Asad H. Sahir, PhD

Development of a research and academic program in Chemical Engineering at IIT Ropar to address the engineering research workforce requirements in energy systems and process engineering science. Served as the Head-Professional Development for students at IIT Ropar (December 2017-July 2021)

Member of the Biorefinery Analysis and Exploratory Research Team at the National Bioenergy Center, investigating process technology options and strategies for planning future R&D initiatives. * Development of modeling tools and capabilities for supporting the U.S. Department of Energy’s Bioenergy Technologies Office’s (US DoE-BETO) goals for Strategic Analysis Support ; Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts Modeling ; Refinery Integration; and Thermochemical Analysis platforms * Processes investigated include hydrotreating of petroleum refinery intermediates and bio-derived compounds (in collaboration with PNNL), blending models for evaluating fuel properties for bio-based and refinery streams, catalytic fast pyrolysis and co-conversion of natural gas and biomass to transportation fuels * Publications: 1 (Topics in Catalysis), 1 (under review- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews), 3 (under preparation), 1 USDOE Technical Report * 2 invited talks (2016 AIChE Process Development Symposium and 2016 EFI Gas Flare Monetization Conference) and 9 presentations * Mentored an undergraduate research project on evaluating the economics of Methanol to Olefins (MTO) process using Crystal Ball and reported experimental data * Co-Author on a conceptual design report titled "Process Design and Economics for the Conversion of Lignocellulosic Biomass to Hydrocarbon Fuels Thermochemical Pathways with In Situ and Ex Situ Upgrading of Fast Pyrolysis Vapors". The design capacity is 2000 dry metric tons per day. * Mentored undergraduate students on analyzing Methanol-to-Olefins (MTO) process using Crystal Ball and ASPEN PLUS

(Advisors: Prof. JoAnn S. Lighty and Prof. Adel F. Sarofim) - Formulated the chemical process design principles using ASPEN PLUS, MATLAB and chemical process modeling techniques aiding the design of a 100-200 KWth process development unit (PDU) for the Chemical-looping with Oxygen Uncoupling (CLOU) Process for Solid Fuels. The PDU is currently under construction at the University of Utah Gasification and Combustion Laboratory. - Investigated a methodology to enable determination of the relative importance of chemical reaction, pore diffusion and external mass transfer in Chemical-looping Combustion (CLC) and CLOU processes to facilitate design. - Modeled the kinetics for the relevant reactions from reported batch scale fluidized bed experimental data in the CLOU process. - Mentored two undergraduate research projects on process design and energy integration. - Teaching Assistant for Chemical Process Design (Spring 2009, Fall 2010 and Spring 2011) - Presentations at the 2nd International Conference on Chemical Looping - TU Darmstadt (2012), 1st International Conference on Chemical Looping - IFP Lyon (2010), AIChE Annual Fall Meeting (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 ) , International Pittsburgh Coal Conference (2010, 2011), International Technical Conference on Clean Coal and Fuel Systems at Clearwater, Florida(2011,2012), Combustion Institute - US National Combustion Meeting (2011) and Western States Section (2009), American Flame Research Committee (2012) - Reviewer: Industrial Engineering and Chemistry Research, Energy & Fuels, Combustion and Flame, The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering.

* Provided process engineering support for Heavy Crude Processing Unit at the BPCL Mumbai refinery – with a focus on process optimization, energy efficiency, and waste minimization * Developed ASPEN PLUS simulations for crude distillation columns which identified potential energy savings of US$1 million annually * Utilized crude preheat exchanger equipment datasheets for modeling crude preheat train networks and energy integration studies * Researched and analyzed emergent technologies in energy under the guidance of executive director (R&D), and contributed to project and proposal development activities for conversion of Coal-to-Liquid (CTL) fuels and production of biofuels from syngas * Analyzed and performed bench-scale catalytic naphtha reforming experiments towards catalyst evaluation at BPCL Mumbai Refinery * Mentored an undergraduate research student on the development of kinetic models for Fischer- Tropsch synthesis * Drafted the Environment, Health and Safety procedures for laboratory waste management for the R&D centre * Presentations: 1 (2008 ASPENTECH India User Conference)

Dissertation titled “Modeling of Solid State Fermentation Process” Contributed in the development of a conceptual process design scheme on "Helium Recovery from Natural Gas" Analyzed "Spiral Wound Heat Exchangers for LNG" for a seminar report

Chemical Plant Design Project on Techno-Economic Analysis for manufacture of MTBE Experimental project on Coiled Channel Solar Water Heater