Sustainability and Energy Engineer Interview

We need to develop cutting-edge sustainability driven solutions for energy intensive industries that not only drive industrial efficiency but also reduce emissions and ensure compliance with regulatory and environmental norms.

Kiran Thammina, our next pathbreaker, Project Engineer – Design at Organic Recycling Systems (Mumbai), works on engineering projects such as CBG (Compressed Bio-Gas)  projects, as well as R&D projects focused on innovative waste to energy and carbon capture technologies.

Kiran talks to  Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about his master’s thesis at IIT Bombay with the ultimate aim of replacing fossil fuels in the hard to abate thermal energy intensive industries with the biomass gasifier + burner integration for attaining carbon neutrality. 

For students, although chemical engineering is a labour intensive career, it is for those interested in working in industries to gain practical experience on real industrial problems.

Kiran,  Your background?

I am Kiran Thammina, born and brought up in a small village in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. My father works as a senior manager in one of the granite mines in Northern Part of Andhra Pradesh and my mother serves as a Forest Beat Officer for the Forest Department, Government of Andhra Pradesh. I completed 12^th standard in my village, securing 10 GPA in 10^th class and 966/1000 marks in 12^th class. My initial interest was in sustainable energy technologies during my school days and I am thankful for my physics teacher who ignited the interest in me and which I eventually decided to pursue my career in. Apart from studies, I am interested in drawing, playing badminton. Also, during my 10^th class, I achieved two silver medals in district level Taekwondo tournaments. 

What did you do for graduation/post graduation?

After 12^th class, I decided to pursue Chemical Engineering at Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya for my bachelor’s studies as I felt that it could connect to my interests in sustainable energy technologies. I developed strong fundamentals in chemical engineering through my academics and excelled in studies, as a result of which I received a gold medal for academic excellence from the President of India. I had a dream of studying in IITs, but due to my medical illness during my 11^th and 12^th class, I could not clear the JEE Advanced. However, I decided to pursue my masters from IIT and that motivated me to prepare for GATE . I secured AIR 59 in GATE Chemical Engineering 2022 through which I got an admission for M.Tech in IIT Bombay specializing in Energy Systems Engineering. 

What were some of the influences that led you to a career in Sustainable Energy Technologies?

I feel the initial influencers were my Physics teacher during my 10^th class and the chemistry teacher in 11^th and 12^th class. They encouraged me to think and work beyond my limits and in my interested fields. Later during my BTech, one of the faculties in the department observed my curiosity and asked me to join him in his research work. I feel that was the initial turning point in my life where I was introduced to research for the first time in my career.

Some of the major events were presenting my work along with one of the faculty members at the department of chemical engineering, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya in one of the national conferences in chemical engineering and receiving a best master’s thesis award for my research work at IIT Bombay.

I did my master’s thesis on low calorific value fuel based burner design. This is basically to combust the highly diluted fuel such as syngas, producer gas and other industrial off gases (Industrial off-gases are gaseous byproducts released from manufacturing and chemical processes ) with high efficiency and low emissions. During my research, I worked on the producer gas from the biomass gasifier, where the garden waste of IIT Bombay was used as a feedstock. The ultimate aim of this research was to replace the fossil fuels in the hard to abate thermal energy intensive industries with the biomass gasifier + burner integration for attaining carbon neutrality. 

During my research, I worked on novel flameless combustion technology, starting from the basic computational simulations, then building a lab scale prototype and eventually reaching a stage where I fabricated a working burner of 10 KW rating and achieved a uniform temperature but with ultra-low emissions.

How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Tell us about your career path

I was clear that I wanted to pursue my career in research, especially in sustainable energy technologies. For that, I felt the necessity of pursuing MTech. Although I had a chance of getting into PSUs because of my GATE rank, I rejected that path and selected this research path as my career.

During my BTech, I did an online internship from IIT Indore on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) because of the lockdown. After my MTech, I joined as a project engineer at First ESCO India Pvt Ltd serving both sustainable energy projects such as waste heat recovery, waste to energy etc, and innovative R&D initiatives in the energy domain.  

