Sushobhan Pradhan

Co-Author of "Application of Sonication in Lipid Extraction from Microbial Biomass for Third Generation of Biodiesel"

January 24, 2024

Dr. Sushobhan Pradhan is currently working as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the School of Chemical Engineering at Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, USA. Previously Dr. Pradhan was working as a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Villanova University, Pennsylvania, USA, for a brief period. Dr. Pradhan completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Oklahoma State University (OSU), Stillwater, United States, in 2021. Before joining OSU, he finished his M. Tech. in 2016, from Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati in Chemical Engineering with 'Petroleum Science and Technology' specialization. He did his B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indira Gandhi Institute of Technology, Sarang, Odisha, in 2014. His primary research includes carbon capture, surface chemistry, polymer technology, enhanced oil recovery and process simulation. He has published 25 scholarly publications that includes various journal articles, book chapters and conference publications and has presented his research works over 30 conferences and invited talks. 

 

Increasing demand in terms of fuel and energy with limited fossil fuels forces researchers to develop renewable fuels in sustainable ways. Biodiesel, as an alternative to mineral diesel, has emerged as one of the potential renewable fuels. With an increasing demand for biodiesel, conventional and non-conventional sources of triglycerides were investigated. In terms of future demand, edible and non-edible sources are insufficient to fulfill the requirement and thus microbial oil will be one of the crucial feedstock for biodiesel production. The extraction of lipids from various biomass is one of the crucial steps in the synthesis of biodiesel, which controls the overall production cost. Over the last few years, conventional lipid extraction techniques such as solvent extraction, mechanical processes, and chemical treatments have been explored, however, all these have their own limitations. Moreover, in order to obtain high purity lipids in an economical way, the use of sonication has garnered much attention in extracting the lipids from the microbial biomass because of the shorter process time, the straightforwardness of the process, and the superior quality of products. It may also lead to reducing the use of solvents in the extraction process. The book chapter deals with the limitations of conventional extraction processes of lipids from microbial biomass and the role of ultrasound in efficient and economic operations. Moreover, to lower the production cost, the application of ultrasound in simultaneous extraction and transesterification has been explored.

URL: https://library.okstate.edu/news/celebratingbooks/2024-honorees/sushobhan-pradhan

Last Updated: 24 January 2024