Sydney Percy Smith Andrew. 16 May 1926—2 November 2011

Abstract

Sydney Andrew was an outstanding chemical engineer. His career with ICI was notable, culminating in the rare distinction of appointment as senior research associate. Early work when he was a plant manager led to the development of a systematic procedure for plant maintenance, the forerunner of ‘critical path scheduling’, now widely used for planning complex construction and maintenance projects. Syd did pioneering work on the absorption of gases into liquids where the dissolved gas reacts with the liquid. He helped to develop catalysts for the steam reforming of naphtha, leading to the installation of many plants to provide gas for domestic use; these plants replaced the numerous plants for making town gas from coal. Producing syn-gas from naphtha was beneficial for making ammonia and methanol; several plants were built in India and Japan.