Research areas

Our current research interests are 

1. biorefinery for biofuels and chemicals, 

2. heterogeneous catalysis and chemical reaction engineering, 

3. techno-economic analysis using Aspen Plus and pinch technology, and 

4. thermodynamic analysis. 

Our work is primarily focused on a fundamental understanding of structure-catalytic activity correlation, elucidating reaction mechanisms, developing robust catalysts for commercial applications, and optimizing process conditions. We are currently working on the 

1. hydrodeoxygenation of vegetable oils to produce green diesel, 

2. steam/oxidative steam reforming to produce synthesis gas, 

3. production of gasoline, butylene, and aromatics from bio-butanol, 

4. production of green jet fuel via hydroxyalkylation-alkylation reaction, and 

5. catalytic conversion of butanediols to value-added chemicals. 

We prepare the catalysts, characterize them to understand their physicochemical properties, and perform the reaction in batch-scale/bench-scale fixed bed reactors. 

Selected Publications

1. A. Kunamalla, SK. Maity, Production of green jet fuel from furanics via hydroxyalkylation-alkylation over mesoporous MoO3-ZrO2 and hydrodeoxygenation over Co/γ-Al2O3: Role of calcination temperature and MoO3 content in MoO3-ZrO2. Fuel 2023, 332, 125977.  

2. S Mailaram, SK Maity, Dual liquid–liquid extraction versus distillation for the production of bio-butanol from corn, sugarcane, and lignocellulose biomass: A techno-economic analysis using pinch technology. Fuel 2022, 312, 22932.

3. SK Maity, Opportunities, recent trends and challenges ofintegrated biorefinery: Part I. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2015, 43, 1427-1445.

4. SK Maity, Opportunities, recent trends and challenges ofintegrated biorefinery: Part II. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2015, 43, 1446-1466. 

5. SR Yenumala, SK Maity, D Shee, Hydrodeoxygenationof Karanja Oil over Supported Nickel Catalysts: Influence of Support and NickelLoading. Catalysis Science & Technology 2016, 6, 3156 - 3165

6. VCS Palla, D Shee, SK Maity, Conversion of n-butanol to gasoline range hydrocarbons, butylenes and aromatics. Applied Catalysis A: General 2016, 526, 28-36.

7. M Varkolu, A Kunamalla, SAK Jinnala, P Kumar, SK Maity, D Shee, Role of CeO2/ZrO2 mole ratio and nickel loading for steam reforming of n-butanol using Ni–CeO2–ZrO2–SiO2 composite catalysts: A reaction mechanism. International Journal of Hydrogen Energy  2021, 46, 7320-7335.