Ruhr-Universität Bochum
Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. Dr.-Ing. e. h. W. Wagner†
On August 12th, Prof. em. Dr.-Ing. habil. Dr.-Ing. e.h. Wolfgang Wagner passed away suddenly and unexpectedly. Prof Wagner headed the Chair of Thermodynamics at the Ruhr-University Bochum from 1975 to 2006. During this time, he built up the international reputation that the chair still enjoys today. Developments in the field of density, sorption and viscosity measurements with magnetic suspension balances and the development of a new generation of highly accurate empirical equations of state have given new impetus to thermodynamic property research, which is primarily relevant to energy technology. To this day, property models developed under his leadership for natural gases, water and numerous other reference fluids are regarded as international standards.
We mourn the loss of a great scientist, a colleague who was always friendly, had integrity and endeavoured to achieve a balance, and a friend. Our condolences go out to his family.
The Chair of Thermodynamics had been headed by Prof. Wagner from 1975 to 2006. During this time, the research fields listed below had been worked on. The fields "Equations of State" and "Software Development" had been continued to be worked on by Prof. Wagner until the end of 2020. Since then the further development and distribution of the software is done by the engineering office Dr.-Ing. N. Kurzeja (Norbert.Kurzeja@rub.de).
Development of equations of state for pure fluid substances and mixtures.
Development of software for the calculation of thermodynamic properties (state variables) from equations of state for scientific and industrial applications.
Precision density measurement systems
Development of density measurement methods and design of precision densimeters (e.g. two-sinker densimeters).
pρT-data
Measurements of the density (pρT-data) of gases and liquids over wide ranges of temperature and pressure.
Viscosity-density measuring apparatus
Design of an apparatus for combined measurements of viscosity and density of gases.
Magnetic suspension balances
Development of special magnetic suspension balances for the measurement of thermophysical properties, e.g. density, viscosity, adsorption, solubility, etc.
Critical point
High precision density measurements to investigate the special state behavior of pure fluid substances directly at the critical point.
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Last update: Mar 10, 2025
