projects
B.Tech Project
Project Leader,IIT guwahati, Under guidance of Dr.A.K.Ghoshal, Head of the our chemical department IITG.
Title:Thermal and catalytic pyrolysis of waste plastics
Duration:July 2006- June 2008
Description:
Plastic materials have become an important part of urban solid waste. To overcome certain demerits of recycling and incineration, researchers across the world have focused on development of value added products from waste plastics such as activated carbon, liquid fuel and gaseous product and monomer recovery .The main objective of my work was to study novel alternative process, pyrolysis or catalytic degradation as a means of reusing waste plastics. I have worked upon Polypropelene and Polyethelene for both pyrolysis and catalytic degradation. I have prepared various catalysts to reduce the activation energy required for pyrolysis. The kinetics of pyrolysis of plastics is important for the proper selection of reactor, optimization of the reactor design and operating condition. A MATLAB code using GA toolbox was implemented for studying the kinetics. The correctness of the kinetics expression heavily depends upon reliable evaluation of activation energy from the decomposition behavior of plastics under different conditions of temperature and/or atmosphere. As there was no prior information about real kinetic mechanism, the reaction model was chosen from a set of well-known models to fit experimental data. The most challenging part of the project was to conduct numerous experiments that required a lot of patience and dedication My partners for this project were A.C.Chowlu(M.Tech) and another Phd student(for some time). We successfully prepared nine different catalysts and they have reduced the activation energy considerably. We have published many papers as well which signifies my ability to work in a team.
Instruments handled: TGA/DSC, SEM, GC, XRD, SA 3100 surface analyzer
3rd year summer intern Project:
IFF Forschungszentrum,Juelich,Germany,Helmholtz assosiation
Under the guidance of research scientist Dr.Jurgen Allgaier
Title:Effect of PEG on the phase behaviour of the Water/alkane/AOT microemulsions
Duration:3 months(May 2007-July 2007)
Description:
Bi-continuous micro emulsions are formed from equal volume of water and oil. Depending upon the surfactant used micro-emulsions form to different extent. For any micro emulsion, favorable conditions to work are around room temperature. It is also important to shift micro emulsion region to a lower surfactant concentration for ecological and economical reasons. Initially a study of the effect of different alkane components has been conducted, keeping the other two components (water, surfactant) constant to find the best suitable alkane and then further investigation has been carried out to decide the best suitable water to oil ratio. Effects of polyethylene glycol (PEG) and NaCl concentration on the water/alkane/AOT have been studied to check whether they would produce any favorable conditions for this particular system. Study has been conducted by varying the molecular weight and concentrations of PEG. Influence of PEG and NaCl concentration on structural behaviour of present system was investigated using small angle X-ray scattering. Further experiments have also been carried out in three phase region (fish tail) to investigate polymer distribution in each phase using NMR spectroscopy. During the experiments of three phase region I had found many four phase systems which was unusual. Many experiments were conducted to determine the components of each phase. This work demanded more diligent attention for preparing the samples and has caused severe strain on eyes due to constant exposure to light. This project was done solely by me under the guidance of a scientist (Dr. Jurgen Allgaier) as mentioned above. From the experiments it was confirmed that PEG has a destructing effect on micro emulsions of this system. The results obtained from this project are going to be published soon.
Weblinks:
1.figures1.doc2.figures2.doc
3.Report.doc 4.Tables.doc
Instruments handled: NMR, SAXS, SEC, Spinning Drop Tensiometer.
2nd year summer intership:
IIT Chennai(Madras),HPEL(High polymer engineering laboratory)
Under the guidance of Dr.Susy Varughese,Chemical engg.dept.
Title:Viscometric studies of expanded polystyrene and limonene system
Duration: 3 months(May 2006-July 2006)
Description:
Expanded polystyrene is widely used as a packaging material due to their shock absorbing properties, low thermal conductivity and cost effectiveness .However this material poses a serious threat to the environment, first by causing environmental pollution and second by increasing the number and size of the landfill sites due to their huge volume. Moreover the large production of these materials demands for huge quantities of polystyrene. Handling and transportation of EPS wastes require more energy and high capital costs .The conventional recycling techniques such as crushing and shrinking by heated air are always accompanied by molecular degradation. A method of shrinking EPS using an eco-friendly solvent, d-Limonene, has been studied and promises to be an ideal option. The solution properties such as intrinsic viscosity, interaction parameter and heat of mixing have been estimated. The variation of interaction parameter, heat of mixing and free energy change with temperature, concentration have been studied using expanded polystyrene wastes. Viscometry is used as a technique to evaluate the solution properties.This work was accepted by a national conference (CHEMCON), conducted by Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) in December 2007, for which AIChE is a co-sponsor.
Utensils required: BS/IP/SL-1A 2138 Ubbelohde viscometer, constant temperature water bath, time measuring device (stop watch), Vacuum pump, funnel, pipette, glass rod and beaker.
