Emanate | October21

G reen Chemis tr y a n d Sust ai n able D evel o pment p 08

Techno lo gical Tran sfo rmations & Fut ur e Disaster p 12

Chai makin g: A curiou s case of Pool Boiling p 16

Emanate Eulogizing Chemical Engineering

"IF YOU THINK SAFETY IS EXPENSIVE, TRY AN ACCIDENT " - Dr . Trev o r K le tz, Fathe r of In dustrial Proc ess Safety

V O L UME 01 Oc to b e r 20 21

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Words from Chairman चर मागा वजाना त । Chemical Engineering Society (ChES) has paved its path with unique activities and is now setting the goals higher and higher since its inception. As a chairman/ faculty advisor of the society, it’s a matter of pride that ChES is coming up with the magazine – EMANATE which would spread the knowledge across the chemical engineering community. The magazine is becoming a regular feature of the society wherein experts from various field and budding engineers will share their experience, views with respect to current development. I wish the team of ChES all the best.

DR. MEGHAL DESAI Chairman, AIChE ChES SVNIT (2014-21)

First President's Note Let me tell you the story of how this Chapter came to life in SVNIT. Back in 2013 when I had started my 3rd year, I realised that nearly every Department in the institute had their own Chapters (ACM, SAE, EES etc) while for some reason, Chem did not. We had some super talented folks working on various research projects and winning individual technical competitions happening throughout the country, but they did not have an organised support behind them.

When I was interning at IIT-Gn during the winter break, they were in conversations with AIChE for starting up the first AIChE Chapter in India. I then reached out to AIChE representatives to understand a bit more about how their Chapters work - and I was blown away with the kind of exposure and support they were willing to offer! I knew that to start this Chapter in our institute there would be a lot of processes and approvals needed, and I probably would first have to convince our HOD of that time - Dr Jigisha Parikh.

So I set up a meeting with her and came prepared with a long presentation on the potential pros and cons of doing this. To my surprise, within the first 5 minutes Dr Parikh was incredibly supportive of the idea and offered full guidance on how to go about the process!

Thus in August of 2014, the AIChE Chapter of SVNIT was founded with a core team of me and my batchmates Surbhi Prasad and Moin Bhutto. It took us only 2 weeks to go from a team of 3 to 12. And then only a further 3 weeks to reach around 65 members across all current batches of the Department!

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EMANATE We organised seminars, competitions, workshops and represented SVNIT in fests across India (winning quite a few competitions as well!).

That year was full of fun and lifelong lessons for all of us involved.

After graduating, I have always been a keen follower of the Chapter, with some events like Siphon, Eureka, Alchemy, Chem E Car etc in recent years making me particularly amazed.

I’m also proud of how the current Chapter members have continued to bring in new initiatives like Emanate, to showcase the versatility of Chemical Engineering amongst a wide audience - while also increasing their technical knowledge across various relevant cutting-edge fields. I will always be cheering on from the sidelines!

Onwards and upwards, MR. KUNAL SINGH Founder, AIChE ChES SVNIT

President's Note Contributing to AIChE Chemical Engineering Society has always been fun and motivating. From learning and coming across the activities during freshman days to organizing and leading them in senior days made us learn about what a team can do united.

Having seen the chapter activities reaching new heights every year has not only boosted the confidence but has also made it possible to take up new tasks and challenges to serve the Chemical Engineering community and bring the best out of people.

This society is just like a family building and achieving together.

Even amidst this virtual environment we didn't set back but came up with ideas of organizing activities to grab the opportunity to reach out to more chemical engineering enthusiasts, helping them learn about the domain, advancements and the possibilities the field has.

And today we bring you across this vast domain of chemical engineering through our very own magazine "Emanate".

Hope you enjoy reading it.

Cheers!

MS. SHEETAL MAHESHWARI President, AIChE ChES SVNIT

EMANATE

Editorial Dear readers, Welcome to the first issue of Emanate - The Technical Magazine of AIChE ChES SVNIT. We at Chemical Engineering Society-SVNIT aim to increase the students’ awareness about the practicality of Chemical Engineering in real life. Launching Emanate is a step in this direction.

This is an attempt to make the readers well aware of how closely Chemical Engineering is related to us and our lives and how we are chemical engineers in our own way, just the fact that we haven’t yet truly discovered this, or maybe never got a chance to truly discover and relish this.

