Dr. Raj Kumar Gupta

Professor

Specialization

Modeling & Simulation, Process Design

Email

rkgupta@thapar.edu

Specialization

Modeling & Simulation, Process Design

Email

rkgupta@thapar.edu

Phone: +91 175 2393442, 2393444

Biography

Dr. Raj Kumar Gupta is Professor of Chemical Engineering, at Thapar Institute of Engineering & Technology Patiala. He joined the Department of Chemical Engineering in 1999. He was appointed as Head of the Department in 2014. His research interests are in the modeling and simulation of chemical processes. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed papers, guided 6 PhDs and several M.Tech. theses. He was a reviewer of post-doctoral fellowship program of FWO VLAANDEREN (Research Foundation – Flanders), BELGIUM.

Research Tags

  • FCC modeling and simulation
  • Reactive distillation modeling and simulation
  • Multiphase reaction kinetics
  • RTD modeling
  • CO2 adsorption
  • Heat transfer enhancement
  • Water and wastewater treatment
  • Source apportionment models for air pollutants

Research Projects

Project Title Measurement of Circulation time and Optimization of Mixing Process for Ethyl Acetate Reactor Using Radiotracer Technique From 09/2015 To 08/2018
Funding Agency Department of Atomic Energy-Board of Research in Nuclear Sciences Co-PI Dr. H. Bhunia    
Project Title Development of kinetics based FCC process model From 06/2013 To 12/2015
Funding Agency HPCL (R&D) Bangalore        

Membership of Professional Institutions, Associations, Societies

Life Member, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers

Member, National Association for Applications of Radioisotopes and Radiation In Industry

Member, IAENG

Publications and other Research Outputs

  1. Datta Arghya, Gupta Raj Kumar, and Bhunia Haripada, “Residence time distribution studies on recycle reactor with recirculation" International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, accepted on 23 June 2021.

  2. Sudan Arushi, Kaur Arashdeep, Gangacharyulu D., Gupta Raj Kumar, “Adsorption studies of NaBH4/Al2O3nanoparticles/H2O system with CoCl2 as catalyst using Langmuir-Hinshelwood adsorption model”, Bulgarian Chemical Communications, vol. 53(2), 188-195, 2021.

  3. Kaur Balpreet, Gupta Raj Kumar, and Bhunia Haripada, “CO2 capture on activated carbon from PET (polyethylene terephthalate) waste: kinetics and modeling studies”, Chemical Engineering Communications, 207(8), 1031-1047, 2020.

  4. Datta Arghya, Gupta Raj Kumar, Goswami Sunil, Sharma Vijay Kumar, Bhunia Haripada, Singh Damandeep, Pant Harish Jagat, “Residence time distribution measurement in an ethyl acetate reactor using radiotracer technique” Journal of Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, 320 (3), 711-723, 2019.

  5. Kaur Balpreet, Singh Jasminder, Gupta Raj Kumar, and Bhunia Haripada, Porous carbons derived from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) waste for CO2 capture studies, Journal of Environmental Management, 242, 19, 68-80, 2019.

  6. Kaur Balpreet, Gupta Raj Kumar, and Bhunia Haripada, “Chemically activated nanoporous carbon adsorbents from waste plastic for  CO2 capture: Breakthrough adsorption study”, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 282, 146-158, 2019. 

  7. Singh D., Gupta Raj Kumar, and Kumar V., “Simulation studies on homogenously catalyzed finishing reactive distillation for ethyl acetate production”, Chemical Engineering Communications, 207(1), 109-122, 2019.

  8. Adsorption studies of CO2 capture on carbon from waste PET, 5th International Conference on Advances in Chemical Engineering and Technology,  October 4-5, 2018, in London, UK. (Presented)

  9. Gupta Rakesh Kumar, Chandra Avinash, Gupta Raj Kumar, “Buoyancy driven convective heat transfer from a semi-circular cylinder under various confinement”, Saadhna, 43(182), 1-18, 2018.

  10. Kaur Harjot, Bulasara, V.K., Gupta Raj Kumar, “Influence of pH and temperature of dip-coating solution on the properties of cellulose acetate-ceramic composite membrane for ultrafiltration”, Carbohydrate Polymers, 195, 613-621, 2018.

  11. Datta Arghya, Gupta Raj Kumar, Goswami Sunil, Sharma Vijay Kumar, Bhunia Haripada, Singh Damandeep, Pant Harish Jagat, “Radiotracer investigation on the measurement of residence time distribution in an ethyl acetate reactor system with a large recycle ratio” Applied Radiation and Isotopes, 130, 245-251, 2017. 

