Internship Experience at IITM

One of the objectives of an internship is to create a work opportunity in a real life environment (Industry/Premier Research institute at the National/International level) while the course study is still in progress, thus creating an eye-opening awareness about the application of the knowledge and skills we are still learning. This creates interest, throws limelight on career goals, and helps us understand our strengths and weaknesses and the need for practical training and exposure to develop skills.

Getting an internship in a core domain was a dream for me which came true during the summer of 2022. I got a research internship at IIT Madras Chemical Engineering Department. It was a wonderful learning experience.

IIT Madras is one of the leading institutes in India, having abundant facilities for carrying out advanced experiments in many fields of study. Department of Chemical Engineering, IITM is a pioneer in various research areas like energy and fuel research, molecular engineering of materials, environmental science and engineering, process intensification, computational research, system engineering and data sciences.

I had the opportunity to work in the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD), which is founded by the Combustion Institute - Indian Section, and supported by the Science & Engg Research Board, Dept of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. NCCRD develops state-of-the-art capabilities in Combustion research. It is the world's largest Combustion Research Centre.

NCCRD pioneers in advanced research domains like aerospace propulsion, automotive combustion, fire suppression, fundamental research and thermal power. Exploring possible alternative biofuels from natural resources was one of the research areas I was assigned to work on.

Scope and Significance of Project

India’s energy demand is increasing every year, and 70 % of fossil fuel demands in India are met by importing from other oil-producing nations. On the other hand, we have a vast amount of agricultural by-products and biomass discarded as waste. Hence to effectively utilise and convert the waste into useful products, bio-fuels can be potentially produced from these agricultural by-products. If judiciously collected and then processed appropriately, this will help in obtaining biofuel that can satisfy our energy demand.

To use biofuels or biodiesel fuels in neat or blended forms, it is essential to study their properties associated with processes like vaporisation and combustion. Vaporisation characteristics of the biodiesel fuels or their blends with diesel can be studied by performing droplet vaporisation experiments.

Hence, as part of the internship, my work was to explore possible alternative fuels and to perform an extensive literature review on droplet vaporisation experiments; various methods of performing experiments, typical temperature ranges used for study, data obtaining techniques etc. My work also included helping set up the experimental setup and performing the experiment.

It was fascinating for me to apply the concepts learnt earlier in our courses directly into the practical work. Some of the simple calculations performed on notebooks turned out rather complicated to achieve in the real world. For example, my work was to be performed at higher temperatures (typically above 1500 C). It was easy to estimate the heater power requirement and other calculations theoretically, but practically achieving them was a difficult and huge task.

The work requires a more profound understanding of the domain in research-related areas, and we can explore many new concepts, methods and inferences; together, they may equal the contents of the course of study. The practical experience becomes stronger with a broader understanding of the basic principles and concepts about related fields of collaborative areas.

I realised how different engineering disciplines go hand in hand while conducting research. For instance, in my experiment, we required image processing to obtain experimental data using a high-speed video camera. It was needed to set up a heating system using a temperature sensor and controller system, which monitors and raises the temperature according to the set point.

This internship taught me the importance of “engineering judgement”. This is something we cannot learn theoretically but can only learn and experience with practical experimentation in laboratories or industries.

Troubleshooting and forecasting the possible problems and issues that may emerge in experiments with a clear plan and preparedness to tackle adverse situations well in advance are essential so that we can either face them or at least tackle the problem effectively whenever required.

In research, typically, we don’t always get favourable outcomes or results at expected times. We should understand that another set of new problems may sometimes evolve after solving one problem. In research, each step helps in understanding, and each experience is a step towards accomplishment. Research is not as straightforward as we imagine about an idea or think about it, but it is worth it if we develop the mindset of happiness in exploration and problem-solving. Interest in the area of research is required to proceed further. Fortunately, I was interested in the domain and area of the project I worked on. A clear understanding of concepts, full involvement and dedication are required to succeed.

The outcome or success of research not only depends on our knowledge, understanding, skills and efforts but also on the support and guidance of guide. I worked under Dr Vinu sir, Associate Professor of Chemical Engineering, IITM, and he was very kind, knowledgeable, intelligent, passionate and had a student-friendly approach. Without his guidance, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to complete the internship. I submit my gratitude to the authorities of my parent institution and IIT Madras for successfully completing my Internship.