Professor Rajarathinam Parthasarathy
Details
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College: School of Engineering
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Department: School of Engineering
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Campus: City Campus Australia
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rajarathinam.parthasarathy@rmit.edu.au
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ORCID: 0000-0003-3337-8678
Open to
- Masters Research or PhD student supervision
- Collaborative projects
- Industry Projects
- Membership of an advisory committee
- Join a web conference as a panellist or speaker
About
Rajarathinam (Raj) Parthasarathy is a Professor of Chemical Engineering at the RMIT University, Melbourne, Australia. He served as the Deputy Head (Head of the department) of Chemical Engineering between 2014-2016. He is currently Deputy Director of the Centre of Advanced Materials and Industrial Chemistry.
Raj graduated from the University of Madras, India and completed his MEng degree at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Raj earned his PhD from the University of Newcastle in Australia under the supervision of Laureate Professor Graeme Jameson.
Before his career at RMIT University, Raj worked as a production engineer at the Oil & Natural Gas Corporation in India for four years, followed by two years as a lecturer at the University of Malaya. He has held various positions at RMIT University, including Acting Director of the Rheology and Materials Processing Centre, Discipline Program Manager and Graduate Student Coordinator,
Raj’s research focused on multiphase flow in two- and three-phase agitated reactors, anaerobic digestors, and slurry pipelines. His research combines experimental work with mathematical and numerical modelling to find practical solutions to operational problems and achieve process intensification. He collaborated with the water industry to study the rheologically complex flow phenomena in anaerobic digesters and developed a new design solution using electrical resistance tomography. Raj also worked on developing biodegradable polymer nanocomposites and sustainable solutions for managing biomass waste. His current work focuses on developing an optimum design for agitated reactors to minimise scale growth on reactor walls, sustainable laminar transportation of mineral tailings, and techno-economic analysis of hydrogen energy systems. Raj has published 200 publications, Including 110 journal papers.
Raj has supervised forty-one graduate (Masters and PhD) students and is currently supervising six PhD students. He also taught plant design and economics and several chemical engineering courses to undergraduate students for several years.
Raj is a Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE), UK.
Contact Details:
Email address: rajarathinam.parthasarathy@rmit.edu.au
Office Phone Number: +61 3 99252941
Research fields
- 4004 Chemical engineering
Academic positions
- Professor, Chemical Engineering
- RMIT University
- Chemical & Environmental Engineering
- Melbourne, Australia
- 1 Jan 2018 – Present
- Deputy Head of School (Chemical Engineering)
- RMIT University
- School of Civil, Environmental and Chemical Engineering
- Melbourne, Australia
- Apr 2014 – Aug 2016
Non-academic positions
- Production Engineer
- Bombay Offshore Project, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation
- , India
- 1984 – 1988
Supervisor projects
- Direct air capture using novel and cost effective adsorbents
- 28 Mar 2024
- Laminar flow of thickened slurries in pipes (in collaboration with ATC Williams)
- 1 Dec 2023
- Polymer composite synthesis using end-of-life tyre (EOLT) char
- 24 Nov 2023
- Laminar flow of thickened slurries in pipes
- 28 Apr 2023
- Scale mitigation in agitated slurry tanks
- 3 Apr 2023