  12. Thakur R., Barman, S., Gupta R.K., “Kinetic investigation in Transalkylation of 1,2,4 Trimethylbenzene with Toluene over Rare Earth Metal modified Large Pore Zeolite”, Chemical Engineering Communications, 204, 254-264, 2017.

  13. Residence Time Distribution Measurements in Industrial Scale Reactors with Recycle Using Radiotracer Technique, International Conference on Applications of Radiation Science and Technology (ICARST 2017), IAEA Headquarters in Vienna, Austria, 24 to 28 April 2017. (Presented)

  14. Thakur R., Gupta R.K., Barman, S., “A comprehensive study of catalytic performance of rare earth metal modified beta zeolites for synthesis of cymene”, Chemical Papers, 71(1), 137-148, 2017.

  15. Kaur Harjot, Bulasara, V.K., Gupta R.K., “Effect of carbonates composition on the permeation characteristics of low-cost ceramic membrane supports”, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, 44, 185-194, 2016.

  16. Thakur R., Barman, S., Gupta R.K., “Synthesis of cumene by transalkylation over cerium modified beta zeolite: A kinetic study”, Brazilian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 33(4), 957-967, 2016.

  17. Thakur R., Gupta R.K., Barman, S., “Optimization of process parameters for transalkylation of toluene to xylene using response surface methodology”, Particulate Science and Technology, 34(3), 332-340, 2016.

  18. Kaur Harjot, Bulasara, V.K., Gupta R.K., “Preparation of kaolin based low cost porous ceramic supports using different amounts of carbonates, Desalination and Water Treatment, accepted, 57(32), 15154-15163, 2016.

  19. Purandare Pramod S., Lele Mandar, Gupta R.K. “Experimental investigation on heat transfer and pressure drop of conical coil heat exchanger with parameters tube diameter, fluid flow rates and cone angle. Thermal Science, 20(6), 2087-2099, 2016.

  20. Purandare, Pramod S., Lele, Mandar, Gupta R.K., “Investigation on thermal analysis of conical coil heat exchanger”, International Journal of Heat and Mass Transfer, 90, 1188-1196, 2015

  21. Singh D., Gupta R.K., and Kumar V., “Simulation of a Plant Scale Reactive Distillation Column for Esterification of Acetic Acid”, Computers and Chemical Engineering 73, 70-81, 2015.

  22. Thakur R., Barman S., and Gupta R.K. “Synthesis of xylene over cerium modified large pore zeolite: A kinetic study”, Indian Journal of Chemical Technology, 21, 379-385, 2014.

  23. Purandare Pramod S., Lele Mandar, Gupta R.K.“Experimental investigation on heat transfer analysis of conical coil heat exchanger with 900 cone angle”, Heat and Mass Transfer, 51(3), 373-379, 2015.

  24. Singh D., Gupta R.K., and Kumar V., “Experimental Studies of Industrial-Scale Reactive Distillation Finishing Column Producing Ethyl Acetate”, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research 2014, 53, 10448−10456, 2014.

  25. Arya Divyanshu, and Gupta R.K., “Simulation studies on variable cluster size in FCC riser reactor”, Particulate Science and Technology, Vol. 32, Issue 2, 144–150 2014.

  26. Purandare P. S., Lele M. M., and Gupta R.K., “Effect of Geometric Parameters on Performance of Helical Coiled Tube Heat Exchanger”, International Review of Mechanical Engineering, Vol. 7(1), 105-109, 2013.

  27. Gupta, Raj Kumar and Harmandeep Sharma, Fluid catalytic cracking riser reactor: simulation studies, Petroleum & Coal, 55(1), 50-56, 2013.

  28. Purandare P. S., Lele M. M., and Gupta R.K., “Parametric Analysis of Helical Coil Heat Exchanger”, International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology, Vol. 1 (02), 2012.

  29. Gupta R.K., Vineet; and Srivastava, V.K. "Modeling of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Riser Reactor: A Review," International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering: Vol. 8: 1, 2010.

  30. Ravi Yadav, R.K. Gupta, V.K. Sangal and V.B. Gulyani, “Treatment of textile industry wastes by electrocoagulation and comined electrocoagulation-oxidation processes”, FirstUAEU Chemistry Symposium, UAE, October 26, 2010.

