AWARDEE OF TECHNOLOGICAL SCIENCES PRIZE

TANG HONGXIAO

Abstract

Tang Hongxiao, Professor, The member of Chinese Academy of Engineering, Academic Director of Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences (RCEES) and State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry (SKLEAC), Chinese Academy of Sciences.
He was born in 1931 in Beijing and there passed the primary and middle school. In 1950, he went to learn in Harbin Polytechnological University and graduated in 1958. His specialty in the university has changed over geology, mining and at last water supply and waste water disposal.
After graduation he was engaged in teaching in the same university and later in Harbin Civil Engineering College on the course of water and wastewater chemistry for about 20 years. In this period, he experienced also many engineering projects and practices at the construction fields.
 From 1977 he came back to Beijing and began to be a scientific researcher in the Institute of Environmental Chemistry and the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences. In later years he was appointed as professor and director of laboratory for water chemistry.
His textbook “Principle of Water and Wastewater Chemistry" was published in 1979. It was printed for three editions and over 30000 copies in amount. 
Many National Research Projects were taken part in or guided by him. Such as the water quality assessments of mercury polluted Canal Ji, lead and cadmium polluted River Xiang and copper polluted lake Boyang, etc., all were finished successful. Through these 16 years scientific activities he has got a lot of experiences to organize field survey and became knowledgeable on heavy metal pollution chemistry and ecology. 
In 1984-1985 He visited Swiss Federal Institute for Water Resources and Water Pollution Control (EAWAG) and studied on the polyferric chloride flocculant under the guiding of famous aquatic chemist Professor W. Stumm. He introduced the worldwide authoritative textbook “Aquatic Chemistry" of Stumm and the achievements of his academic school to Chinese environmental scientists.
In 1989-1995, he constructed and leaded the State Key Laboratory of Environmental Aquatic Chemistry. This Lab was consisted of multi-disciplinary scientists not only on chemistry but also on geosciences, ecology and engineering. They finished many important projects on natural water pollution and waste water treatment, published hundreds papers both in Chinese and English.
He opened in China the research and development field on the inorganic polymer flocculants and engaged in this area for decades. He with many graduated students studied the basics of various types of polyaluminum and polyferric flocculants and constructed several more modern plants to produce these reagents for water and wastewater treatment. They are now developing a composite system of high effective flocculation process and related apparatus.
 In recent years, his research work was also concentrated in the area of aquatic particulate and micro-surface complexation models. Adsorption, surface structure and catalysis, sediment quality criteria and acid deposition on aquatic systems were all in the scope of his studies.
He has published 12 books and more than 200 papers. He is the chief editor of Journal “Acta Scientiae Circumstantiae" and editor of other 5 journals.
In 1955 he was elected to be a Member of Chinese Academy of Engineering.