DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Research Staff

Dr. Pravin Kannan Research/Teaching Associate Bu Hasa-2208A Office: +97126075119 E-mail: pkannan@pi.ac.ae

Profile

Dr. Pravin Kannan joined The Petroleum Institute in February 2011 as a research / teaching associate in the department of chemical engineering. His current research work involves converting plastics wastes into energy using a fluidized gasification system. During his Ph.D. program at Tennessee Tech University, U.S.A he was engaged in investigating kinetic behavior of polymeric foam pyrolysis and gasification. Prior to joining PI, he was working as an Assistant Professor at Amrita School of Engineering in India.

Honors/ Achievements

• BASF travel grant for participation in the 116th BASF International Summer Course for Scientists and Engineers, Ludwigshafen (Germany), August 11-22, 2008
• Indianoil Institute of Petroleum Management (IIPM) travel grant for participation in 5th summer school program: Petroleum Refining and Petrochemicals, Gurgaon (India), June 7-11, 2010
• Sigma Xi honorary society – Associate Member
• Student Research Achievement Award, TTU research day, April 2008
• PHAT (process heating assessment training) and PSAT (pumping systems assessment training) certification awarded by the department of energy (DOE) in 2002, USA

Publications

• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki, D. P. Visco, Jr., Gas Diffusivity through EPS foams, J. Cellular Plastics, 46 (4) 353 - 373 (July 2010)
• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki and D. P. Visco, Jr., Fast Pyrolysis kinetics of expanded polystyrene foam, AIChE J., 56 (6) 1569 - 1577 (June 2010)
• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki, D. P. Visco, Jr., and W. Lambert, Kinetics of thermal decomposition of expandable polystyrene, J. An. App. Pyrol., 84 (2) 139 - 144 (March 2009)
• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki and D. P. Visco, Jr., A review of physical and kinetic models of thermal degradation of expanded polystyrene foam and their application to the lost foam casting process, J. An. App. Pyrol., 78 (1) 162-171 (January 2007)
• J. J. Biernacki, P. Kannan, H. Meyer and C. Blue, Kinetics of Borosilicate Glass Deposition, J. Mat. Res. 19 (3) 873-879 (2004)

Selected Presentations

• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki, D. P. Visco, Jr., Diffusion in polystyrene: A multiscale approach, 2006AIChE National Meeting, San Francisco.
• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki and D. P. Visco, Kinetics of Thermal Decomposition of Expanded Polystyrene in Different Gaseous Environments, 2008 AIChE Annual Meeting, Philadelphia.
• P. Kannan, J. J. Biernacki, and D. P. Visco Jr., Fast Pyrolysis of EPS, TTU Research Day, March 2009, Cookeville.

Areas of Interest

Kinetic modeling, Developing novel experimental apparatus for rapid pyrolysis, Rapid gas separation techniques, Multiscale modeling of transport processes using Cellular Automata

A review of physical and kinetic models of thermal degradation of expanded polystyrene foam and their application to the lost foam casting process