FROM RESEARCH TO MARKET PLACE THROUGH EPIC: SOME CASE STUDIES

Abstract

Talk: Plenary Abstract: 1. It is imperative for any academic institution to achieve a fine balance between the generation and dissemination of new knowledge. There are various ways of dissemination which include undergraduate education, publications in various forms and active partnership with industry and society. 2. A careful global survey has shown that the national wealth is largely generated through the knowledge generated in academic institutions. Several case studies will be described which not only results into huge wealth but creates win-win-win-win …. situations for society, industry, environment, students, faculty and institutions, the most important being of having very satisfying profession. A systematic effort is possible to generate creative and enjoyable ambience in the institutions. Some personal thoughts and experiences will be shared. 3. Multiphase reactors are very common in chemical industry, such as bubble columns, trickle beds, fluidized beds, stirred tanks, packed columns of various types and sizes of packings, etc. Currently, there is high degree of empiricism in the design process of such reactors owing to multiphase turbulent three dimensional flow and its coupling with transport phenomena and chemical reactions. Hence, we focus on synthesizing recent advances in computational and experimental techniques that will enable future designs of such reactors in a more rational manner by exploring a large design space with high-fidelity models (computational fluid dynamics and computational chemistry models) that are validated with high-fidelity measurements (tomography and other detailed spatial measurements) to provide a high degree of rigor. Understanding the spatial distributions of dispersed phases and their interaction during scale up are key challenges that were traditionally addressed through pilot scale experiments, but now can be addressed through advanced modeling. 4. Through several examples of using computational and experimental fluid dynamics, this talk will explore the fundamental paradigm shift in the design process to enable process innovation. These include NOx absorption, design of annular centrifugal extractors, self inducing impellers, air-lift reactors, chromatographic separations, bio-mass based cook stoves, etc.