We all are well aware of the plethora of opportunities available after being a Graduate Engineer in Chemical Engineering. But did anyone know that somewhere, there was this hidden chemical engineer within us, pondering over the formation of bubbles and foam after continuously rubbing soap, shampoo on ourselves (Thanks to hydrophobic and hydrophilic action), or thinking about how the recently famed sanitizers (Thanks to Corona) are produced at such a large scale, that somehow got lost as we grew up.

Emanate will definitely broaden your perspective about the versatility of being a chemical engineer, both, by degree and even just by observation.

Let us all discover the undiscovered and celebrate Chemical Engineering!

Happy Reading!!

HIMANSHU GAIKWAD Social Media Head

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Contents 06

Let’s Peep into Rasoighar

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Green Chemistry and S u s t a i n a b le D e v e l o pm e n t

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Ad v a n c e m e n ts i n C h e m ic a l En g i n e e r in g

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B e i r ut E xp l os i o n : C a n T e c h n ol o g i c a l T r a ns f o rm a t i o ns h e l p p r e v e n t a F u t u r e Di sa s t e r ?

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C h a i m a k i n g : A c u ri ou s c a s e o f P o ol B o i l in g

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Let’s Peep into Rasoighar “My idea is that you become aware about exploring the possibilities of Observation, Analysis and then Conclusion (OAC).”

While exploring various industries or drawing examples from them to understand the fundamentals of engineering, we often forget our home where the ample opportunities are already present. This I can say at least for Chemical Engineering. And if you have closely observed our daily activities, you might have experienced that the common sense and engineering fundamentals go hand-in-hand. And kitchen has the special place. Since our birth we are attached to the kitchen.

We have contributed by making delicious food items (the endless list and neverending desires) or by extending assistance (chopping, filtering tea, making dough, Ohh! This one is also endless, but the winner is “switching off the water purifier”) or at least by becoming a critic (This includes “salt is less” type cliché).

Lighter ones but reality.

In this article, I would like to revisit some of the items through the lenses of Chemical Engineering, particularly Mass Transfer phenomena and have few questions for you.

Let’s start with salad. Case i: If the salt is sprinkled over the salad at the time of serving; Case ii: If it is done 1 hour prior to serving. Can we distinguish this

DR. MEGHAL DESAI Associate Professor, DoChE SVNIT Surat

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difference while eating? If so, how? Surface or whole bulk is sour? What is the role of Diffusion through solid? Can you recall any other such example?

Aaloo ki sabjee!! (A Hint). Do all items show same rate of diffusion even though the solute is same? If no, what are the reasons?

Water – Without it, our kitchen is incomplete. Few pulses are soaked in water for few hours before cooking. Again, a case of diffusion through solid.

But what purpose is being served? Think.

Indian food and Spice – Inseparable partners.

Smelling something? Yes, vapor diffusion (mixture case) will help you to identify the spice involved.

And if you really want to explore it further, it’s a case of Diffusion of A through non-diffusing B. Just find out, in how much time the compound will reach the next room. And Temperature has a role to play.

Have you ever checked the quality of the butter made in summer and in winter? Is it same? What happens to raw sugar in monsoon? What is the impact of environment/weather on these items?

Think about these. It’s not necessary to use above examples for exploring the mass transfer in kitchen. There are many more. My idea is that you become aware about exploring the possibilities of Observation, Analysis and then Conclusion (OAC).

This will assist you in becoming a skillful person.

And OAC is a life-long process, not going to end after graduating. Be it professional front or personal; be it academia or industry; again the list is endless.

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Green Chemistry and Sustainable Development “Green chemistry is replacing our industrial chemistry with nature’s recipe book.”

With the rapid population growth and to meet their living requirement, there is meteoric industrialization and urbanization that finally leads to the release of the untreated hazardous material into the environment and depletion of the natural resources. Green chemistry is a newly emerging perspective towards the proper and more effective use of raw materials, minimization of the waste produced during all the levels of chemical processes, maximum possible utilization of the renewable energy sources, and elimination of the use of hazardous chemicals. The effective use of the different principles of green chemistry leads towards the goal of sustainable development. Environment, economy, and society are the three pillars of sustainability, i.e., covers all these three aspects for sustainable development.

