Chemical Engineering/ Advanced Separation Processes/ Water & Wastewater Treatment/ Environmental Pollution Control

 

  • Water and Wastewater Treatment
  • Adsorption, Novel adsorbents, Nanomaterials and Novel bionanocomposites
  • Ion Exchange  
  • Coagulation Separations and Development of New formulations
  • Hydrodynamic Cavitation and technology development
  • Environmental Pollution Control
  • Process Integration and Hybrid processes
  • Mathematical Modeling and Simulation

 

  • We are working in the area of Separation Science & Catalytic Reaction Engineering. At NCL, we are also working with Indian industries for productivity improvements through improved reaction/separations. Separation, in general, represents 40-70% of cost in the industry. Hence, separation is not just an operation to obtain pure products, but is an important tool in the hands of engineers and scientists to improve productivity, cost effectiveness and reduce pollution to address environmental concerns. And, we at NCL, are trying to achieve these goals through our research and industrial work.
  • In our research work, we have mainly worked on adsorption & ion exchange; distillation and solvent extraction; membrane separations; effluent treatment and pollution control and catalytic reaction engineering. We have tried to address issues relating to practical applications involved in these above mentioned fields and have also tried to quantify and successfully predict the performance of the process through process modeling and simulation. We also studied some new ideas pertaining to process such as separation of amino acids using a new technique—continuous rotating annular chromatography or CRAC; reaction-separation for preparation of barium chloride; synthesis, characterization and application of new adsorbent materials e.g. chemical modification of bagasse, a waste material from sugar industry by imparting ion exchange properties and then use it in the same industrial set-up for applications such as sugarcane juice colour removal & effluent treatment etc.
  • Today, lot of new process schemes are being developed through modification of the existing known methods and intelligent combinations of different separation methods or reaction and separation. These newer separation processes combine or redefine finer aspects of existing methods e.g. distillation, extraction, ion exchange, adsorption, membrane separation etc. New cross-cutting areas have emerged in the form of bioseparations and separations from dilute solutions. In the area of bioseparation, judicious selection of separation method and many a times clever combination of methods ranging from precipitation to extraction is required. Although process integration/ hybrid technologies look attractive, it still requires lot of developmental efforts for practical industrial applications. Recently, we are also working on the application of nanomaterials in separation processes and process modifications.
  • Apart from Separations, research on Reaction/Reactor Engineering was also carried out on various systems during last few years. We studied some interesting and industrially important catalytic processes- mainly involving heterogeneous catalysts. We studied hydrogenation of vegetable oils, hydrogenation of crotonaldehyde, hydrogenation of maleic anhydride, dehydration of 1,4-butanediol, catalytic process for isobutyl benzene etc. and results on most of these systems have been published.
  • We, at NCL, are also working on various industrial problems, specifically for increasing productivity through improvements in reaction and separation processes. Some important industrial projects are listed below;
  • Vinati Organics Ltd., for process improvements in isobutyl production. Here, the process involves reaction of propylene and toluene in presence of Na/K metal catalyst at high pressures. We could successfully resolve problems associated with catalyst activity, reactor operation and consistency in production.
  • Birla VXL Ltd, a soda ash manufacturer for increasing cost effectiveness through improvements in ammonia recovery section. In view of huge scale of the plant, here we simulated the plant operation and on the basis of sensitivity analysis of various parameters, could recommend a strategy for saving in terms of energy.
  • Deepak Fertilizers- manufacture of ANP fertilizer.
  • BILT chemicals to increase plant throughput of dicalcium phosphate dihydrate (DCPD).
  • WIPRO Ltd.- Vanaspati production facility of WIPRO. This is a process of hydrogenation of vegetable oils in presence of catalyst and we could achieve improved product quality consistently at plant level without any major modification in the existing set-up.
  • GRASIM Ltd. -Developing new applications for inorganic coagulant- polyaluminum chloride for GRASIM.
  • Sree Rayalaseema Hy-strength Hypo Ltd.- for increasing productivity in monochloroacetic acid plant and Hypo plant through improved reaction and separation.
  • Presently working on different industrial projects involving effluent treatment pertaining to removal of organics and removal of metals.

Technology Development

  • Developed 3 technologies
  • 1. Hydrodynamic Cavitation Technology for Wastewater Treatment. (TRL-9; Commercialized)
  • 2. A Non-Catalytic Hydrodynamic Cavitation Technology for Desulfurization of Fuels (TRL 6)
  • 3. SWASTIIK- Safe Water and Sustaiunable Technology Initiative from Indian Knowledgebase (TRL 6)

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