Venkat Subramanian

Contact Info:
Tennessee Tech University
Department of Chemical Engineering
Prescott Hall-Room 307
1020 Stadium Drive
Box 5013
Cookeville, TN 38505-0001
Phone: (931) 372.3494
Fax (931) 372.6352
E-mail:VSubramanian@tntech.edu
Personal webpage>

Efficient Simulation of Electrochemical Power Sources • Extraction of Kinetic and Transport Parameters • Symbolic Applied Mathematics and Multi-Scale Simulation of Electrochemical Systems

Ph.D., Chemical Engineering, University of South Carolina, 2001
B. Tech., Chemical and Electrochemical Engineering, Central Electrochemical Research Institute (CECRI), Karaikudi, India, 1997

Who’s Who in Engineering Education, 2005
Student Achievement Winner of the Electrochemical Society, Industrial Electrolysis and Electrochemical Engineering Division (2002)
Student Research Award of the Battery Division, Electrochemical Society (2001)
Dean's Award for Excellence in Graduate Study, University of South Carolina (2001)

The overall goal of our research program is to design, model and analyze electrochemical systems. To achieve this goal we design experiments, combine different kinds of models, develop efficient numerical solvers, develop various approximation techniques, and simulate electrochemical processes in different length scales.

We have developed efficient and accurate models of electrochemical power sources, i.e., batteries, fuel cells and super capacitors. Using experimental techniques alone to obtain battery and fuel cell characteristics under a wide range of operating conditions (for e.g., in a hybrid environment) is time-consuming and a formidable task. Modeling and simulation based on electrochemical principles, and transport phenomena combined with a minimum number of experiments promise to be the only solution. Our research group focuses on simplifying these models without sacrificing accuracy and combining models of different kinds for better understanding of these systems.

We have developed efficient tools (experiment with models) to estimate kinetic and transport parameters of batteries and fuel cells. Computational models for simulating these experiments are currently solved numerically. Numerical simulation cannot be used efficiently to extract transport and kinetic parameters because of the large number of parameters involved. Our research group solves the governing electrochemical either analytically or symbolically using advanced mathematical techniques to facilitate parameter estimation.

Electrodeposition is an electrochemical phenomenon that exerts over wide ranges of time and length scales. Our research group has developed a novel semi analytical method for predicting current density distributions in electrochemical systems. The semi analytical solutions are more efficient than numerical solutions for multi-scale simulation.

Our research group has also been developing efficient numerical and symbolic techniques for boundary value problems in chemical engineering.

V. D. Diwakar and V. R. Subramanian, “Effect of Varying Electrolyte Conductivity on the Electrochemical Behavior of Porous Electrodes,” J. Electrochem. Soc., 152(5), A984-A988 (2005).

V. K. Maddirala and V. R. Subramanian, “An Approximate closed form Solution for Pressure and Velocity Distribution in the Cathode Chamber of a PEM Fuel Cell,” J. Power Sources, 143(1-2), 173-178 (2005).

V. R. Subramanian, V. D. Diwakar, D. Tapriyal, “Efficient Macro-Micro Scale Coupled Modeling of Batteries,” J. Electrochem. Soc., 152(10), A2002-A2008 (2005).

V. R. Subramanian, “Computer Facilitated Mathematical Methods – 1. Similarity Solution,” Chemical Engineering Education (accepted, September 2005).

R. E. White and V. R. Subramanian, "Computational Methods in Chemical Engineering with Maple Applications," Springer Verlag, (to appear in 2005).