Low quality fuel products, in particular, Indian Coals, have a critical role to play in our roadmap towards achieving a circular economy through better utilization of waste products !
Pragadeesh KS, our next pathbreaker, Design Engineer at Fichtner Consulting Engineers, works on process design of compressed biogas plants and on novel technologies for green hydrogen generation, carbon capture, coal gasification etc.
Pragadeesh talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about his bachelors project on bioethanol production from sago industrial solid residue, that sparked his interest in research focused on chemical technologies.
For students, don’t waste time in tuition classes. Put in extra effort to build the skills that the industry needs, other than just excelling in academics. Because, once academics ends, everyone faces the real world !
Pragadeesh, can you share your background with our young readers?
I was brought up in a family with an agricultural background, but yes, my father is a graduate. I did matriculation followed by higher secondary in maths and biology. I was proactive in quizzing and essay writing. My initial interest was to become a doctor. However, I did not prepare sufficiently for any competitive exams like AIEEE or AIPMT. I merely knew the name and appeared for the exam. But, though I did not clear the exam, I didn’t want to move away from the medical field. By then, I had heard from movies that biotech was a revolutionary subject. I got influenced by that and enrolled in BTech. I excelled in my studies. My dream was to significantly contribute to human society.
What did you do for graduation/post graduation?
I did my BTech in Biotechnology, MTech in Environmental Engineering, and PhD in Chemical Engineering
What made you choose such an offbeat, unconventional and uncommon career in Biotech based Research?
Self analysis at that point in time. At the end of each academic degree, the job market pushed me away from biotech. I did not ask for guidance, which was a mistake. I believe that whatever I did not achieve is God’s grace in that I have been prevented from doing something bad. This has been proven lately. One thing I strongly believe is that I am in a better position, though not great, because of my selfless nature in helping out people. But, lately, I have developed the attitude of being selective about whom I wish to collaborate with and help, so as to channelize my efforts in a mutually beneficial way.
Tell us about your career path
The spark for doing a PhD was given by my guru Mr. Balakrishnan K. (Late), my history teacher. The motivation was always there in the background, because of which I had done individual projects starting from my bachelors.
My bachelor’s project was on bioethanol production in a simultaneous process involving the complex sugars breakdown and utilization of the generated simple sugars for ethanol production, completely involving microbial actions only.
I chose master’s in Environmental Engineering motivated by the urgent need to address environmental issues and find a way to co-exist with nature. At the same time, I had a persistent interest in developing renewable fuels.
My master’s thesis was on carbon sequestration using a flue gas containing a 14% by volume of CO2 sparged in municipal sewage, where microalgae thrived upon dissolved CO2 (carbon source) and the micronutrients in sewage. The resulting microalgal biomass can be converted to biodiesel. My work was to assess the effect of direct application of flue gas sparging in sewage on microalgal growth as well as to understand the sewage concentration at which microalgae grow better.
After my masters, it was a self-propelled thought to research and discover or find something that has a real world impact and the obvious route was PhD.
My PhD was on understanding the utilization potential of different Indian Coals (which are usually of low quality) as well as biomass in a new carbon capture technology called chemical looping combustion (CLC), that has the least energy penalty involved in carbon capture amongst all. The energy required to run a capture process is known as the energy penalty. The energy penalty gives an indication of the amount of energy that needs to be spent for carbon capture in relation to the energy generated by the plant.
Particularly, to avoid the energy loss in pulverising a low-quality fuel for combustion, I assessed the usability of large sized fuel particles in the process without size reduction. In that process, I developed a new protocol for identifying the time regimes of different phases of fuel conversion during CLC. Also, I established a size range for those fuels in which they can be utilized as such without sizing them down. Furthermore, I tested the combustion intermediates (char) for the microstructural and chemical properties and understood the effects of different gasification medium on those char chemical structures.
All my past projects are related to energy and the environment. Eg. Bioethanol production from sago industrial solid residue, microalgal CO2 sequestration cum carbon capture using sewage as nutrient medium, and then novel in-situ carbon capture technology called Chemical Looping Combustion for Indian coals and biomass.
Post my PhD, I started with a freelancing position without any pay. I significantly contributed to patent and literature analysis for viable business options for sustainable carbon capture solutions for Elon Musk’s Carbon XPrize.
Then, I landed my first paid job as a Research Scientist in a startup, Caliche. I worked in multiple areas that were within my area of expertise and outside mine as well. I, along with my team, was able to attain significant business traction in our new processes, with satisfactory proof of concepts favourable for scaling up. We were able to make remarkable progress in carbon capture and conversion using a hybrid model involving photosynthetic microbe and chemical processes, creating novel electrode materials for industrial processes, new development in kinds of novel battery systems, hybrid methods to recycle spent batteries, utilization of waste resources into useful ones (generic because I cannot be specific due to covenant restraints), developed apps for new agricultural solutions (manpower and precision agriculture related).
Then, I switched to a new job as a design engineer as well as a solution provider for other engineers as well as exploring novel technologies and building engineering solutions for those.
How did you get your first break?
At my present job, I was chosen for a specific role but after my recruitment, management got a detailed look at my profile and positioned me in developmental roles related to new technology and related business development. This was due to my exposure to multiple fields.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
Challenge 1: No existing system in startups. I used this as an opportunity to build systems, by learning, through trial and error and perfecting myself.
Challenge 2: Given a task that I had no expertise in and that was seemingly impossible.
My quick-grasping and ability to identify solutions from a multi-disciplinary point of view helped me accomplish the tasks.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I work as a Design Engineer at Fichtner Consulting Engineers (India) Pvt. Ltd where I am involved in process design of compressed biogas plants and flue gas desulphurization for thermal power plants, for awarded contracts.
Apart from this, I am also involved in assessment of novel technologies for addressing critical problems of clients, while adding value through the solutions we provide. I focus on technologies under various routes for green hydrogen generation, carbon capture, coal gasification, plastics to X and so on.
What skills are needed for your role? How did you acquire the skills?
My work is related to the chemical engineering field coupled with fundamental understanding of heat and mass transfer, unit operations, thermodynamics, know-how of creating process flow diagrams, P&ID, AutoCAD, Plant 3D, Aspen Plus, HTRI, mass, heat and material balances and so on.
I acquired them through academic learning and more through self interest while doing my PhD, some as part of tutorials that I prepared and taught graduate students, few from undertaking self-initiated tasks for developing a process for a new research work that yielded results from my work in the industry.
How does your work benefit society?
Many novel ideas or naïve products that result from R&D, especially products from good startups, go unnoticed or never get their share of the limelight in the business world. I wish to bring those into research articles and in real life through engineering processes, because many R&D solutions lack engineering knowhow to scale-up.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
I would say every work I do. Particularly my bachelor’s and PhD thesis.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Be consistent. Put in extra effort to build the skills that the industry needs, other than just excelling in academics. Hard work never fails, and will pay back in one form or the other.
Limit your academic sessions to your classrooms and self-driven/given homeworks. But get the best out of your curriculum and school teachers/ college professors. Don’t waste time in tuition classes. Learn other skills that could potentially help you serve/connect to society in any possible way. Like troubleshooting electronics or creating small electronic components, as an example. Because, once academics ends, everyone faces the real world
Don’t try to fit yourselves in a defined path. Try to understand a realistic path that can really work for you. Be driven by passion but meaningfully chosen and built.
Future Plans?
I have and had many plans. I can discuss once I am clear with my career goals, as they are evolving with better understanding of businesses in the modern days.