The chemical industries are the main areas where the principles of green chemistry can apply to minimize waste production and to ensure the effective use of raw materials or solvents. During the production of any chemical, the use of green solvents and green catalysis provides the first step towards green chemistry. The replacement of the conventional energy sources with renewable sources like solar, wind, ocean energy, and the use

DR. SARITA KALLA Assistant Professor, DoChE SVNIT Surat

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of biomass is also considered as the alternative

as green engineering. The principle of green

to fossil fuel. In terms of saving natural resource

chemistry and green engineering together helps

uses, the raw materials can also be recovered

in the redesigning of the processes.

from the waste stream. Life cycle assessment is also contributed in the cleaner production and helps in analyzing the environmental impact during the whole life cycle of the product, i.e., pre-manufacturing,

manufacturing,

delivery,

product delivery, product use, and end of life.

In addition to the product, the processes and facilities life cycle assessment also help in green processing.

Scale-up

and

commercialization

of the industrial processes while taking care of human life and the environment is known

In short, we can say that green chemistry, by using its 12 working principles, minimizes the negative impact on the environment and society and move the system towards sustainability.

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Advancements in Chemical Engineering “Catalytic Converter has been a good change in the technique as it reduces the toxic pollutants to fewer toxic ones.”

Change is a natural law, everything around us is being subject to some form of change. Thus, Chemical engineering is no exception, from its beginning the discipline has undergone several changes in terms of materials and techniques.

The face value or originality of Chemical Engineering is not changed. Its changing means it is getting modified concerning the demands, environmental factors, etc.

Let’s take a simple example of distillation, there are conventional techniques like simple distillation or multicomponent distillation. But with time and demand, we have so many novel techniques in distillation like azeotropic, reactive, extractive, solar distillation, etc. There has been a change in terms of materials also, like advanced materials, Nanomaterials, Biomaterials, Smart materials are some of best examples of upcoming novel materials.

Now, the question arises why do we need to change/modify? In any field, the reason can be various. In Chemical Engineering the major reason is upsurge demands and Environmental Safety. An example of Petrol, Gasoline or Diesel, we have seen how the demand varies for these valuable products because it’s for peoples everyday need of transportation. But these products have been deleterious for the environment. People are trying to reduce the use of those products by increasing the cost, or maybe an alternative like Catalytic Converter for cleaner combustion of Gasoline, Petrol or Diesel. The above example was the

MR. SOHAM SANGHVI Member ChES 2018-2020

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“Since we are in the era of artificial intelligence, machine learning most importantly Internet of Things, there has been a huge contribution of these fields in Chemical Engineering.”

change in techniques, Catalytic Converter has been

Till now we talked about the change in materials and

a good change in the technique as it reduces the

techniques that lead to advancements in Chemical

toxic pollutants to fewer toxic ones. There has been

Engineering. There has also been a change in

a change in the use of materials also, for energy

the routes and controls of processes in Chemical

storage, environmental safety, and better products.

Engineering. Since we are in the era of artificial

A simple example is the use of nanomaterials for

intelligence, machine learning most importantly

catalysts instead of the conventional catalyst due

Internet of Things, there has been a huge contribution

to high surface area. Nanomaterials have also

of these fields in Chemical Engineering. From

been used in Energy Storage devices which is very

simple logical operations and pieces of equipment

important in times where non-renewable like fossils

like Sensors that depend on Boolean logic and

are reducing and the weak power of renewable

Fuzzy logic. Some Sensors can be computer-coded

sources. Energy Storage devices with advanced

for inserting a formula for height or depth like

materials can help us to store energy in huge amounts

Liquid Level indicators. There has been the various

and can be used for later use. There has been a good

application of fuzzy logic like detections of gases,

invention for generating electricity, by generating it

process controls of distillation columns, controlling

from plants known as Plant-e-Technology. With the

output for reactors and kinetics and very important

help of electrochemical processes, the plant waste

safety analysis. There has been the application of

is converted into useful electrical energy. If this

neural networks like reaction processes, thermal

process gets commercialized, it can be another safer

processes, separation, and purification.

route for generating electricity. Biomaterials and Smart Materials have found great applications in medicines. There have been many materials made for carbon capture which is very important as we all know how harmful carbon dioxide can be. Advanced Materials can be used as adsorbents for capturing Carbon from the atmosphere and converting it to something useful and less harmful.

