Penn State University
Energy and Mineral Engineering
Penn State University Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering
EME Faculty
Professor Sarma Pisupati

Sarma V. Pisupati

Associate Professor of Energy and Mineral Engineering;

John T. Ryan Jr. Faculty Fellow, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences;

Undergraduate Program Officer of Energy Engineering
 
office:     126B Hosler Building
phone:     814-865-0874
email:     spisupati@psu.edu
fax:     814-865-3248

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Bio


Biographical Sketch

Sarma V. Pisupati is an Associate Professor and Program Officer of the Energy Engineering Program in the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering, and a Faculty Fellow of the John A. Dutton e-Education Institute in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences at Penn State. He earned B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemical Engineering and a Ph.D. in Fuel Science. He has been studying and teaching the issues related to the energy and environment for the past 25 years. He has worked in industry for five years before joining Penn State.


Sarma's main areas of scientific research are emissions from fossil fuel utilization systems; reduction of NOx and SO2 from stationary combustion sources, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and trace metal emissions from combustion systems; computational fluid dynamic modeling of combustors; coal/biomass gasification; and biomass based materials for emission reduction. He was Principal Investigator (PI) or co-PI on 25 externally funded scientific research projects and was involved in 15 other projects with specific responsibilities. He co-authored over 120 research publications and has one U.S. patent, and is currently supervising four doctoral and four M.S. degree theses. Sarma is very actively involved in professional societies. His service to professional societies includes: Co-organizer and/or Co-chair or Moderator of 21 scientific and teaching related symposia for the American Chemical Society, ASME International Fluidized Bed Combustion Conferences, Annual International Pittsburgh Coal Conferences and American Society of Engineering Education; Associate Editor of the Journal of Energy Resources and Technology; Editorial Board Member of the International Journal of Engineering Research and Technology, International Journal of Materials Engineering & Technology; member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers; Newsletter Editor, Secretary/Treasurer/Program Chair, and currently Chair Elect of the Energy Conversion and Conservation Division.


Educational Background

Ph.D. (Fuel Science), The Pennsylvania State University

M.Tech. (Chemical Engineering), Indian Institute of Technology

B.Tech. (Chemical Engineering), Osmania University



Active Research Projects


In the Department of Energy and Mineral Engineering in the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences, Sarma Pisupati and his research group are pursuing two exciting projects to develop clean coal technologies.


Oxy Coal Combustion

One approach that has generated considerable interest is the burning of coal in O2 and recycled flue gas mixture to produce a near-pure stream of CO2 in the flue gas that can be easily sequestered or utilized in downstream applications. Thus, in this approach N2 in the oxidizer (air) is replaced by the CO2. However, due to differences in thermal properties of CO2 and N2, an oxidizer with a mixture of 30% O2/70% CO2 (molar basis) has been shown to produce similar flame characteristics. The char generated in a CO2 medium has similar reactivity to that of char generated in an inert gas atmosphere. However, very few studies have explored char reactivity, CO, and NOx emissions in increased gas concentrations of O2 and CO2. The challenges that Pisupati's group is addressing are to:



Gasification Behavior of Various Size and Density Fractions

Another approach for clean coal power generation is using Integrated Gasification Combined Cycle (IGCC). Using this method, coal is gasified at high pressure and temperature using oxygen and steam to produce carbon monoxide and hydrogen mixture (synthesis). The carbon monoxide is reacted with water to produce additional hydrogen and carbon dioxide (shift reaction). The synthesis gas is cleaned and burned in a gas turbine generating power. The gases exiting the gas turbine are used to produce steam using a heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) which is then used in a steam turbine generating additional power. Hence it is combined cycle. IGCC plants are more efficient in converting coal to electricity than conventional coal plants and thus produce less CO2 per unit of electricity generated. One of the challenges in coal gasification is to achieve high conversion of carbon and less deposition of ash in the subsequent gas coolers. The goal of this project is to better understand the impact of the non-homogeneous nature of coal-on-coal gasification systems and to develop better modeling tools to improve reliability and efficiency of coal gasifiers. It is well known that the mineral and organic components in coals, known as macerals, vary widely in their composition, distribution, and occurrence. These components have a different physical and chemical makeup. When ground to the fine sizes required for advanced gasification systems, some of these components will separate to form particles enriched in individual minerals or macerals which respond completely differently than the aggregate or average coal particles. These outliers can lead to process inefficiencies, fouling, and other reliability problems. Coals will be fractionated by hardness and density and those fractions will be characterized, gasified, and the resulting information will be used to develop validated computer models.


