C. Subramaniam

University of Turin

subramaniam.chidambaranathapillai@unito.it

Supervisor: Prof. Giancarlo Cravotto

Brief Bio

Subramaniam C holds a Master's degree in Chemical Engineering from CSIR-NCL India, where he focused on designing flow distributors for multichannel systems. Prior to that, he earned a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering from Amrita School of Engineering, India. After completing his Master's, Subramaniam worked as a Process Development Engineer at an R&D company specializing in continuous flow synthesis of API intermediates and specialty chemicals. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD at the University of Turin, as part of the CaviPRO research group, Subramaniam focuses on developing innovative methodologies in organic synthesis, specifically exploring reactions in or on water through hydrodynamic cavitation.

Project Description

Water is a green solvent because of its nontoxicity, non-flammability and natural availability. Thus, organic synthesis ‘in-water’ and ‘on-water’ has received considerable attention recently. However, water is still not commonly used as the sole solvent for organic syntheses, because most organic compounds do not dissolve in water to a significant extent. This PhD project aims at significantly reducing the limitation of solubility by enhancing mass transfer using HC to intensify a range of ‘in-water’ and ‘on-water’ organic reactions. Furthermore, HC-based intensification will be augmented by combining it with ultrasonic (US) and plasma. The work will be beneficial for a number of reactions. The key objectives are: 1) Improve lab-scale HC devices for organic syntheses in-water and on-water; 2) Intensify organic reactions in water medium to enhance rates and yields at lower energy consumption; 3) Investigate the benefits of combining HC with low frequency US (20-120 kHz) and atmospheric plasma; 4) Reduce the detrimental environmental impact of the selected organic reactions. The key expected results are: 1) A lab-scale HC device with the sequential US unit and the plasma reactor; 2) Experimental data on intensification of organic reactions of industrial interest; 3) Prove and quantify the benefits of HC processes for the organic reactions ‘in water’ and ‘on water’.