  31. Gupta R.K.; Kumar, Vineet, “Fluid Catalytic Cracking Riser Modeling in Heat Transfer Mode”, Chemical Product and Process Modeling, (online: http://www.bepress.com/cppm/vol3/iss1/11), Vol3, Issue 1, Article 11, 2008.

  32. Gupta R.K.; Kumar, Vineet; and Srivastava, V.K., “A New Generic Approach for the Modeling of Fluid Catalytic Cracking (FCC) Riser Reactor”, Chem. Eng. Sci., 62, 4510 – 4528, 2007.

  33. Gupta R.K.; Kumar, Vineet; and Srivastava, V.K., “Modeling of Non-isothermal Fluid Catalytic Cracking Riser Reactor”, Lecture Notes in Engineering and Computer Science, 2167(1), 52-57, 2007.

  34. Gupta R.K., Vineet Kumar, and V. K. Srivastava, “Modeling of Non-isothermal Fluid Catalytic Cracking Riser Reactor”, in Proceedings of the World Congress on Engineering and Computer Science 2007, WCECS 2007, October 24-26, 2007, San Francisco, USA.

  35. Gupta R.K., Vineet Kumar and V. K. Srivastava, “Hydrodynamic and Kinetic Modeling of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Riser Reactor”, AIChE's Annual Meeting in Salt Lake City Utah (Nov. 4 -9 2007).

  36. Gupta R.K., Kumar, Vineet, and Srivastava, V.K., “Modeling and Simulation of Fluid Catalytic Cracking Unit”, Reviews in Chemical Engineering, 21, 95-131, 2005.

Awards and Honors

  • Reviewer of Post Doctoral Fellowship Program of FWO VLAANDEREN (Research Foundation – Flanders), BELGIUM.
  • Member Board of Studies in Chemical Engineering of Maharaja Ranjit Singh State Technical University, Bhatinda, Punjab
  • Member Board of Studies of Chemical Engineering of SBSSTC Ferozepur,
  • Financial award by International Atomic Energy Agency for attending ICARST-2017 at Vienna, Austria during 24-28 April, 2017 and presenting a paper.

Description of Research Interests

Dr. Gupta’s research interests are in the area of process modeling and simulation. He has collaborative partnerships for research in the areas of FCC modeling, RD modeling, heterogeneous kinetics and reactor design, CO2 adsorption, heat transfer enhancement, RTD modeling of industrial systems, low cost membranes, waste-water treatment, source apportionment of air pollutants.

The modeling aspects of FCC process are quite complex. The various works reported on different aspects of this process are required to be included and assessed in detailed models. CFD models with UDFs are to be assessed for their predictive abilities and design improvements. RD (reactive distillation) offers many economic advantages over the conventional reaction step followed by distillation. RD and RDWC can save lot of energy and equipment cost in industrial applications. However, there are design complexities. For these processes, user­defined models are needed to accurately predict the process behavior.

Modeling the kinetics of heterogeneous solid catalyzed reactions and estimation of the kinetic parameters. In certain situations, like, in a slurry reactor, two immiscible liquid phases come into existence after some initial reaction time. Modeling of the kinetics of such reactions and predictions of rate constants is important for suitable reactor design.

Heat transfer studies in modular heat exchanger configurations (conical, semi­circular). Conical configurations are expected to give more heat transfer than the straight tube heat exchangers due to secondary flow, but at the expense of more pressure drop. Semi­circular heat exchanger configurations are attractive options as the size of heat exchanger becomes compact requiring less space and material and useful for novel designs. The heat transfer studies from such configuration would help in developing such novel heat exchangers.

RTD measurement using radio­tracers, and diagnosing the anomalies in the process equipment in industrial and lab scale operations. The RTD concept can be used for fault diagnosis of the industrial equipment in real time without the need of shut­downs, which causes production loss.

Modeling the CO2 adsorption on tailored adsorbents. The adsorbents work on the principle that CO2 is weak acid that can be trapped onto a solid modified to have a tailored pore structure to create a large surface area for capturing CO2. Mathematical models can be used to predict fixed­bed adsorption. Modeling source apportionment for particulate matter in ambient air and the effect of crop residue burning (CRB) on air quality. Receptor models are extensively used for quantification of source contribution. Chemical mass balance (CMB) receptor model consists of a solution to linear equations that express each receptor chemical concentration as a linear sum of products of source profile abundances and source contributions.

Download Brochure