Dr. Rakesh Agrawal was honored during the 12th Annual Inventors Recognition Reception at Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette for his patented invention, “New More Operable Multicomponent Dividing Wall Columns,” which was awarded on November 29, 2016. Dr. Agrawal collaborated with Professor Mohit Tawarmalani from the Krannert School of Management to address easy-to-operate dividing wall columns (DWCs). Conventional dividing wall column to separate a feed into three product streams has been known for nearly 70 years but had problems in controlling vapor split around the column externally.  The solution developed by Dr. Agrawal’s team is the first to provide new dividing wall columns that solve this long-standing problem. Additionally, their method not only provides one dividing wall column but several of them. They also have a systematic method of drawing a complete set of dividing wall columns for any given number of components in the feed stream that will enable separation of feed mixtures in more than three product streams for the first time. This invention enables multicomponent distillation with high-energy efficiency at reduced capital cost.

Agrawal is the Winthrop E. Stone Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and an affiliate professor in Environmental and Ecological Engineering.

A partial listing of Agrawal’s patents can be seen here.

Dr. R. Byron Pipes, Dr. Arvind Varma, and Dr. You-Yeon Won were recently elected to the Purdue Research Foundation 2015-2016 Innovator Hall of Fame, which was established to recognize the outstanding contributions Purdue innovators have made to the global society.

Dr. R. Byron Pipes was elected for his research focused at the intersection of simulation and carbon fiber composites manufacturing. Pipes is the John L. Bray Distinguished Professor of Engineering, with joint appointments in Chemical, Materials, and Aeronautics & Astronautics Engineering, and also serves as the Executive Director of the Composites Manufacturing Simulation Center.

Dr. Arvind Varma was elected for his research and innovations focused on hydrogen and other energy sources, and chemical and catalytic reaction engineering. He has developed new methods to generate hydrogen for fuel cells and to convert glycerol, a waste product from biodiesel manufacture, to fuels and valuable chemicals. Varma is the R. Games Slayter Distinguished Professor of Chemical Engineering and the former Jay and Cynthia Ihlenfeld Head of the School of Chemical Engineering.

Dr. You-Yeon Won was elected for his research to develop a radiation technology that could enhance cancer cell-killing effects of radiation treatment, thus reducing radiation doses and patient side effects. Won is a Professor of Chemical Engineering.

The complete list Purdue Research Foundation 2015-2016 Innovator Hall of Fame elections can be seen here.