So, the Advancements in Chemical Engineering have been top-notch, from techniques to materials, routes, and controls used in processes. The use of Advance Materials, Alternative techniques have advanced the field for a better future. This field has some good scope and if these advancements become commercialized, it can lead a way to a sustainable future.

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Beirut Explosion: Can Technological Transformations help prevent a Future Disaster?

“If you think safety is expensive, try an accident” - Dr. Trevor Kletz, Father of Industrial Process Safety On a fine Tuesday evening, a massive non-nuclear explosion struck the port city of Beirut, the capital of Lebanon, leading to a loss of life, infrastructure, and the wellbeing of the population. A large amount of Ammonium Nitrate was confiscated and stored in a poor location, with poor safety standards and procedures were zeroed to be the root cause of the disaster. The incident dramatically reminds us of the importance of safety in the workplace, industries including storage facilities. The Bhopal gas tragedy, Flixborough explosion, Chernobyl nuclear disaster, and many other disasters encapsulated the need for better process safety, depicting why process safety should always be paramount in a workplace. Some lessons are better to be learned through past mistakes rather than being written and learned in blood. Let’s find out if there is a way to make our workplace safer, either by eliminating the element of risk or seeking better control.

Accidents do not just happen by chance; a combination of factors causes them. Some of the major causes of industrial accidents include an unsafe work

MR. SWAPNIL BHAVSAR

environment, unsafe acts caused due to criminal negligence or lack of safety

Advisor ChES 2020-2021 Technical Secretary 2019

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education and planning, an inherent hazard,

coatings) can sense mechanical vibrations or other

fire hazards, etc. Furthermore, with gaps in the

material changes such as corrosion or minute

education of implementation of safety practices,

cracks. The digitization of the system would support

there is a divergence of “what safety is” across the

a prediction, alert based and prescriptive approach

world. However, with a higher focus on safety, fuelled

towards safety rather than one involving a reactive

by the implementation of novel transformative

or monitoring-based approach.

technologies, the landscape is finally on the verge of a revolution. Data has supposedly emerged as the new oil of the future, and those who refine, fuel, and create a value would possibly lead the technology race. Industry 4.0 involves smart manufacturing, the Internet of Things(IoT) for advanced and remote process control, employment of digital sensors to digitize and employ data-driven decision making. For example, smart piezoelectric paints(self-reporting

Data also acts as an asset and a connection that integrates Operations Technology (OT), i.e., Additive Manufacturing, Smart Materials, and Robotics, with Information Technology (IT), i.e., Artificial Intelligence, Internet of Things and, advanced analytics in the form of Smart Manufacturing (SM) and Processing. SM could lead to digital remote control of processing plant, workplace, which would possibly reduce the risks, improve productivity, and

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EMANATE generate new and increment older revenue. With Digitization of real-time and historical data along with IoT, Digital Twin of an entire processing plant or a storage facility before it goes online. Digital Twins can help spot and combat risks during the design and operation of processes. They also enable operators and engineers to train and try out any nonroutine tasks or safety improvements/tests first on the digital twin, possibly using 3D visualization, and study the impacts of operation and take decisions based on that to implement the same online.

Through Dynamic Simulations, the risk assessment of the whole operation line can be conducted multiple times to discover the risks that could cause a process upset. Historical and Realtime Operations data would help develop better algorithms for the AI handling operations through Supervised Machine Learning. This plot may sound like Doctor Strange overseeing the possibilities of a win for Avengers in the battle of Titan against the mighty Thanos.

Implementation of Industry 4.0 could make sure the averment of a future accident and achieving a safer reality.

However, the adoption could face some significant challenges in the form of high capital costs, sociotechnical implications of Industry 4.0, difficulty in integrating new technology with existing lines or equipment, and cybersecurity risks. The revolution for a safer tomorrow would need a balanced approach with extensive or “in the cloud” data collection, analysis, and control powered by an “offthe-grid” implementation policy for the safety and

security of assets.

