Beijing Daily client reporter learned from Tianjin University that at 12 o'clock on April 6, 2022, Yu Guoqun, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a famous chemical expert and a professor at Tianjin University, died in Tianjin at the age of 100. In accordance with the wishes of Mr. Yu Guochun himself and his family, everything about the funeral was simple.
Born in November 1922 in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, Yu Guochun graduated from the Department of Chemical Engineering of Southwest Union University in 1943, studied for a master's degree and a doctorate degree at the University of Michigan and the University of Pittsburgh in the United States in 1945, taught at the University of Pittsburgh after graduation, was selected into the list of American scientists in 1950, broke through many obstacles in the summer of the same year, and resolutely returned to the motherland, being one of the first scholars to return to the United States. He began working in the Department of Chemical Engineering of Tianjin University in 1952 and joined the China Association for the Promotion of Democracy in 1953. In 1991, he was elected as an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Yu Guochun is the founder of the discipline of rectification and separation in mainland China, the forerunner of modern industrial rectification technology, the pioneer of chemical separation engineering science, has been engaged in chemical separation science and engineering research for a long time, and has done systematic and pioneering work in the field of basic research, achievement transformation and industrialization of rectification technology.
He put forward a relatively complete theory of unstable distillation and the "two-tower method" for concentrating heavy water, which solved the key problem of heavy water separation and made important contributions to the start of nuclear technology in New China and the breakthrough of "two bombs and one satellite".
Facing the major needs of the mainland's economic construction, he carried out research on new technologies for large-scale industrial distillation towers, laid the theoretical foundation for modern rectification technology, formed "efficient packing tower technology with new tower internal parts", completely broke the monopoly of foreign technology, and effectively promoted the leapfrog development of the petrochemical industry in the mainland.
He is committed to the research of basic chemical engineering theory, proposing the "residual-library" equation of vapor-liquid equilibrium composition and temperature relationship theory, creating a new research field of computational mass transfer, and leading the development of chemical separation discipline.
He is an outstanding educator in the mainland, the first batch of doctoral supervisors in the mainland, and has trained nearly 100 doctoral and master students, and has sent a large number of professionals to the chemical industry in the mainland. He has won the National Science Conference Award, the National Science and Technology Progress Award, the He Liang HeLi Foundation Science and Technology Progress Award, the First Prize of the National Teaching Achievement Award, and won the National May Day Labor Medal and the National Outstanding Scientific Research Worker, Tianjin Special Labor Model and other honorary titles.
As a scientific research worker, Yu Guochun always kept in mind that when Premier Zhou Enlai inspected Tianjin University in 1959, he asked him to produce his own "heavy water" for the honor of the motherland. "Fighting for a breath" has also become his life's belief. He often said: "I not only want to fight for a breath myself, but also pass on the spirit of 'fighting for a breath', so that more young people can face the phenomenon of developed countries controlling the import of high and new technologies into China, and continue to 'fight for a breath' for China!" ”
As a teacher, Mr. Yu Guochun also gave undergraduates an innovative course on "Development and Innovation of Chemical Engineering Disciplines" at the age of 85; at the age of 90, he is still supervising doctoral students; and at the age of 97, he is still writing theoretical books. "To have a lofty ambition to serve the country" and "to do a good job in his daily work" are his hopes for young people.