Department of Chemical Engineering

Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad (IITH) is a premier institute of science and technology established in 2008. IITH has been consistently ranked in the&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/reports/" rel="noopener noreferrer">top 10 institutes</a>&nbsp;in India for Engineering&nbsp;<a href="https://www.nirfindia.org/2021/EngineeringRanking.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">according to NIRF</a>&nbsp;making it one of the most coveted schools for science and technology in the country.

IITH offers&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/under-graduate/">undergraduate programs</a>&nbsp;in all the classical engineering disciplines, applied sciences, design, as well as several modern interdisciplinary areas. Students are given a flexibility to explore a broad set of areas, and potentially pursue a minor or double major in a discipline that is not their own. Students who wish to seek a deeper understanding of their own discipline are strongly encouraged to get involved in cutting-edge research with the help of a faculty to mentor them, and earn an Honors in their own field.

The very foundation of IIT Hyderabad is based on&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/research/">research and innovation</a>. The vibrant research culture is evident from the number of patents and publications that IITH produces consistently every year. IITH offers&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/programmes-offered/">graduate programs</a>&nbsp;at both a masters, and a doctoral level, in several diverse areas. There are separate programs for technology, design, science, and liberal arts. The&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/academics/post-graduate/">MTech program</a>&nbsp;is offered in various modes and durations to cater to the ever-growing need of postgraduate level professionals in the country.

IITH encourages and supports&nbsp;<a href="https://iic-iith.netlify.app/index.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">innovation and entrepreneurship</a>&nbsp;at every stage. The minor program in entrepreneurship is open to all students of IITH, and many of the courses are offered by industrialists who are entrepreneurs themselves. There are various&nbsp;<a href="https://iith.ac.in/research/centres-incubators/">innovation centers and incubators</a>&nbsp;that promote entrepreneurship and help mentor young innovators. IITH has been very successful in building tie-ups with leading academic institutions around the globe.

IITH enjoys a very special relationship with Japanese universities and industries that goes beyond academic and research collaborations. In fact, some of the iconic buildings in IITH campus will carry the signature of Japanese architecture.

IITH creates a unique holistic ecosystem for education that offers interactive learning, a very flexible academic structure, cutting-edge research, strong industry collaboration, and entrepreneurship. This is an environment which enables students and faculty to translate their dreams into realities.

IIT Hyderabad

The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) is one of the well-known versatile platforms for the recombinant protein/vaccine production. Mathematical modeling and optimization of a baculovirus-insect cell system can have significant industrial relevance as this reduces the number of expensive experiments and time involved in the experiment-based optimization. However, modeling and control of such a nonlinear system remains challenging due to the presence of uncertainties in the model. In this context, we propose a novel computational framework combining the principles of systems biology and dynamic optimization under uncertainty for optimizing a semibatch baculovirus-insect cell system. Toward this, first, a mathematical model replicating the dynamic experimental data on cell and virus growth was identified. Next, the proposed model was used for deterministic multiobjective dynamic optimization of the control variables, substrate, and multiplicity of infection (MOI) to achieve the conflicting objectives of productivity maximization and substrate minimization, simultaneously. Finally, based on the sensitivity analysis, six of the most influential parameters depicting model uncertainties have been considered for the robust multiobjective optimal control of the system. A comprehensive comparison displays up to 114% and 76% increases in the cell densities for the deterministic and stochastic semibatch processes, respectively, compared to the batch process. Semibatch operation also favors a minimum 40% reduction in MOI required to achieve the same level of infected cell density compared to the batch operation. This study provides a generic methodology for exhibiting a proof of concept that a semibatch suspension culture considering uncertainty in model parameters can give better productivity compared to a batch suspension culture for a BEVS. © 2022 American Chemical Society.

