DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

Research Staff

Dr. Suresh Kumar Reddy Kuppireddy Research/Teaching Associate Zarkuh Building, Room 1016 Office: +971 2 6075415 Email: skuppireddy@pi.ac.ae

OBJECTIVE

To pursue a challenging carrier in the area of heterogeneous catalysis and reaction engineering area for Industrial problems.

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATION

• Ph. D. (Chemical Engineering): 2009, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (I.I.C.T, Hyderabad), India. Thesis title “Reaction and Kinetics studies on Catalytic Vapor Phase Pyridine Synthesis”.
• M. Tech. (Chemical Engineering): 2004, Distinction, Sri Venkateshwara University (S.V. U, Tirupati) India.
• B. Tech (Chemical Engineering): 2002, Distinction, J.N.T University, Hyderabad, A. P., India.

WORK EXPERIENCE

• The Petroleum Institute, Abu Dhabi,  U. A. E  as a Research Associate / Teaching Associate, (October 2010 – till date
  Project: Development of Activated carbon from Biomass for mercury removal from natural gas
• Qatar University, Doha, Qatar as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, (July 2010 – September 2010)
• Texas A&M University at QATAR, Doha, Qatar as a Postdoctoral Research Associate, (April 2009 – June 2010)
  Project: Fischer Tropsch Technology & Synthetic Jet Fuels
• Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India as a Senior Research Fellow, (Nov 2005- Oct 2008)
• Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India as Junior Research Fellow, (Oct 2003- Oct 2005)

ACADEMIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS

• Consistent academic record throughout carrier
• Secured first prize in TLEP-2008 conducted by CSIR, New Delhi
• Secured C.S.I.R-S.R.F fellowship for the years 2005-2008
• Secured C.S.I.R-J.R.F fellowship for the years 2003-2005
• Awarded UGC-fellowship in 2002-2003 in M.Tech
• Secured Prathibha Scholarship from Govt of A.P for Outstanding performance in S.S.C examinations

RESEARCH EXPERIENCE

The contents of the work can be postulated as:

• Process standardization in vapor phase pyridine synthesis to enhance pyridine selectivity with minimum coke formation.
• Catalyst characterization studies like Pore size distribution, Ammonia TPD, XRD, IR, TGA/DTA, BET Surface area, SEM, CHNS in vapor phase pyridine synthesis.
• A kinetic study of vapor phase pyridine synthesis is studied by combing the catalyst deactivation studies.
• Two level process standardization of solid acid catalyzed mononitration of toluene to enhance the   conversion and para-selectivity by tailoring the micro and macro environment around the catalyst particle.
• Catalyst characterization studies to establish its stability and regenerability in the sulfuric acid free mononitration of toluene employing the sophisticated tools like GC, XRD, TG/DTA, BET Surface Area, FTIR, SEM, EDX and Solid State NMR.
• Synthesis and characterization of redox mesoporous materials (Mo, W and Se-MCM-41) for oxidation reactions.
•  Synthesis of 2-Methyl, 5-Ethyl Pyridine over zeolites under high pressure.
• Synthesis of highly substituted pyridines over zeolites under high pressure.

PUBLICATONS

1. Interrelationship of Process Parameters in Vapor Phase Pyridine Synthesis.
   Applied catalysis A: General 339 (2008) 15-20.
2. Behavior of a deactivating HZSM-5 with varying Al+3 content in vapor phase
   aminocyclization
   Catalysis letters 125 (2008) 110-115.
3. Optimization of vapor phase pyridine synthesis hindered by rapid catalyst   
   deactivation.
   International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering 6 (2008) A29.
4. Liquid phase oxidation reactions over MoMCM-41 and WMCM-41 molecular sieves.
   Stud. Surf. Sci. Cat 170 B, (2007) 1877-1883.
5. Studies on physico-chemical changes of zeolites in mononitration of toluene.
   Kinetics and Catalysis 50, (2009) 131-137.
6. Studies on para-selectivity and yield enhancement in zeolite catalyzed toluene
   nitration.
   The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering 80, (2008), 219-227.
7. Liquid phase synthesis of 5-ethyl -2-methylpyridine from acetaldehyde and ammonia  
   using zeolites under high pressure
   J. Mol. catalysis A: General, 298, (2009) 99-102.
8. Synthesis of highly substituted pyridines over zeolite molecular sieves under high pressure.
   Catalysis Letters, 130, (2009) 367-372.
9. Dispersion and Kinetic studies of Zeolite Catalyzed Toluene Nitration.
   International Journal of Chemical Engineering Research, 1, (2009) 89-102.
10. Tetrahydropyranylation of alcohols over modified zeolites
    Catalysis Letters, 134, (2010) 175-178.
11. 11. Synthesis, characterization and catalytic properties of SeMCM-41 molecular sieves:
    Oxidation of 2-methylnaphthalene to 2-methyl-1, 4-naphthoquinone.
    Journal of Porous Materials, 18, (2011) 337-343.
12. Kinetic studies on vapor phase pyridine synthesis and catalyst regeneration studies
    The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering, 89, (2011) 854-863.
13. Process optimization of vapor phase pyridine synthesis using response surface
    methodology
    Kinetics and Catalysis (Article in press 2012)

AREAS OF INTEREST

• Reaction Engineering 
• Heterogeneous Catalysis
• Catalytic Gasification
• Activated carbon, Biomass and Energy
• GTL- Fischer Tropsch Synthesis and Synthetic fuels

PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCE

• Capable of handling collaborative and independent work.
• Excellent communication and managerial skills.
• Expertise in catalyst characterization techniques viz., XRD, TG/DTA, BET Surface area, Pore size distribution.
• Handling of Fuel characterization instruments like Flash point analyzer, Freezing point analyzer, Density meter, Viscosity meter, Bomb calorimeter, Octane analyzer, Moisture meter, Saybolt-Chromometer etc.,
• Handling of analytical equipment like Gaschromotography (Agilent 7890 A, Shimidzu 14B, Varian, Perkin Elmer Clarus 500), and HPLC.
• Process optimization using Minitab-15.
• Computational skills POLYMATH, ASPEN, MATLAB, C language