Biomass Pretreatment, Enzymatic Hydrolysis, Techno-Economic Analysis, Process Engineering & Simulation, Engineering Design, Equipment Sizing, Process Safety

Rajesh has a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University with a major in alkaline pretreatment of biomass and cellulolytic enzyme kinetics. He worked with Chevron for over a decade where he developed the Biofuels Research Program for the production of bioethanol from lignocellulosic feedstock through pretreatment, enzymatic hydrolysis, and fermentation. He also conducted the techno-economic evaluation of more than ten start-up companies (in the area of cellulosic and algal biofuels) to assist in the selection of partners for biofuel commercialization. Rajesh has more than 20 years of experience with petrochemicals, renewables, and the petroleum industry, and for the past ten years, has supported upstream major capital projects as a senior process engineer in multiple business units at Chevron. He has extensive experience with process modeling (with Hysys and Aspen Plus), PFD/P&ID development, equipment sizing, process safety, and costing (with Aspen Process Economic Analyzer). As a design leader in the design center of excellence group at Chevron, he led a team of multidisciplinary engineers to develop the projects from the conceptual phase to the Pre-FEED stage. He evaluated the feasibility of different technologies/concepts for these projects and developed engineering design packages for selected concepts. Before moving to the US, Rajesh worked with Reliance Industries Ltd in India as a commissioning/process engineer as well as operations superintendent in a polymer production facility.  Contact Rajesh.