Shantanu Darveshi

Education:

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

B. Tech. (Chemical Engineering), Birla Institute of Science and Technology, India (2018)

Thesis research topic: Moist membranes for biogas beneficiation

Research Summary:

Rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels and India’s dependency on imports for meeting energy requirements are a cause for concern. India annually generates biogas in the order of billion m³/yr. This biogas can be beneficiated using membranes to act as a green substitute for compressed natural gas(CNG). In my research, I explore the use of flat sheet thin-film composite membranes with a water-swollen selective layer for the separation of carbon dioxide from biogas. I am using asymmetric polysulfone (PSf) membrane prepared by phase inversion process as the support layer and polyvinyl alcohol(PVA) applied by dip coating as the moist selective layer. The development of a commercially viable membrane would provide an impetus to the still-nascent biomethane industry in India.

Keywords:

Thin film composite membrane, water swollen membrane, moist membrane, biogas upgradation, biogas beneficiation, biomethane, flat sheet membranes, gas separation, renewable energy