Sarma Pisupati's Group is collaborating with researchers from U.S. DOE, West Virginia University, Carnegie Mellon University, SRI International, Niksa Energy Associates, REM Engineering Services, and Leonardo Technologies, Inc.


Co-Gasification of Coal and Biomass

Coal has a relatively low cost and a high energy density but its major drawbacks are its high emissions of environmentally harmful compounds (sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and carbon dioxide), and its low hydrogen-to-carbon ratio, hindering its direct use for combustion and its gasification for synthetic gas production. On the other hand, biomass as gasification feedstock although giving a high hydrogen yield, has the disadvantage of low energy density, high moisture content, seasonal limitation and poor reliability in supply, tar production due to low gasification temperature. Blending biomass and coal as feedstock can reduce the shortcomings of each fuel taken alone and boost the efficacy of the overall system. Therefore, co-gasification of coal and biomass offers a better prospect for cleaner coal utilization and a way to dispose wastes/biomass in an economical, safe, and environmentally friendly manner.



Selected Publications


  1. Shannon, G. N., P. L. Rozelle, S. V. Pisupati, and S. Sridhar, "Conditions for entrainment into a FeOx containing slag for a carbon-containing particle in an entrained coal gasifier," Fuel Process. Technol. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2008.06.010, 2008.
  2. Soundarrajan, N., P. L. Rozelle, and S. V. Pisupati, "Development and Use of a Method for the Prediction of the Ash Split in a CFBC Boiler to Improve the Energy Efficiency," Fuel, doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2008.04.040, 2008.
  3. Pisupati, S.V., and Bhalla S., "Influence of Calcium Content of Biomass-Based Materials on Simultaneous NOx and SO2 Reduction," Environmental Science and Technology, 42 (7), pp. 2509-2514, 2008.
  4. Zarnitz, R., and Pisupati, S., V., "Identification of Significant Factors in Reburning with Coal Volatiles," Environmental Science and Technology, Vol. 42 (6), pp. 2004-2008, 2008.
  5. Naredi, P., and Pisupati, S.V., "Interpretation of Char reactivity Profiles using Thermogravimetric Analyzer," Energy and Fuels, Vol. 22 (1), pp. 317-320, 2008.
  6. Pisupati, S.V. and Bhalla, S. "Numerical Modeling of NOx Reduction Using Pyrolysis Products from Biomass-based Materials," Biomass and Bioenergy Journal, Vol. 32, (2), pp. 146-154, 2008.
  7. Rozelle, P.L., Pisupati, S.V., Scaroni, A.W., "The Effect of Fuel Properties on the Bottom Ash Generation Rate by a Laboratory Fluidized Bed Combustor," ASME Journal of Energy Resources and Technology, Vol. 129 (2) pp.144-151, 2007.
  8. Rozelle, P.L., Pisupati, S.V., Scaroni, A.W., "Prediction of Sorbent Performance in a CFB Boiler Based on Sorbent Petrographic Properties," ASME Journal of Engineering for Gas Turbines and Power, Vol. 127 pp 565-571, 2007.
  9. Zarnitz, R. and S. V. Pisupati, "Evaluation of the Use of Coal Volatiles as Reburning Fuel for NOx Reduction." Fuel, Vol. 86(4): 554-559, 2007.
  10. Pisupati, S. "Advances in Combustion in Fluidized Bed Combustion," ASME Journal of Energy Resources and Technology, Vol. 128, No. 2 pp. 89, 2006.


Recent Activities and Awards


Professional Activities


University Activities



Awards/Honors/Recognitions

Research Interests


Teaching


EGEE 101 - Energy and the Environment (3)


EGEE 102 - Energy Conservation for Environmental Protection (hybrid) (3)


EGEE 102H - Energy Conservation for Environmental Protection - Honors level (3)


EGEE 302 - Principles of Energy Engineering (3)


EGEE 580 - Design Engineering of Energy and Geo-Environmental Systems (5)