Dr. Sonal

 
Dr. Sonal
Assistant Professor
Ph.D., IIT Delhi
Ph: 06115 233
sonals[*AT]iitp.ac.in
Personal Webpage : https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sonal-2
Research Areas : Heterogeneous Catalysis for Environmental Applications, CO2 capture and utilization, Methane reforming into syngas, Fischer Tropsch Synthesis, Kinetic modeling, and Reaction engineering
Professional Experience :
  • Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, since June 2024 till date
  • Visiting Researcher at Washington University St. Louis, USA, Nov 2023 to April 2024
  • Assistant Professor in the Chemical Engineering Department at Malaviya National Institute of Technology, Jaipur, since May 2019 – June 2024
  • Research and Development Engineer in the Kinetic Modelling group at Honeywell, UOP, from April 2018 to May 2019
Member of Professional bodies :
  • Life Member of Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) 
  • Life Member of The Institute of Engineers India (IEI)
  • Life Member of Indian Desalination Association (InDA)
  • Life member of Catalysis Society of India
No. of PhD Students :
02
Research Projects
:
  • Converting CO₂ to methanol: A step towards greenhouse gas utilization using novel multifunctional catalysts (PI). Budget: 32.5 Lakh Duration: 2 years (2020-2022), Sponsored by SERB (completed)
  • Development of Novel Electrocatalyst for the Efficient Conversion of Biomass-Derived Syngas to Electrical Power Using Solid Oxide Fuel Cell Technique, Budget: 57 Lakh  Duration: 3 year (2022-2025)Sponsoring Agency: SERB-DST, Role: Co-PI
Award & Honours
:
  • SERB International Research Experience (SIRE) fellowship 2023 for visiting Washington University St. Louis, USA as a Visiting Researcher for six months.
  • Distinction in Doctoral Thesis by IIT Delhi for the year 2018
  • Dr. A. V. Rama Rao Foundation’s Best Ph.D. Thesis and Research Award in Chemical Engineering/Technology from Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) India at CHEMCON-2019
  • Best oral presentation award in the session Fuel at APCAT7 conference held at Mumbai during 17th -19th January 2017.
  • Best poster presentation award on Industry Day, 2017, at IIT Delhi .
Book Chapters
:
 
  • Aamir Baig, Sonal, (2024) Chapter 8 - Utilization of biomass-derived syngas into liquid fuels via Fischer–Tropsch synthesis: challenges and opportunities. In: Emerging Biofuels Stationary and Mobile Applications, Elsevier
  • Verma Nisha, Sonal, Bhoi R (2023) Innovative Graphene Thermoelectric Nanomaterials for production and Conversion of Green Energy. In: Advances in Green and Sustainable Nanomaterials, Apple Academic Press
  • Sonal, Saharan V.K., George S., Bhoi R., Pant K.K. (2021) Recent Advancements and Detailed Understanding of Kinetics for Synthesis Gas Conversion into Liquid Fuel. In: Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Springer, Cham
  • Bhoi R., Saharan V.K., George S., Sonal (2021) Sustainability of the Catalytic Process for Biomass Conversion: Recent Trends and Future Prospects. In: Catalysis for Clean Energy and Environmental Sustainability. Springer, Cham
Publications :
  • Vishrant Kumar; Nicky Lamba; Aamir Baig; Kaushik; Tushit Jha; Sumit Sonkar, Sonal; Industrial Iron-Oxide-Dust for Reverse Water Gas Shift Reaction, Chemical Engineering Journal, 147027(477)2023
  • Jaidev Kaushik, Twinkle, Tisha, Nisha, Aamir Baig, Sonal, Prashant Dubey, and Sumit Kumar Sonkar, Photoactive Fe3O4@Fe2O3 Synthesized from Industrial Iron Oxide Dust for Fenton-Free Degradation of Multiple Organic Dyes, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research (ACS), 10487(62) 2023
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula, and K K Pant, An insight into the promotional effect on Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst in the Fischer Tropsch reaction: A DRIFTS study, Fuel, 110844(276)2020.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, Detailed kinetics of Fischer-Tropsch synthesis over Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst considering chain length-dependent olefin desorption, Fuel, 1263(236)2019.
  • Sonal, Ejaz Ahmad, S Upadhyayula, and K K Pant, Biomass-derived CO2 rich syngas conversion to higher hydrocarbon via Fischer-Tropsch process over Fe–Co bimetallic catalyst, International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, 27741(44)2019.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, Synthesis of C5+ hydrocarbons from low H2/CO ratio syngas over silica supported bimetallic Fe-Co catalyst, Catalysis Today, 133(291)2017.
  • Sonal, K Kondamudi, S Upadhyayula, and K K Pant, Synergistic effect of Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst on FTS and WGS activity in the Fischer-Tropsch process: A kinetic study, Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 4659(56 )2017.
  • Sonal, and K K Pant, S Upadhyayula, Efficient utilization of bimetallic catalyst in low H2/CO environment syngas for liquid fuel production, Journal of Chemical Sciences, 1747(129 )2017.
  • S K Das, Sonal and K K Pant, Investigations on the effect of reaction parameters over Fe/Cu/K catalyst for the production of selective range of liquid hydrocarbon, Journal of Chemical sciences, 130(64)2018.
  • S Bahri, T Patra, Sonal, S Upadhyayula, Synergistic effect of bifunctional mesoporous ZSM-5 supported Fe-Co catalyst for selective conversion of syngas with low Ribblet ratio into synthetic fuel, Microporous and Mesoporous Materials, 1(275) 2018.
Conference Presentations :
  • Tushit Jha, Sonal, Application of novel core-shell bimetallic catalyst for CO2 conversion into liquid fuel, 4th Materials Research Society of Thailand International Conference (MRS-Thailand 2023), March 28 – April 4 2023.
  • Aamir Baig and Sonal, Synthesis, and application of La modified Ni/SiO2 catalyst for H2 generation via ethanol steam reforming, International Conference on Chemical Engineering: Enabling the transition towards sustainable future, Department of Chemical Engineering, IIT Roorkee, September 8-10, 2022.
  • Aamir Baig and Sonal, Application of La modified nickel catalyst for hydrogen production via the steam reforming of ethanol, International Conference on Nanotechnology for Sustainable living &; Environment, Department of Chemical Engineering, Birla Institute of Technology & Science, April 14-16, 2022.
  • Tushit Jha, Sonal, synthesis of novel catalyst and their characterization for the application of CO2 conversion into methanol 76th Annual Convention & International Conference National Physical Laboratory (NPL)Delhi, June 24- 25 ,2022
  • Tushit Jha, Sonal, Synthesis of novel Cu-In catalyst and their characterization for the application in the CO2 conversion into methanol, International Conference on Chemical Engineering: Enabling the transition towards sustainable future, IIT Roorkee, September 8-10, 2022.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, Effect of composition of bimetallic Fe-Co catalyst on the activity and selectivity of the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis process, CHEMCON 2014, Chandigarh regional centre, Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers, Chandigarh, December 27-30 2014.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, Comparative study of noble metal impregnated Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst for the conversion of syngas to liquid fuel, PACIFICHEM-2015 at Honolulu, Hawaii, USA December 15-20, 2015.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, Effect of catalyst pore size on the production of a selective range of liquid hydrocarbon via Fischer-Tropsch process, PERTOTECH-2016 at New Delhi, December 6-9, 2016.
  • Sonal, S Upadhyayula and K K Pant, CO adsorption trend over Ru promoted Fe-Co bimetallic catalyst for the production of liquid hydrocarbon via Fischer-Tropsch synthesis, APCAT 7 at Mumbai, India, January 17-21, 2017.