Research Areas
Process Modelling and Simulation
In many applications in energy, materials, medicine, and microelectronics, the control of events at the molecular and nanoscopic scales is critical to product quality, although the primary manipulation of these events during processing occurs at macroscopic length scales. In such problems, high-fidelity simulation and analysis true to the spectrum of relevant length scales can be highly valuable. This motivates the creation of simulation / analysis tools for the engineering of multi-scale systems that have length scales ranging from the atomistic to the macroscopic.
Process Integration and Intensification
Process Integration supporting process design, integration and optimization has been around for more than 40 years. Its development has been closely related to developing the Chemical Engineering, implementation of mathematical modelling and the application of information technology. Its development has been accelerating as the methodology has been able to provide answers and support for important issues regarding economic development-energy, water and resources better utilization and savings.
Integrated Gasification and Combined Cycle Process
The rapid growth of industry and population during the last few decades increased both the energy demand and pollution in the world. The conventional electricity and heat generation technologies relies on fossil fuels and accounts for nearly 42% of global CO2 emissions. The reduction in GHG emissions can be achieved by improving the performance of currently operating power plants along with the development of the renewable energy technologies. Due to an ever increasing energy demand, carbon capture and sequestration (CCS) technologies will also play a vital role in controlling and abating GHG emissions. Currently, the most common power generation technologies include ultra-supercritical pulverized coal (USPC), natural gas combined cycle (NGCC) and integrated gasification and combined cycle (IGCC) power plants. However, the efficiency of power plants tremendously drops with the addition of CCS technology to the system.
IGCC Process Integration with Reforming Technology
Process
integration and intensification is getting a lot of attention to improve the
process economic and performance. The state of art technologies can be
integrated to utilize the key technical and operational benefits of the other
technology to enhance the overall process reliability. IGCC process integration
with the reforming technologies also improve the overall process efficiency and
has a potential to reduce the specific green house gas emissions.
Methanol and Hydrogen Production Framework
Process Integration and Intensification
With the increase in global energy requirements, the utilization of fossil fuels has also increased, which has caused global warming. Process integration framework based on an energy mix system is proposed to simultaneously produce two cleaner fuels (methanol and H2). Aspen Plus is used to develop process models followed by their techno-economic assessment.
Process Monitoring and Fault Diagnosis
With the developments in the automation and control systems in the process and product industries, it is possible to collect enormous amount of data. However, analysis and interpretation of data is a key issue. Using various statistical tools, it is possible to quickly analyze the data to enhance both the process performance and reduce industrial waste, thereby, improving process economics. Online and offline process monitoring techniques are widely used in the industries to statistically analyze the process behavior. To ensure the smooth and safe operation of chemical plants, large number of sensors are usually used to record and analyze the data. However, with an increase in number of sensors, the chances for sensor faults in addition to the process faults have also been increased. Moreover, the occurrence of any fault in a system affects all the associated variables and disturbs their normal correlations which makes it difficult to detect the actual root cause of fault. Therefore, instant fault detection through analyzing the root cause and estimating fault propagation path in the system has always remained a key issue in process monitoring.