Process Intensified Systems for CO2 Capture and Energy Applications by Dr. Niket Kaisare | Department of Energy Science and Engineering

Location and Date:

Jan 25, 2023 (Wednesday), 4.30 PM, DESE seminar Room, 2nd Floor

Abstract

Process intensification can play a vital role in achieving net carbon zero goal. Process intensification refers to novel apparatus, designs or techniques that leads to a significantly smaller, energy efficient or technology. One such approach is to carry out reactions in a compact micro-reactor – heat-exchanger assembly. When combustion is carried out in a microreactor with internal heat recirculation, the "excess enthalpy" of the hot exhaust gases is used in preheating the inlet fluid. First example will discuss combustion in a heat recirculating microreactor and coupling it with thermo-electric module for power generation. The second example will focus on utilizing internal heat recirculation to improve methane yields in an autothermally operated microreactor for catalytic CO2 methanation. This example will be used to show the relevance of basic engineering principles that are introduced in core UG courses to generate more compact and energy-efficient processes. The final example will introduce our efforts in breathable MOFs (metal organic framework) for CO2 capture. The combination of intensified processes with novel catalysts / adsorbents have the potential to yield a step change in these energy applications.

Bio

Dr. Niket Kaisare is a professor of chemical engineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, Chennai, India. He is one of the coordinators of NPTEL/Swayam (National Program for Technology Enhanced Learning), and the online degree program of IIT Madras. Niket completed his PhD in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech in 2004. After a postdoctoral stint at the University of Delaware, he joined as an assistant professor in IIT Madras in summer 2007. Between 2011 and 2014, Niket spent three years in industrial R&D, first at General Motors and then at ABB Corporate Research in India. He rejoined as a faculty at IIT Madras in November 2014. His research interests are broadly in using experiments and multiscale modeling in combustion, catalysis and control for energy applications and in CO2 separation and conversion.