I served as a project engineer at First ESCO, where I was involved in both engineering projects and also R&D. The company’s main business is waste heat recovery through their patented Organic Rankine Cyle (ORC) technology. The also operate in other fields like Waste to Energy (RDF Pyrolysis), Carbon Capture, Zero Liquid Discharge, Recovery of precious metals from industrial sludge etc. I worked on developing a proposal for RDF pyrolysis, Carbon capture wrt the technical details. I also worked on equipment design for carbon capture through amine process, heat exchangers, evaporators for the waste heat recovery etc. 

In addition to that, I was involved in R&D initiatives such as water recovery from the cooling of tower plumes, innovative ZLD (zero liquid discharge) technology having least energy intensity, and the design of entire pilot plant for recovering Ti from the titanium sludge.

I served for 1 year and 2 months at First ESCO and then I recently joined Organic Recycling Systems Limited as a Project Engineer – Design.

How did you get your first break?

I got my first job in First ESCO through the campus placements at IIT Bombay.

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?

Unlike IT, Chemical engineering roles are labor intensive, as there are situations involving plant visits, lab testing and many more. But one thing I want to specify is that although these are labor intensive, they are worth performing as they add up to your experience and deepen your understanding about chemical plants. What I always believe is, a chemical engineering student can switch to IT field, but an IT professional cannot switch to core industries. I encourage everyone to acquire basic IT knowledge, have command over one computer language, understand data science, machine learning and then apply them in core engineering sectors like chemical and mechanical which will make you a unique person with a different blend of skillsets.

Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?

I work as a Project Engineer- Design at Organic Recycling Systems Limited (ORSL)

Organic Recycling Systems Limited is a public listed company based in Navi Mumbai, India. They delve into the municipal waste management and create value added products and services out of it such as CBG (Compressed Biogas ) from organic waste, Napier grass, and bio-char from waste coconut shells, organic compost / fertilizers for farmers and many more. ORSL has setup the India’s first Waste to Energy plant through anaerobic digestion (a process where microorganisms break down organic matter, such as food scraps or animal manure, in the absence of oxygen) in Solapur city, Maharashtra and also worked with various PSUs and govt agencies and institutions for projects. ORSL has its own R&D center known as Organic Recycling Systems – Research and Innovation Centre (ORS-RIC). Now the company is expanding into different verticals of waste to energy.

My role involves work on engineering projects such as the CBG (Compressed Bio-Gas)  projects through anaerobic digestion (company’s main business) as well as a part of the R&D team of ORSL (also known as ORS- Research and Innovation center) tackling innovative waste to energy, carbon capture technologies for a sustainable future.

What skills are needed in your role? How did you acquire the skills?

I feel that strong fundamentals in chemical engineering is necessary for this career path. As far as the skills are concerned, one must cultivate the skills of developing process flow diagrams for the plant process, equipment designing, and critical thinking pertaining to a challenge. Also, having computational solving skills is an advantage. I recommend learning Aspen Plus software for flow sheeting and equipment design, computational fluid dynamics for understanding the internals of a specific equipment. Also, one must know any one computer language such as python or MATLAB.

I acquired these skills by attending online workshops, NPTEL courses and hands-on projects during my masters at IIT Bombay.

What’s a typical day like?

My typical working day involves coordinating with the design team for projects where my inputs are required, going through the research articles for understanding new technologies, proposing new innovative ideas, and sometimes going to the R & D centre for experiments.

What is it you love about this job? 

The major thing that I love about my job is the synergy of working on both engineering projects and R&D. I work from initial R&D from scratch to the scaled up industrial working plant which is very unique about this job role.

How does your work benefit society? 

In recent times, the concerns about energy security and climate change mitigation are getting more prominent. My work benefits the society and mother earth by decarbonizing the current fossil fuel based industries using innovative sustainable energy technologies such as waste to energy, carbon capture which are capable of fulfilling both the energy security and climate change mitigation challenges.

Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!

I feel my master’s thesis is a specific memorable work that is very close to me. I started from scratch with basic computational modelling and then worked on a physical prototype with phenomenal results. I was awarded the best master’s thesis award at IIT Bombay.

Your advice to students based on your experience?

I advise students to follow their passion and work on it. Don’t compare yourself with others and lower yourself. I believe everyone on this earth is unique and everyone has their own strong zone. Find that and work on that to excel in your career.

Future Plans?

As of now, I am interested in working in industries to gain practical experience on real industrial problems, and improving my technical skills for solving the current challenges. Once I feel I have gained experience, I may pursue PhD for a robust research training which may help me for my future research ambitions.