World University root node

Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research

Toward Performance Improvement of a Baculovirus-Insect Cell System under Uncertain Environment: A Robust Multiobjective Dynamic Optimization Approach for Semibatch Suspension Culture

This review article comprehensively discusses the energy requirements and currently used energy storage systems for various space applications. We have explained the development of different battery technologies used in space missions, from conventional batteries (Ag–Zn, Ni–Cd, Ni–H2), to lithium-ion batteries and beyond. Further, this article provides a detailed overview of the current development of lithium batteries concerning their different electrode and electrolyte system, which needs special consideration for enabling their use for space application. This review also provides an outlook on the battery technology development for interplanetary space missions enlisting the research emphasis to be directed to meet the special energy requirements during various stages of such missions. This review is an attempt to provide a one-step comprehensive overview for any researchers, scientists, batteries manufacturers, and space agencies to first understand the current requirements critically and, accordingly, the solutions to prepare a future roadmap to develop highly efficient, next-generation advanced energy storage systems to mitigate the technical challenges and at the same time, minimizing the cost associated. © 2023 Elsevier Ltd

Journal of Energy Storage

A review on battery technology for space application

A coaxial dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) reactor was used to perform catalytic non-thermal plasma for CO2 conversion under ambient conditions. A systematic study was made to understand the role of basic oxides in activating weakly acidic CO2. For this purpose, MO/γ-Al2O3 (M = Mg, Ca, Sr, and Ba) catalysts were synthesized and integrated with the DBD reactor. The applied voltage was varied from 16 kV to 22 kV to determine the effect of applied voltage on CO2 conversion. Plasma discharge generates high-energy electrons that activate the basic oxides. Integration of basic metal oxides with the non-thermal plasma reactor resulted in a higher CO2 conversion. The adsorption of weakly acidic CO2 on the basic sites is responsible for the higher conversion of catalytic plasma reactor over plasma reactor alone. Among the basic metal oxides studied, SrO loaded γ-Al2O3 resulted in the best conversion, where CO2 conversion of ∼ 12% and energy efficiency of ∼ 1.46 mmol kJ−1 was attained at a power of 1.8 W. The concentration of O2 and O3 was measured during the reaction. The hybridized system's superior performance may be due to increased charge deposition and altered gas-phase chemistry because of catalyst integration. BOLSIG + software was used to compute the mean electron energies and electron energy distribution function for various packing conditions. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Department of Chemistry

Chemical Engineering Journal

Basic metal oxide integrated DBD packed bed reactor for the decomposition of CO2

Manufacturing long-chain branched polymers enhances the quality of products at the cost of production time, translating into high manufacturing costs. In this manuscript, we study the cost-versus-quality trade-off while optimizing the operating conditions for large-scale industrial production of Polyvinyl acetate (PVAc). PVAc polymerization is emulated using a large system of stiff differential equations resulting in time-expensive function evaluation. Thus, we aim to achieve the Pareto optimality using Multi-Objective Bayesian Optimization (MOBO) that introduces q-Expected Hyper-Volume Improvement (qEHVI) as the novel acquisition function. Comparison with Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm-II (NSGA-II), applied to the high-fidelity model, resulted in a similar Pareto front with only 1% of the high-fidelity calls required by NSGA-II. The results indicate the efficiency of MOBO for PVAc optimization and present a real-world application of a generic method that can be implemented to solve time-expensive multi-objective optimization in manufacturing processes. © 2023 Taylor & Francis.

Materials and Manufacturing Processes

Multi-objective optimization through a novel Bayesian approach for industrial manufacturing of Polyvinyl Acetate

We analyse the linear stability of a reactive plane Poiseuille flow, where a reactant fluid A overlies another reactant B in a layered fashion within a two-dimensional channel. Both reactants are miscible and have the same viscosity, while upon reaction, they produce either a less or more-viscous product fluid C. The reaction kinetics is of simple A+B→C type, and the production of C occurs across the initial contact line of reactants A and B in a mixed zone of small and finite width. All three fluids have the same density. We demonstrate the effects of various controlling parameters such as the log-mobility ratio, Damköhler number, Schmidt number, Reynolds number, position and thicknesses of the reactive zone on the stability characteristics. We show that a tiny viscosity stratification by the reaction destabilizes the flow at a moderate (10-1000) and even at low Reynolds numbers (0.01-1). The maximum growth occurs for shorter waves than for the Tollmien-Schlichting eigenmode, and the ranges of unstable wavenumbers are wider than that known for non-reactive channel flow systems. In most cases, the instability occurs due to the overlap of the critical layer with the viscosity-stratified layer. Surprisingly for some parameters, it is observed that the reaction can make σM decrease with increasing Reynolds number. © 2023 The Author(s).

