NEW YORK, July 27, 2009 -- Robert O. Brandt Jr., P.E., a resident of Wilmington, N.C., and technical director of Eastern Instruments, was recognized by ASME for a paper titled “Fuel Air Ratio with Accurate Primary and Tempering Air Measurement in a Pulverized Coal Fired Utility.” He received the Society’s Prime Movers Committee Award.
The award, established in 1954, recognizes outstanding contributions to the literature of thermal electric station practice or equipment which are available through public presentation and publication. It was presented to Mr. Brandt during the ASME Power Conference held in Albuquerque, N.M., July 21 through 23.
Brandt started his career as a project engineer in the paper industry in 1965, and was first exposed to power plants. In 1972, he started Brandt Instruments to produce air flow and pneumatic instrumentation. After selling Brandt Instruments in 1984, he co-founded Eastern Instruments.
Initially a consulting company, Eastern Instruments began to design its own products in addition to providing consulting services. This resulted in the company’s first successful commercial product to measure solid particles in a flowing stream. Introduced in the mid-1990s, these products were used mainly in food processing.
Next, a line of air flow measurement products was introduced in the late-1990s. In addition to serving the utilities and industrial markets, Eastern Instruments designed and built special air flow measurement equipment for the U.S. Navy which met very accurate requirements, traceable to NIST (±0.1 percent comparison to reference), with flow rates exceeding one million pounds per hour.
Current projects include a new valve design which has no stem; the trim is held in a magnetic field, and the position is measured and controlled magnetically.
Since 1974, Brandt has been awarded approximately 30 U.S. patents in the fields of fluid mechanics, instrumentation and thermodynamics.
A member of ASME, Brandt has presented papers at a number of recent ASME Power conferences.
Brandt is also member of the National Society of Professional Engineers and Tau Beta Pi, North Carolina Alpha.
Brandt earned bachelor’s degrees in mechanical and electrical engineering at North Carolina State University, Raleigh, in 1965, and is a registered professional engineer in North Carolina.
About ASME:
ASME helps the global engineering community develop solutions to real world challenges. Founded in 1880 as the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, ASME is a not-for-profit professional organization that enables collaboration, knowledge sharing and skill development across all engineering disciplines, while promoting the vital role of the engineer in society. ASME codes and standards, publications, conferences, continuing education and professional development programs provide a foundation for advancing technical knowledge and a safer world.
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