Minerals, Metals, & Materials Society, (TMS)1988-1996
  • Metals and Materials Waste Reduction, Recovery and Remediation Symposium Co-organizer and Co-editor of Symposium Volume at the 1994 Materials Week, co-sponsored by the Materials Information Society and the Minerals, Metals & Materials Society
  • Reactive Metals Session Organizer and Session Chairman at the 1994 Annual TMS Meeting
  • Journal of Metals Representative for the Reactive Metals
  • Committee, TMS 1993-1994
  • Reactive Metals Committee Chairman for TMS, 1992-1993
  • Reactive Metals Committee Vice-Chairman for TMS, 1991-1992

Selected Publications

2003

  • Orth RJ, C Abbas, and R Shunk. 2003. "Profitable to the Last Drop: New Process Captures Valuable Components from Corn Fiber." Resource. Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 10(3):5-6. 

2002

  • Elliott DC, RJ Orth, J Gao, TA Werpy, DE Eakin, AJ Schmidt, and GG Neuenschwander. 2002. "Biorefinery Concept Development Based On Wheat Flour Milling." In Fuel Chemistry Division Preprints American Chemical Society National Meeting, April 2002, vol. 47, no. 1, pp. 361-362.  American Chemical Society, Washington, DC. 
  • Elliott DC, RJ Orth, TA Werpy, J Gao, DE Eakin, AJ Schmidt, GG Neuenschwander, J Murry, A Flagg, L Lahman, D Mennel, CJ Lin, and R Landucci. 2002. "Biorefinery Concept Development Based on Wheat Flour Milling." In Bioenergy 2002, ed. John Crockett and Charles L. Peterson, p. 35.  Pacific Regional Biomass Energy Program, Boise, ID. 
  • Jones EO, JD Holladay, ST Perry, RJ Orth, RT Rozmiarek, J Hu, MR Phelps, and CE Guzman-Leong. 2002. "Sub-watt Power Using an Integrated Fuel Processor and Fuel Cell ." In Microreaction Technology, IMRET IV - Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Microreaction Technology, ed. M. Matlosz, W. Ehrfield, et al., pp. 277-285.  Springer-Verlag, Berlin, , . 

2001

  • Lilga MA, RJ Orth, JH Sukamto, SD Rassat, JD Genders, and R Gopal. 2001. "Cesium Separation Using Electrically Switched Ion Exchange." Separation Science and Technology 24(3):451-466. 

1999

  • Lilga MA, RJ Orth, and JH Sukamto. 1999. "Metal Ion Separations Using Electrically Switched Ion Exchange." In Metal Separation Technologies Beyond 2000: Integrating Novel Chemistry with Processing., pp. 269-280  Minerals, Metals & Materials Society, Warrendale, PA. 
  • Rassat SD, JH Sukamto, RJ Orth, MA Lilga, and RT Hallen. 1999. "Development of Electrically Switched Ion Exchange Process for Selective Ion Separations." Separation and Purification Technology 15(3):207-222. 

Energy and Environment

About EED

Divisions