- Conversion of Waste Materials into Value Added Carbon Nanofibres
- 21 Oct 2022
- Development of a life cycle inventory database for plastic waste managemenT
- 23 Feb 2022
- Optimising polycaprolactone diol and organic acid-based polyesters for 3D printing biodegradable tissue scaffold
- 11 Feb 2022
- Precipitation of Al, Ni and Co and selective dissolution of a mixed Al/Ni/Co hydroxide for generating Ni and Co for use in the production of lithium batteries
- 2 Aug 2021
- Experimental Optimisation and Techno-economic Assessment of a Rice-straw-biochar-based Slurry Used for Fuel Applications
- 9 Nov 2020
- Characterisation of Two-Part Resin Mix for Aerospace Composite Part Production at Various Mix Conditions
- 30 Oct 2020
- Settling Dynamics of Suspensions in Viscoelastic Shear-Thinning Fluids Under Static and Sheared Conditions
- 15 Nov 2019
- Techno-economic Evaluation of Integrated Green Hydrogen System
- 2 May 2019
- Scale Minimisation in a Multi-phase Agitated Reactor Using Fluid Mechanics Approach
- 3 Dec 2018
- Solids Settling in High Concentration Slurries under Static and Sheared Conditions
- 1 Oct 2018
- Modelling and Optimisation of Lipase Synthesis from Candida antarctica and Reactions Catalysed by Lipase
- 11 Sep 2018
- Particle Attrition in a Mechanically Agitated Vessels
- 22 Sep 2017
- Thermodynamics and Kinetic Studies for Crystallization of Carboxylic Acids (Para-methoxyphenylacetic Acid and Benzoic Acid): Measurement and Mathematical Modeling
- 19 Sep 2017
- Investigations on Ionic Liquid Pre-treatment of Lignocellulosic Biomass for the Production of Biofuels and Platform Chemicals
- 31 May 2017
- Optimising the Design of Agitated Tanks for Mitigating Scale Formation
- 29 Feb 2016
- Thermochemical Conversion of Press Seed Cake Produced from Non-Edible Biomass
- 23 Jul 2015
- Microwave Drying of Naproxen Sodium Drug Formulations
- 20 Jul 2015
- Rheological Characterisation of Thermally Hydrolysed Waste Activated Sludge
- 4 Mar 2013
Teaching interests
Current Undergraduate Teaching:
Process Plant Design and Economics, Chemical Engineering Design Project 1 & 2, Engineering Capstone Project A & B
Past Undergraduate Teaching:
Process Principles, Chemical Engineering Specialisation, Process Systems Integration, Process Systems Design, Chemical Engineering Design, Fluid Flow and Particle Mechanics, Transfer Processes, Advanced Chemical Engineering Specialisation, Advanced Environmental Engineering, Process Control and Simulation.
Graduate Students Supervision (Completed)
(*Indicates the students for whom he acted as the primary supervisor)
PhD:
Vinko Momiorski*, Ryan Hulley, Nilufer Kurt, Achula Rajapakse, Murali Mohan Reddy*, Torika Oshadie Kumanayaka*, Maryam Rezaei*, Eng Ying Bong*, Norzura Ibrahim, Siew Cheng Low*, Flora Markis, Faisal Ahmed Geheshah, Ehsan Ferno, Daniel Stoain*, Stephen Kennedy*, Seyed Ali Azgharzadehahmadi*, Sayanasree Varala*, Kotaiah Naik*, Sumalatha Eda*, Kevin Hii, Meysam Davoody*, Maha Al-Ali*, Vivek Ravishankar, Pobitra Holder, Ramesh Tangirila, Samaneh Lotfiman*, Lolita Cueva Zepeda*, Nipon Sarmah*, Saddam Ali Imran Mohd Khayry*, Chukwononso Anyaoku*, Venkataraman Balasubramanian*.
MEng:
Abdul Aziz Abdul Raman*, Jeffry Yulian, Tonmukayakul, N., Khin Maung Than*, Ferriwaty Tan*, Wei Ming Yek*, Steven Wang*, Firoozeh Pourjavaheri-Jad*, Chongguang Yu*, Sandro Gelic*.
Research interests
- Multiphase hydrodynamics in agitated reactors - Multiphase mixing, Bubble generation, Scale minimisation, Solids suspension and solid-liquid mass transfer, Process intensification, Laminar mixing studies on viscous Newtonian and non-Newtonian liquids
- Laminar transportation of thickened slurry in pipelines
- Sheared settling of particles in thickened slurries
- Anaerobic digester hydrodynamics and sludge rheology
- Biomass utilisation
- Techno-economic analysis on hydrogen energy systems
