Cryogenic Engineering Centre

INDIAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY KHARAGPUR

Cryogenic Engineering Centre is the only department in India that is engaged in R&D activities, as well as in conducting postgraduate programmes in cryogenic engineering. Cryogenic Engineering Centre has a multi-disciplinary academic curriculum based on three major disciplines, namely Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Physical Science. Major research areas pursued at the centre includes superconducting magnets and applications, magnetic materials and devices, nanocomposites and nanofluids, oxygen safety, helium cryogenics, cryogenic heat exchangers, cryogenic rocket propulsion, natural gas and hydrogen energy, air separation, carbon capture and sequestration etc.

Courses offered
M.Tech. M.S. Ph.D.

Highlights of M.Tech. course curriculum

The students undergo rigorous training in both theoretical fundamental and application of the theories. Core courses encompass the basic subjects like cryogenic systems, cryogenic heat and mass transfer, cryophysics, equipments design, superconducting magnets; besides this student opt for various elective courses on air separation, vacuum technology, hydrogen energy, cryofuels etc. Laboratory courses are offered to provide hands-on training on various systems on vacuum technology, heat transfer, cryophysics, etc. In addition to course works, two semesters are devoted to dissertation work during which the student learn to carry out research work on a given topic.

Course Content for M.Tech.

Cryogenic Systems (Core) Cryogenic system primarily deals with the practical production of low temperature and utilization of low temperature, cryogenic instrumentation and material property at low temperature. Cryogenic Air Separation Process (Elective) Cryogenic Air Separation Process deals with the production of pure and ultra-pure components of air namely oxygen, nitrogen and argon. Vacuum Technology (Elective) It deals with the production and sustaining vacuum in a given system and its application in the field of engineering & science. Design of Cryogenic Equipments and Accessories. (Core) It deals with design of various equipment used in the cryogenic systems and accessories like dewars, cryocoolers, transfer-lines, etc, for storage and transport of cryogens. Superconducting Materials, Magnets and Devices (Core) Study & design of superconducting magnets and its accessories and devices related to superconducting materials, SQUIDs, Infrared Detectors, etc. Cryogenic Mass Transfer and Separation Systems (Core) It deals with study of fundamentals of mass transfer and different types of separation processes. Cryofuel System (Elective) It deals with study of Liquid Natural gas (LNG) properties and occurrence, processing, storage and uses of LNG with its safety hazards. Hydrogen Energy (Elective) It deals with study of liquid hydrogen properties as well as occurrence, production and storage of liquid hydrogen and use of liquid hydrogen as energy source.

Cryogenic Heat Transfer (Core) It deals with the mechanism of cryogenic heat transfer various modes of heat transfer between the cryogenic environment and natural environment, and techniques related to insulations, cool-down time of cryo-equipments, etc. Cryogenic Rocket Propulsion (Elective) It deals with the study of rocket propulsion systems and cryogen fuels used in the space rocket propulsion. Cryophysics (Core) Cryophysics deals with the fundamentals of low temperature physics and the phenomenon involved in it and the behaviour of materials at low temperature.

Career Opportunities
The alumni of the centre are placed in both industries and academia. Some of the organisation is given below.
Cryogenic Industry Industrial gas companies and steel plants dealing with oxygen, nitrogen, argon, hydrogen, hydrocarbons, etc. (BOC, Praxair, LAir Liquide) Production, processing and distribution of natural gas (NG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG). (HPL, ONGC, Reliance Industries, GAIL, Petronet) Industrial gas equipment e.g. liquefiers; air separation plants; liquefied gas storage and transport vessels.(INOX, Philips, Cryofab, IBP) Vacuum Industries dealing with Cryopumps, Vacuum distillation, Freeze drying Hind Highvac, Vacuum Techniques Ltd, Everest Transmission. Pfeiffer, Edwards, Leybold, Varian R&D Establishments Defence R&D [cryogenic cooling devices for missiles, night vision equipments, chemical lasers etc.] ( DRDO, DAE, CAI, VECC, IGCAR) Space research [cryogenic propulsion; satellite cooling; space simulation] (ISRO) Atomic energy[ Superconducting accelerators; liquefiers and refrigerators for helium, hydrogen and deuterium] (IPR) Bio-medical research[cryogenic preservation; advanced diagnostic tools e.g. Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)] (Biochem, DRDO, ISRO) Thermal Engineering Industry & Consultancy Firms Refrigeration and air conditioning equipments manufactures and system and designers(Voltas) Heat exchangers manufacturers (BHPV Ltd) Thermal analysis of Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) (MN Dastur, EIL, TCS, DCl) Academics In various engineering and technology institute like IIT, NIT, IISc, IIIT, University affiliated colleges.

Head of centre V.V. Rao

Department T&P in charge P. Sandilya