Proceedings of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences

Stability of a layered reactive channel flow

Lactic acid (LA) is a vital platform chemical with diverse applications, especially for biodegradable polylactic acid. Bread waste (BW) is sugar-rich waste biomass generated in large quantities in residential and commercial operations. Recently, we evaluated the potential of BW for LA production by Bacillus coagulans under non-sterile conditions. This work presents a techno-economic and profitability analysis for valorizing 100 metric tons of BW per day to alleviate environmental pollution with concurrent production of LA and biomethane. We compared two fermentation approaches: acid-neutral (Scenario I) and low pH (Scenario II). Traditional esterification with methanol, followed by hydrolysis of methyl lactate, was employed for downstream separation to obtain polymer-grade LA. High-pressure steam was generated from solid debris via anaerobic digestion to complement energy demands partly. Energy consumption was further attenuated by process integration using pinch technology, with around 15% and 11% utility cost savings for Scenario I and II, respectively. These processes were capital-intensive, with 42-46% of LA production cost stemming from direct and indirect costs. Utilities were the major cost-contributing factor (19-21%) due to energy-intensive water evaporation from dilute fermentation broth. Due to additional processing steps, capital investment and operating costs were slightly higher in Scenario I than in Scenario II. LA manufacturing cost was thus more for Scenario I ($2.07 per kg) than Scenario II ($1.82 per kg). The minimum LA selling price for Scenario I and II were $3.52 and $3.22 per kg, respectively, with five-year payback periods and 8.5% internal rates of return. LA was slightly more expensive for decentralized BW processing than the market price. © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Sustainable Energy and Fuels

Lactic acid and biomethane production from bread waste: a techno-economic and profitability analysis using pinch technology

Reduction of nitroarenes is a useful strategy for the preparation of aromatic amines. In this work, CuO was used as a reusable solid reagent for the reduction of nitroquinolines to aminoquinolines using hydrazine monohydrate as the hydrogen donor under mild reaction conditions. The reaction of 0.5 mmol of 5-nitroquinoline to 5-aminoquinoline was completed in 10 min with 100% conversion and selectivity. The reagent CuO could be easily collected and reused for up to four cycles, after which it is completely transformed into Cu2O and Cu. The high activity and selectivity of CuO were attributed to the facile formation of oxygen vacancies on the CuO surface under the reducing environment, as confirmed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. Further, density functional theory simulations showed that oxygen vacancies led to higher adsorption (Eads = −174.4 kJ/mol) and selective activation of the nitro group (Ea = 43 kJ/mol) coupled with a reaction involving hydrogen atoms activated on the CuO surface. However, the presence of an additional pyridine ring in 5-nitroquinolines slightly impeded the rate of complete reduction (t = 10 min). © 2023 American Chemical Society.

Journal of Physical Chemistry C

Oxygen Vacancy-Mediated Reactivity: The Curious Case of Reduction of Nitroquinoline to Aminoquinoline by CuO

