Dr.-Ing. Sreenivasan Ramaswami
Assistant Professor, Centre for Sustainable Technologies,
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Email: sreeni@iisc.ac.in || Phone: +91 (0)80 2293 2520 || Website: https://cst.iisc.ac.in
Profiles: IRINS || ORCiD || ResearchGate || LinkedIn
EDUCATION
2018 - Doctor of Engineering (Dr.-Ing.)
Hamburg University of Technology (TU Hamburg), Germany
Dissertation: High-rate nitrification of membrane-filtrated saline landfill leachate using fixed-bed biofilm reactors (full-text)
2014 - MSc Environmental Engineering
Hamburg University of Technology (TUHH)
Specialisation: water & wastewater
Dissertation: Investigation of treatment options for highly loaded wastewater from licorice processing
2012 - B.Tech Chemical Engineering
National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli (NIT Trichy)
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
since Jun 2020: Assistant Professor, Centre for Sustainable Technologies, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Feb 2020 - Mar 2020: Postdoctoral researcher, DVGW Research Centre TUHH, Hamburg, Germany
Sep 2019 - Jan 2020: Postdoctoral researcher, Department of Aquatic Environmental Engineering, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT), Karlsruhe, Germany
Feb 2019 - May 2019: Postdoctoral researcher, DVGW Research Centre TUHH, Hamburg, Germany
Aug 2014 - Oct 2018: Doctoral researcher, Institute of Wastewater Management and Water Protection, Hamburg University of Technology, Germany
BIO
Dr. Sreenivasan is an environmental chemical engineer with specialisation in water & wastewater treatment. His experience cuts across numerous disciplines in the (waste)water domain. During his master studies, he was involved in research works on removal of residual organic matter from secondary effluent and on treatment of high-strength licorice processing wastewater.
As part of his doctoral research, he had investigated different methods – including nanofiltration/reverse osmosis, (electro)coagulation, ozonation, struvite precipitation, air stripping, and nitrification – for sustainable and holistic treatment of an old saline (high-strength) landfill leachate. He obtained his PhD for the research on nitrification of this leachate in packed bed biofilm reactor, which was also accompanied by demonstration in pilot-scale at the landfill site.
During this time, he was also involved in investigation of nanofiltration for the production of drinking water in regions with economic water scarcity and had also contributed towards estimation of aeration requirements (after DWA-A 131 and DWA-M 229) for organics and nitrogen removal from a partial flow at the Municipal wastewater treatment plant, Stade (Germany).
His postdoctoral work at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology was on removal of organic micropollutants (emerging contaminants) by activated carbon adsorption and mathematical modelling of the process. Furthermore, he had contributed towards dynamic simulation of wastewater treatment plants in SIMBA#. During the brief stint as postdoctoral researcher at DVGW Research Centre TUHH, he was involved in the preparation and submission of research proposals on online monitoring of drinking water quality, and novel ultrafiltration membranes for the removal of chromium & arsenic from drinking water.
Dr. Sreenivasan joined the Indian Institute of Science as Assistant Professor in June 2020, where established and leads the SusPaani Lab.
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Sustainable and fit-for-purpose technologies for wastewater treatment; Sanitation and drinking water; Water reclamation and nutrient recovery
TEACHING
ST 218: Sustainable Wastewater Management (Jan semester)
ST 226: Sustainable Water Management (Aug)
ST 227: Environmental Analytical Chemistry (Jan)
UEES 206: Experimental Methods in Environmental Chemistry (Jan)
SELECTED PUBLICATIONS
Kumari, S.; Ramaswami, S. (2024) Embracing urine diversion for sustainable (waste)water management: common practices, advantages, and challenges. Journal of the Indian Institute of Science. https://doi.org/10.1007/s41745-024-00438-4
Sarosh, S.; Ramaswami, S. (2023) Packed bed biofilm reactor for high-rate, robust and efficient nitrification in recirculating aquaculture system: a preliminary investigation. Chemical Engineering and Processing: Process Intensification, 188, 109359. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cep.2023.109359
Atallah Al-asad, H.; Parniske, J.; Qian, J.; Alex, J.; Ramaswami, S.; Kätzl, K.; Morck, T. (2022) Development and application of a predictive model for enhanced advanced wastewater treatment by adsorption onto powdered activated carbon. Water Research, 217, 118427. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2022.118427
Ramaswami, S.; Jalal Uddin, F.M.; Behrendt, J.; Otterpohl, R. (2019). High-rate nitrification of saline wastewaters using fixed-bed reactors. Journal of Environmental Management, 243, 444-452. doi: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.05.020.
Ramaswami, S.; Behrendt, J.; Otterpohl, R. (2018). Comparison of NF-RO and RO-NF for the Treatment of Mature Landfill Leachates: A Guide for Landfill Operators. Membranes, 8(2), 17. doi: 10.3390/membranes8020017
Ramaswami, S.; Behrendt, J.; Kalyanasundaram, S.; Eggers, S.; Otterpohl, R. (2018). Experiences from an investigation on the potential of packed bed reactors for high rate nitrification of mature landfill leachates. Journal of Water Process Engineering, 22, 59–65. doi: 10.1016/j.jwpe.2018.01.006
Ramaswami, S.; Behrendt, J.; Wang, G.; Eggers, S.; Otterpohl, R. (2016). Combining magnesium ammonium phosphate precipitation with membrane processes for ammonia removal from methanogenic leachates. Water and Environment Journal, 30 (3–4), 218–226. doi:10.1111/wej.12210
AWARDS & HONOURS
IEI Young Engineers Award 2023-24 - Institution of Engineers (India)
Young Achiever Award 2021 (Distinguished Alumni), NIT Trichy
Highly Commended Paper - Outstanding Paper Award 2017 - Water and Environment Journal.
DAAD conferences fellowship (‘Kongressreisenprogramm’) - in 2016 and in 2017.
Gold Medallist (National Level) in Chemical Engineering discipline of All India Student Design Competition 2011, conducted by the National Design and Research Forum (NDRF), the Institution of Engineers (India).
Indian Academy of Sciences Summer Research Fellowship 2011
REVIEWER FOR
Aquaculture, Fish and Fisheries
Bioresource Technology
Current Pollution Reports
Environmental Technology
International Journal of Environmental Analytical Chemistry
Journal of the Indian Institute of Science
Journal of Water Process Engineering
Sustainable Environment Research
The Canadian Journal of Chemical Engineering
Water
PROFESSIONAL MEMBERSHIPS
Life Member, Indian Water Works Association (IWWA)
Member, The Institution of Engineers India (IEI)