MSc & PhD IN CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Challenge your creative and technical abilities to configure and design facilities for future living environment under the following research areas:

Separation Processes Separation processes deal with separation and purification of materials based on their physical and chemical properties. Development of novel technologies and process intensification in the areas of absorption, adsorption, distillation and membrane separation are the key areas of research. Special focus is given to natural gas purification such as carbon dioxide and mercury removal. Development of membranes, amine absorbents and carbon-based adsorbents form an important part of this research. The research involves experimental studies as well as process modeling. Current research interests include: Membrane separation Adsorption Absorption Distillation Catalysis & Reaction Engineering Reactors form the heart of petrochemical processes where different feedstocks are converted to valuable chemicals with the help of catalysts. The preparation and characterization of catalysts for various reactions and the process development and reactor are the thrust areas of this research. This research involves direct conversion of CO2 to methanol and gas to liquid technology such as liquid phase methanol conversion and spent catalyst regeneration and metal recovery. Current research interests include: Development of catalyst for dry reforming process Bio-surfactants Methanol via direct hydrogenation Acetic acid from ethane Catalyst regeneration of spent Advanced Process Control Advanced Process Control has assumed great importance to improve plant efficiency, productivity and profit. It covers areas such as process modeling, on line optimization, multivariable process control, plant wide control and statistical process control. Multivariable process control for gas processing plant, neural network/PLS modeling, metering and dispensing of natural gas, pH control for wastewater treatment and artificial intelligence (AI) application in process control are current areas of research. Current research interests include: Megavariate for industry application Multivariable process control Process Integration and Plant Engineering Increase in the production rate to higher levels is often constrained by the capacity of the process equipment. The operating cost can be reduced by process improvement through better energy integration of the overall process or process debottlenecking. The research within this area mainly focuses on developing or improving design methods, which enables the identification of improvement opportunities in process plants. Methods such as Pinch and Exergy analysis and Mixed Integer linear/nonlinear programming are used in this research area. Current research interests include Water minimization in process plant Optimum process configuration for gas processing Heat integration for process plants Environment and Safety Engineering Process safety and pollution control are critical issues in process industries. The research work in environment and safety engineering include the applications of life cycle assessment, the design for the environment concepts, and the techniques for site assessment and remediation. The main thrust of this research involves air pollution, industrial wastewater treatment, solid waste management, process plant safety, and waste recycling. Current research interests include Wastewater treatment Plant safety Air pollution Polymer Engineering Polymer modification is normally used to introduce certain desirable properties to a pre-existing polymer (solid or liquid) without altering its inherent properties. The polymers have to be characterized using high-end instruments such as FTIR, XRD, TGA, DSC and SEM,. The current research focus in this area includes development of polymer composites, biodegradable plastic and development of membranes. Current research interests include: Development of polymeric membrane for CO2 separation Development of polyolefin composite for electronic and automotive applications Development of slow release coating for urea Energy Recovery of oil from depleted oil wells has great economic potential. Various techniques such as surfactants and microbes have been used for enhanced oil recovery (EOR). The current research focus includes the identification and development of suitable surfactants and their characterization for EOR. Other research areas include deashphaltation of oil, dewaxing of crude oil, modeling of multiphase flow, hydrogen and fuel cell. Current research interests include: Hydrogen storage system Development of surfactants for EOR