Upgrading biomass-derived levulinic acid (LA) with greater carbonyl (C 00000000 00000000 00000000 00000000 11111111 00000000 11111111 00000000 00000000 00000000 O) group activation is crucial in converting biomass and its derivatives into valuable biochemicals and biofuels. In the present investigation, highly dispersed Ni nanoparticle catalysts supported on various supports (HZSM-5, SiO2, SBA-15, and COK-12) were developed for the selective catalytic hydrogenation of LA to γ-valerolactone (GVL) under vapor-phase conditions. The pyridine adsorbed-FTIR profiles revealed the existence of Brønsted and Lewis acid sites. The Brønsted acidic sites are crucial for forming angelica lactones as intermediates and dehydration of 4-hydroxy valeric acid to γ-valerolactone, whereas the Lewis acidic sites are useful for the production of 4-hydroxy valeric acid as an intermediate. Electron microscopy images reveal that the NiCOK-12 catalyst exhibits a smaller particle size (TEM average particle size = 6.8 nm) than the remaining catalysts. H2-TPR and pulse chemisorption results showed the highly dispersed metallic Ni on the support and strong metal-support interaction between the metallic Ni and support matrix. Among all the synthesized catalysts, the Ni-supported COK-12 catalyst exhibited higher catalytic performance in the selective hydrogenation of LA to GVL products. The best performance of the NiCOK-12 catalyst corresponded to greater Ni dispersion, superior AMSA, ample Lewis acidic sites, smaller Ni particle size, and strong metal-support interactions. The NiCOK-12 catalyst showed more stability in the constant conversion of LA and GVL formation until 30 h of reaction time. The rationally designed earth-abundant and inexpensive catalysts in this work show controllable catalytic activity and robust stability to upgrade biomass-derived platform molecules into valuable chemicals and biofuels. © 2023 The Royal Society of Chemistry.

Insights into structure-activity relationships in efficient silica-supported Ni catalysts for selective hydrogenation of levulinic acid

Synaptic transmissions are known to regulate the properties of Ca2+ -oscillation in neurons, but the assessment of biophysical parameters underlying neurodegenerative conditions remains challenging. Specifically, establishing an in vivo or in vitro model for neurodegeneration and high-resolution imaging requires expensive infrastructure. Hence, to complement the experimental investigations, there is a requirement to develop an in silico simulation framework that can be used to mimic the synaptic transmission and Ca2+ spiking under diseased conditions. While network models for neuronal firing exist, limited investigations depict the Ca2+ wave propagation in neuronal populations. Since Ca2+ -transients reflect the pathological state of the cells, we chose to model the Ca2+-dynamics for the characterization of the system. In this work, first, we have developed an ODE-system-based biophysical model that generates Ca2+-waves in a population of interconnected neurons for both soma and dendrites. Secondly, we demonstrate that the model can be used to depict the irregular Ca2+-spiking patterns in case of loss of connectivity as well as hyper-connectivity. Additionally, we identified that the various burst patterns are controlled through the level of glutamate activation by the number of neighboring neurons, leading to complex Ca2+-oscillations. Overall, the proposed model can potentially be used for in silico analysis of neuroprotective drugs that may potentially modulate the Ca2+-spiking pattern associated with diseased conditions. © 2023 IEEE.

International IEEE/EMBS Conference on Neural Engineering, NER

Computational Framework for in Silico Analysis of Neural Hyperactivity and Loss of Neural Activity in a Population of Interconnected Neurons

We investigate the morphology and size distribution of satellite droplets resulting from the interaction of a freely falling water droplet with a swirling airstream of different strengths by employing shadowgraphy and deep-learning-based digital in-line holography techniques. We found that the droplet exhibits vibrational, retracting bag and normal breakup phenomena for the no swirl, low and high swirl strengths for the same aerodynamic field. In the high-swirl scenario, the disintegrations of the nodes, rim and bag-film contribute to the number mean diameter, resulting in smaller satellite droplets. In contrast, in the low-swirl case, the breakup of the rim and nodes only contributes to the size distribution, resulting in larger droplets. The temporal variation of the Sauter mean diameter reveals that for a given aerodynamic force, a high swirl strength produces more surface area and surface energy than a low swirl strength. The theoretical prediction of the number-mean probability density of tiny satellite droplets under swirl conditions agrees with experimental data. However, for the low swirl, the predictions differ from the experimental results, particularly due to the presence of large satellite droplets. Our results reveal that the volume-weighted droplet size distribution exhibits two (bi-modal) and three (multi-model) peaks for low and high swirl strengths, respectively. The analytical model that takes into account various mechanisms, such as the nodes, rim and bag breakups, accurately predicts the shape and characteristic sizes of each mode for the case of high swirl strength. © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press.