Work experience in Chemistry department:
Project Leader,Department of Chemistry IIT guwahati
Under guidance of Dr.Parameshwar Iyer,Assistant Professor,Chemistry Dept.,IITG.
Title:Degradation kinetics and mechanism of Poly (3-hexyl thiopene)- Completed
Degradation kinetics and mechanism of alkyl thiopenes by varying alkyl chain and also of PPE- Current
Duration:July 2007- June 2008
Description:
In this project, I have studied the actual reaction mechanism and kinetics of the decomposition process of Poly(3-hexylthiopene) (P3HT). It was observed that P3HT polymer showed excellent thermal stability and only 5% weight loss is seen at 342°C under nitrogen atmosphere. Kinetic parameters were determined using Vyazovkin model free method and model fitting method. Vyazovkin model free kinetic analysis is carried out to understand the variation of activation energy required for degradation of polymer, Eα with conversion, α. and various reaction models have been tested for probable reaction mechanism by using hybrid genetic algorithm. Model-free analysis indicates that Eα shows steep decrease in the range 0.1<α<0.5 and degradation follows different reaction mechanism as conversion progresses. This fact is well supported by the good agreement of different models at different stage of conversion with the acquired experimental data.We found out the globally optimum overall kinetics parameters employing hybrid genetic algorithm and using 15 different decomposition models reported in the literatures. Suitability of the model is tested using corrected Akaike’s Information Criteria (AICc). Results show that diffusion model and nucleation & growth with n=2/3 has prominent role in thermal decomposition of P3HT.Further experiments including infrared spectroscopy,raman spectral study, morphology study using SEM during such decomposition were conducted to conclude upon the actual reaction mechanism that controls the decomposition behaviour of P3HT sample. I have published a paper on this work. (Check resume section for more details)
Instruments handled: TGA, GC. (I took help from two Ph.D students for experiments on other equipment like FTIR, TEM)
Other Project works done by interest:
1. Marangoni driven flow of surfactant solutions on mucin solutions
Guides: Prof. Robert D. Tilton, ChemicalEngineering, Prof. Stephen Garrof , Physics, CMU
Description: In this project, I tried to identify the characteristics of surfactant formulations that optimize the efficacy of self- dispersing liquids for aerosol drug delivery.
2.Numerical analysis of adsorption in packed bed column using OCFE method.
Guide:- Dr.sasidhar Gumma, Assist.Prof, Chemical engineering,IITG
3. Study on Methonol/Ethanol electro-oxidation reaction mechanism in alkaline medium using cyclic voltametry.
Guide - Dr. Dr.Anil verma(Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)
4. Numerical analysis on Cooling of an injection-molded slab of HDPE.
Guide:- Dr.Pallab Ghosh ,Assist.Prof, Chemical engineering,IITG(two weeks-Dec 2005)
Term Projects for class room courses:
1. Design of an ethanol producing reactor by optimizing cost of fabrication and operation using MATLAB.(2006)
Guide - Dr. P.K.Saha (Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)
Description:A simulation package was developed in MATLAB for designing an ethanol production reactor for given production rate and given conditions using fermentation of sugar .Then a regular design procedure is simulated for the mechanical design of the reactor. Finally the whole design is optimized for minimum material cost.
2.Design of a packed bed extraction tower by optimizing cost of fabrication and operation using MATLAB. (2006)
Guide - Dr. M.K.Purkait (Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)
Description:A simulation package was developed in MATLAB for designing a packed bed extraction tower for given conditions. Finally the whole design is optimized for minimum material cost.
3.Design of a binary distillation column optimizing for minimum cost of fabrication by optimizing cost of fabrication and operation using MATLAB.
Guide - Prof. A. K. Ghoshal (Associate Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)
Description:A simulation package was developed in MATLAB for designing a binary distillation column for given conditions. Mc-Cabe Thiele method was simulated to determine the ideal stages in the column. Then a regular design procedure is simulated for the mechanical design of the distillation column checking for critical factors like weeping etc. Finally the whole design is optimized for minimum material cost.
4.Made a digital clock using counters and 7 segments LED display which shows hours, minutes and seconds.
Guide - Dr. C.Mahanta, ECE Department,IIT Guwahati, India
5. Text editor in C++
Guide - Dr Pinaki mitra(Assistant professor,Department of ComputerScience,IIT Guwahati).
Description:Developed a text editor as part of data structures course using circular doubly linked lists and using the package n curses. It had to open, create, edit files and save accordingly.This had the facility of periodic saving in a temporary file which could prove useful on power interruption.
6.Desulphurization of gas oil
Guide - Dr.Pugazhenthi (Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department,Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)
7.Feasibility Report:Production of 10,000 lts per annum of Bio-diesel from Jathropha
Guide - Dr. M.K.Purkait (Assistant Professor,Chemical Engineering Department,Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati)