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Date
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Position
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2025
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Fellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE)
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2023
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Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc)
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2021
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Fellow of the Institute of Physics, UK
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2024-Present
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Professor (HAG), IIT Hyderabad, India
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2018-2024
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Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
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2014-2017
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Head of the Chemical Engineering Department
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2013-2018
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Associate Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
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2010-2013
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Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
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2009-2010
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Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad, India
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2006-2009
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Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London, UK
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2003-2007
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PhD in Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
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2001-2003
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MS in Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Mechanics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore, India
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1997-2001
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BE in Mechanical Engineering, University College of Engineering Burla, Odisha, India
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Research interests
Our research primarily focuses on studying the dynamics of droplets and viscosity-stratified flows. We are also interested in microfluidics and hydrodynamic instability in small-scale flows. To gain a comprehensive understanding of these fluid mechanics areas, we utilize a range of tools, including basic modelling, computational fluid dynamics, stability analysis, and meticulous experimentation. We are equipped with cutting-edge research facilities, such as high-performance computing clusters, time-resolved particle image velocimetry, a customized contact angle meter, and a thermal imaging system.
Applications
Clouds and raindrops
Accurate weather forecasting and precipitation modelling heavily rely on understanding the shape and size of raindrops, which are influenced by microphysical processes like condensation/evaporation, coalescence, and fragmentation. These processes, in turn, can be affected by temperature, air currents, and humidity gradients. Neglecting droplet coalescence and breakup alone can lead to a 10% error in rainfall modelling without considering the impact of phase change, which is also significant. To address these challenges, we have developed a state-of-the-art experimental facility that simulates the atmospheric conditions of raindrops descending from a cloud to the ground, allowing us to study the impact of microphysical processes on droplet dynamics. Our facility is designed and constructed from scratch and can be integrated with weather radar technology to enhance forecast accuracy.
YouTube: Raindrops Research Facility (RRF)
Bubble dynamics
Bubbles and drops have been the subject of investigation for centuries and remain a topic of great interest today due to their significance in natural phenomena, including aerosol transfer from the sea, oxygen dissolution in lakes due to rain, and electrification of the atmosphere by sea bubbles. They also play a critical role in various industrial processes, such as bubble column reactors, the petroleum industry, the flow of foams and suspensions, and carbon sequestration. Despite the vast literature on this subject, many unsolved problems persist.
Nature Communications (2015)
Viscosity-stratified flows
Variations in viscosity, both over time and in space, have the potential to significantly impact fluid flow in various applications, such as the chemical industry and natural phenomena. As seen in non-Newtonian fluids like blood and mucus, shear and its past can affect viscosity. Our focus is on investigating hydrodynamic instabilities that arise in viscosity-stratified flows, which can be utilized to enhance mixing or decrease drag in diverse industrial settings.
Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics (2014)
Small-scale flows
The instabilities of the spatially developing laminar flows are shown to be fundamentally different from flows that do not vary downstream. The base flow itself is quite complicated and needs to be computed very accurately, given that the stability is very sensitive to the base flow. We are interested in studying the linear evolution by considering the non-parallel stability analysis and, subsequently, the nonlinear effect using direct numerical simulation. As such flows are unstable at surprisingly low Reynolds numbers, it can improve mixing in microfluidic devices, which is challenging. This instability mechanism can enhance mixing or reduce drag in a wide range of industrial applications.
Numerical solvers for multiphase flows
We have developed various computational fluid dynamics solvers utilizing different approaches, such as volume-of-fluid, diffuse-interface, and lattice Boltzmann methods. We have also incorporated the Graphics Processing Unit (GPU) as a new scientific computing paradigm. Our GPU-based flow solver has demonstrated a 25-fold increase in speed compared to a CPU-based flow solver. Furthermore, connecting multiple GPUs in a cluster can provide even greater acceleration. Consequently, this innovative implementation offers significant advantages in terms of the complexity and size of the problems we can tackle.
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