The Chemical Manufacturing Industry has never gone through a transformational change like the automotive industry, the transformation to horizontal integration from earlier vertical integration for manufacturing. Process Intensification (PI) and Modular Plant Technologies by hybridizing unit operations(ex: Reactive Distillation), increasing the effectiveness of contacting and energy transfer (ex: Static Mixers), and shrinking processes (ex: Microchannel Reactors) while beating the economies of scale by “numbering-up” challenge the current normal. The idea of onsite production of chemicals through Modular PI Technologies would eliminate the risk of transporting hazardous material and, hence, improve safety. Transformation change requires high capital investment; however, with a shift in the supply chain, increased regulations, the emergence of smart manufacturing, the transformational datadriven change powered by Process Intensification seems inevitable in the transforming landscape of Industry 4.0.

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More than 217 people were killed and 7,000 injured when 2,750 tons of ammonium nitrate exploded in Beirut’s port on 4 August 2020. The blast displaced 300,000 people and caused widespread destruction and devastation, damaging buildings up to 20km away.

Sources: Amnesty International, The Guardian

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Chai-Making: A curious case of Pool Boiling Chai making Yeah right! I know the guests are arriving and you need to prepare tea. No worries I am here. So the first step in tea preparation is to open an article on “How to prepare tea?” which, since you are reading this, have opened.

Grab some pen and paper cause you need to perform simple maths to complete our required ingredients list. Here is the analogy: No. of tea cups= No. of water cups + No. of milk cups 5 = 3 ½ + 2 ½.

Logically this is correct. 1 extra cup is to compensate for evaporation and spilling (always happens).

Sugar is 1 tea cup= 1 spoon Tea powder is 1 tea cup = ½ spoon We also need some ginger, cinnamon, cardamom for additional flavors.

Real work starts from here: Pour water into a beaker and start to boil it. Now while it boils I can entertain you with some knowledge on boiling.

ASHUTOSH SRIVASTAVA Member ChES 2021

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Boiling is a heat transfer process. What you see in front of you is specifically called “pool boiling”. Pool boiling occurs in 4 regimes. Refer to the following graph.

Now we enter the fourth and last region, film boiling.

Natural convection boiling: Region Upto A. The first stage and no bubble formation takes place.

Film boiling: Region after point D. Radiation heat transfer takes place here.

Nucleate boiling: Region A-C. It is characterized by the formation of bubbles at the heat transfer

Your water may have boiled till now. Add some

surface. In this region, point C is critical heat flux

ginger, cinnamon, and Cardamom. Add tea leaves

(C.F.C).

and just see the magic. Water which was clear and transparent till now instantly starts changing its color. Rich aroma and flavors start reaching us.

You may hear the dramatic, hissing sound of an electric kettle, which is due to the bursting of these bubbles.

Transition boiling: Region C-D. More bubbles are formed. These bubbles group together and form what may be called a partial film of vapor.

In this region, Point D is called Leidenfrost point.

Here a complete and thick layer of vapor forms over the entire surface.

Aren’t you wondering what’s happening here?

Basically, this step, the final act in the lives of tea leaves is called steeping.

Now while you are brewing your tea. An important question arises, for how long steeping should be done. Always during brewing, a peak reaches when the tea is at its best after which it becomes bitter and unpleasant.

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EMANATE A good way to keep track is to look at the color. If tea is getting darker it also means it is getting stronger.

Lactase, an enzyme to digest milk was originally produced in just young ones. Adults had no lactase to digest milk. But due to thousand of years of evolution, humans found milk to be an important Now that your steeping is completed, add some milk to it. Neither me nor you be a racist. Use buffalo’s milk too.

part of the diet. And here we are drinking milk.

But not all have evolved still ( really 65%), and they are lactose intolerant. So if you can digest milk, feel

Milk is magical, isn’t it? Easily available, many by-

special. L.P is uniquely a human phenomenon, it’s

products, but what else is magical is the simple

not found in any other mammal species. Even adult

ability to digest milk divides the human population

cats can’t digest milk.

into two types.

Tea is almost completed now. Add the calculated

Those with lactase persistence (L.P) genes and

amount of sugar, stir well and now strain the tea.

the other with not, called non-lactase persistence

If you spill while straining no worries, we already

(N.L.P). The former comprise only 35% of the world

have taken it into the account.

population, which means still 65% world population can’t consume milk.

Bon Apetit

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Editors Himanshu Gaikwad Social Media Head

Kushagra Gupta

Srushti Jibhkate

Design Team

Sajal Saxena

Tanay Damania

Deepanshu Chachan

Shashwat Gupta

Isha Vaghela

Bollineni Neha

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