Department of Chemical Engineering (Room No. 316)

Indian Institute of Petroleum and Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatnam

2nd Floor, AU Engg College,

Visakhapatnam- 530003

Phone: +91-9307972105

Email: ravikumar.che@iipe.ac.in  

• Biochemical Engineering 
• Wastewater Management
• Waste to Energy Conversion
• Advanced Water and Wastewater Treatment 
• Air Pollution Control 
• Industrial Pollution Control
• Chemical Reaction Engineering Lab
• Fuel Lab
• Innovation Lab

Ph.D. (2020) 

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

M.Tech. (2016)

Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

B.Tech. (2014)

Department of Chemical Engineering, Institute of Engineering & Technology, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, India 

• Assistant Professor, Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Petroleum & Energy (IIPE), Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India (Nov 2021-Present)
• Post-Doctoral Fellow, Chemical Engineering Department, ICT Mumbai-Indian Oil Campus, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India (July 2021-Nov 2021)
• Research Scholar: Chemical Engineering Department, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India (Jan 2021-June 2021)
• Visiting research student in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Han Yang University, Seoul, South Korea (June 2019-September 2019)

1. Experts member of the Consent Management (CTE & CTO) cum Monitoring (Task Force) Committee (VSP zone) of Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board (APPCB).

2. Life Member of The Biotech Research Society, India (BRSI).

1. Patel, D., Tripathi, K. M., Sonwani, R. K. (2024). Waste-Derived Carbon Nano-Onions for the Removal of Organic Dye from Wastewater and Phytotoxicity Studies. ACS omega, Vol . 9, 30834-834, 2024 (IF: 3.7).
2. Jaiswal, V. K., Gupta, A. D., Sonwani, R. K., Giri, B. S., Singh, R. S.. Enhanced biodegradation of 2, 4-dichlorophenol in packed bed biofilm reactor by impregnation of polyurethane foam with Fe3O4 nanoparticles: Bio-kinetics, process optimization, performance evaluation and toxicity assessment. Bioresource Technology, 406, 101085, 2024 (IF: 9.7)
3. Pranjal Tripathi, Sonam Tiwari, Himanshu Tiwari, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Ram Sharan Singh. Techno-economic assessment of coupling ozonation and biodegradation process for the dye wastewater treatment. Journal of Water Process Engineering, vol. 56, pp 104286(1-11), 2023 (IF: 7.0).
   
4. B. N. Thorat & Ravi Kumar Sonwani*. Current technologies and future perspectives for the treatment of complex petroleum refinery wastewater: A review. Bioresource Technology, vol. 355, pp 112655 (1-18), 2022 (IF: 11.8).
   
5. B. Anand, K-H Kim*, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, J.E. Szulejko, P.M. Heynderickx. Removal of gaseous benzene by a fixed-bed system packed with a highly porous metal-organic framework (MOF-199) coated glass beads. Environmental Research, vol. 208, pp 112655 (1-13), 2022 (IF: 8.4).
6. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, K-H Kim*, M. Zhang, Y. F. Tsang, S. S. Lee, B. S. Giri, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai. Construction of biotreatment platforms for aromatic hydrocarbons and their future perspectives. Journal of Hazardous Materials. vol.416, pp.125968 (1-26), 2021 (IF: 14.2).
7. B.S. Giri, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, S. Varjani, D. Chaurasia, T. Varadavenkatesan, P. Chaturvedi, S. Yadav, V. Katiyar, R. S. Singh, A. Pandey. Highly efficient bio adsorption of Malachite green using Chinese Fan-Palm Biochar (Livistona chinensis). Chemosphere. Vol. 287, pp. 132282 (1-11), 2022 (IF: 8.9).
8. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, G. Swain, R. P. Jaiswal, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai. Moving bed biofilm reactor with immobilized low-density polyethylene–polypropylene for Congo red dye Removal. Environmental Technology & Innovation. vol.23, pp.101558 (1-13), 2021 (IF: 7.7).
9. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, S. Pandey, S. K. Yadav, B. S. Giri, V. Katiyar, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai. Construction of integrated system for the treatment of Acid orange 7 dye from wastewater: Optimization and growth kinetic study. Bioresource Technology, vol.337, pp.125478 (1-7), 2021 (IF: 11.8).
10. Ganesh Swain, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, R.S. Singh, Ravi P. Jaiswal, B.N. Rai. A comparative study of 4-chlorophenol biodegradation in a packed bed and moving bed bioreactor: Performance evaluation and toxicity analysis. Environmental Technology & Innovation. vol.24, pp.101820 (1-13), 2021 (IF: 7.7).
11. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Ganesh Swain, Balendu Shekhar Giri, Ram Sharan Singh, Birendra Nath Rai*. Biodegradation of Congo red dye in a moving bed biofilm reactor: Performance evaluation and kinetic modelling. Bioresource Technology. vol.302, pp.122811 (1-9), 2020 (IF: 11.8).
    
12. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Balendu Shekhar Giri, Ravi Prakash Jaiswal, Ram Sharan Singh, Birendra Nath Rai. Performance evaluation of a continuous packed bed bioreactor: Bio-kinetics and external mass transfer study. Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety. vol.201, pp.110860 (1-8), 2020 (IF: 7.1).
13. Ganesh Swain, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, B.S. Giri, R.S. Singh, Ravi P. Jaiswal, B.N. Rai*. "Collective removal of phenol and ammonia in a moving bed biofilm reactor using modified bio-carriers: Process optimization and kinetic study". Bioresource Technology. vol.306, pp.123177 (1-8), 2020 (IF: 11.8).
14. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, B. S. Giri, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai*. Studies on optimization of naphthalene biodegradation using surface response methodology: Kinetic study and performance evaluation of a pilot scale integrated aerobic treatment. Process Safety and Environmental Protection. vol.132, pp.240-248, 2019 (IF: 7.9).
15. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, G. Swain, B. S. Giri, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai*. A novel comparative study of modified carriers in moving bed biofilm reactor for the treatment of wastewater: Process optimization and kinetic study. Bioresource Technology. vol.281, pp.335-342, 2019 (IF: 11.8).

1. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Techno-economic analysis of Congo red dye biodegradation using bacterial consortium. International Conference on Biotechnology, Sustainable Bioresources and Bioeconomy (BSBB), Organised by IIT-Guwahati, India (07-10 December 2022) (Flash presentation).
2. R. K. Sonwani*. An overview on an integrated treatment system for the treatment of complex industrial wastewater. Advances in Sustainable Research for Energy and Environmental Management (ASREEM-2021), organized by Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat (India) (06-08, August 2021) (Oral presentation).
3. R. K. Sonwani*, Biodegradation of different dyes by free and immobilized isolated bacterial species: Optimization and growth kinetic study. International Conference on Biotechnology for sustainable agriculture, environment and health (BSAEH-2021), organized by MNIT, Jaipur (04-08 April, 2021) (Poster presentation).
4. R. K. Sonwani*. Development of modified carriers for the biodegradation of Congo red in Moving bed biofilm reactor. 26th International Conference Of International Academy of Physical Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi (18-20, December 2020) (Oral presentation).
5. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Balendu Shekhar Giri, Tapas Das, Ram Sharan Singh, Birendra Nath Rai*, “Biodegradation of PAH by immobilized Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes NRSS3 in a packed bed bioreactor and analysis of external mass transfer correlation”, International conference on Bio-Innovation for environmental and health sustainable developments (BEHSD-2018), CSIR-IITR, Lucknow, India (27-28 Nov 2018).
6. R. K. Sonwani, B. S. Giri, T. Das, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai*, “Performance evaluation of continuous packed bed bioreactor for the treatment of wastewater containing PAH by Exiguobacterium sp. RKS3 (MG696729) isolated from petroleum contaminated site”, International conference on sustainable water resources, innovations and impacts (TECHNOSCAPE-18), VIT Vellore, India (6-8 Sep 2018) (Oral presentation).
7. R. K. Sonwani, B. S. Giri, S. R. Geed, R. S. Singh, B. N. Rai*,“Combination of UV–Fenton oxidation process with biological treatment of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (naphthalene and fluorene) using isolated bacterial species from petroleum-contaminated site”, International conference on ETBWC-2017, CSIR-NEERI, Nagpur India (8 -10, October 2017).
8. R. K. Sonwani, S. R. Geed, M. K. Kureel, B. N. Rai*, Bioremediation of hexavalent from wastewater”. CHEMCON-2015, Annual session of IICHE in IIT-Guwahati, India (27-30, December 2015) (Oral presentation).

1. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, Current Perspectives of Anammox-Denitrification Technology and Its Application in Industrial Wastewater Treatment. Anammox Technology in Industrial Wastewater Treatment pp 91–100, 2023 (Springer).
   
2. Ravi Kumar Sonwani, R. P. Jaiswal, B. N. Rai, R. S. Singh. Moving bed biofilm reactor- (MBBR-) based advanced wastewater treatment technology for the removal of emerging contaminants. Development in Wastewater Treatment Research and Processes. Pp. 349-370, 2022 (Elsevier).
3. M. Kumar, G. Swain, Ravi Kumar Sonwani, R. S. Singh, A. Verma, B. N. Rai. Effect of operating parameters on photocatalytic degradation of dyes by using graphitic carbon nitride. Photocatalytic Degradation of Dyes Current Trends and Future Perspectives. pp. 23-43, 2021, (Elsevier).

1. Industry Sponsored Project: "Development of Sustainable and Cost Effective Strategy for Corrosion Mitigation" (2023-2025): CO-PI

2. Institue Research Grant: "Development and Performance Assessment of Advanced Integrated System for the Treatment of Recalcitrant Organic Pollutants (ROPs): A Wastewater–Energy Nexus Perspective (2023-2026)": PI

3.  Industry Research Project "Design, Engineering, Installation and operation of Hydrogen Plant Using Flue-Gas Based Desalinated Sea Water" (2023-2025): CO-PI

4.  SPARC Project (ID431) on "Removal of Benzene, Toluene, Ethylbenzene and Xylene (BTEX) using Adsorption and Bioremediation (2019-2021)": Member

1. Best oral presentation award in an international conference on Energy and Environmental Technologies for Sustainable Development by MNNIT, Allahabad, India (2020).

2. Received SPARC fellowship by MHRD, India to Visit Han-yang University, South Korea (2019).

3. Received awards in Cricket and Volleyball in Intra-sports competition at Indian Institute of Petroleum & Energy, Visakhapatnam, India (2022).

4. Received award in 100 m running in annual sports competition at Govt. Leather Institute, Kanpur, India (2011). 

5. Received award in 100 m running in annual sports competition at Govt. Leather Institute, Kanpur, India (2010).

1. Coordinator (Dean Academic Affairs & Admin) (May 2022 to May 2023)

2. Warden, (MH-2, Boys Hostel) 

3. EAA (Newsletter & Magazine)

4. EAA (Cultural)

1. Diwakar Patel 
2. Alankriti Singh
3. Jag Prasad
4. Tanya Srivastava

1. Invited as Speaker in a Webinar on "Current Technologies for the Management of Petroleum Refinery Wastewater" by the Department of Petroleum Technology, Bhagwant University, Ajmer (26/02/2022). 

2. Delivered an Expert talk on "Green Fuels & Bottom of barrel upgradation" organized by the Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) at Skill Development Institute, Visakhapatnam (05 to 06 December 2022).

3. Delivered a talk on "Masterclass on Green Energy & Energy Storage " organized by Andhra Pradesh Innovation Society, Visakhapatnam (16/12/2022).

4. Invited as Speaker in the Faculty Development Program On “Microbes Potential to Bail out the Energy Crisis", organized by the Department of Biochemical Engineering, Harcourt Butler Technical University Kanpur (16/12/2022).

5. Address a talk at Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Conference on An overview of biological systems in industrial wastewater management Water, Hotel Fairfield by Marriott,Visakhapatnam (12/09/2023).

6. Address an Expert talk on "Application of Biological Systems in Wastewater Treatment" at Dr. Ambedkar Institute of Technology for Handicapped (AITH), Kanpur (14/12/2023).

1. Guest Editor (Special Issue "Research on Bioremediation of Hazardous Wastes" of ToxicsJournal)
2. Biochemistry and Biotechnology (Springer) 
3. Energy Storage (Wiley)
4. Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering (Elsevier)
5. Bioresource Technology Reports (Elsevier)
6. Chemical Engineering Research and Design (Elsevier), etc...