About
Dr. H. Lekshminarayanan is a distinguished Chemical Engineering expert with over four decades of invaluable experience in the field. His career is marked by significant contributions to the petrochemical industry and leadership roles in prominent organizations.
Following a successful tenure as Vice President at Essar Group until March 2010, Dr. Lekshminarayanan's career highlights include serving as the General Manager at Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd for nearly 15 years, where he spearheaded major projects and innovations in petrochemical processes.
Professional Journey
Consultant
Essar, Mumbai | 2011 - March 2016
Vice President
Essar, Mumbai | September 2005 - March 2010
- Led a team for the proposed petrochemical complex
- Coordinated with various agencies for business development and environmental impact assessment
- Managed technology selection and licensing agreements
General Manager
Haldia Petrochemicals Ltd, Kolkata/Haldia | 1991 - August 2005
- Managed a grass-root Petrochemicals Complex
- Responsible for technology selection, project management, and operations support
- Led teams for various petrochemical processes and plant optimizations
Engineering Manager
Tata Chemicals, Gujarat | 1990 - 1991
Professor
University of Basrah, Basrah, Iraq | 1990 - 1991
Engineer
Engineers India Limited, New Delhi, India | 1988 - 1989
Projects Handled
- Revamping of BPCL Reformer
- IPCL Polyolefins Pilot Plant-Process Design, Engineering & Project Co-ordination
- Basic Package for Furnace Test Rig
- Fluidised-bed Incinerator & Rotary Kiln for Engineering Research Centre
- Ethylene Dimerisation Plant: Scale up, Process design & Basic Engineering
- Mobile Combustion Laboratory
- Demonstration Gas Cracker
- Hydro de-waxing Trickle Bed Reactor
- Simulation of Reactors: Steam Reformer, Reaction Heaters, Dehydrogenation Reactors
- Research at Waterloo: Participated in Research, Teaching and Supervision of Design / Research Projects. Set up a unit for studies on coke formation in thermal cracking of hydrocarbons. Effects of ageing on reactivity and morphological properties of coke deposits examined using TGA, BET, SEM, XRD, etc.
Education
Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore | 1975 - 1982
Awarded Gold Medal for best Thesis
M.Tech in Chemical Engineering
IIT, Kharagpur | 1973 - 1975
Specialization: Petroleum Refining & Petrochemical
3rd position in the class
B. Tech, Chemical Engineering
Coimbatore Institute Technology, Madras University, Coimbatore | 1971 - 1973
1st Class 72%
Selected Publications
- Chem Eng. Sci 34 1415, 1979.
- J Chem Eng Japan 10 (6), 435, 1977.
- Carbon 27 (3), 1989.
- Cand J Ch E 68, 327, 1990.
- Paper Presented in ACS Symp. Los Angeles, September 1988.
- Paper Presented in IIChE Conf Cochin, 1977.
- J Petrochem Industry, 1977.
Doctoral Thesis
- Area:
- Multiphase Reactors / Reaction Engineering
- Title:
- Studies on Trickle-Bed Reactors (A healthy blend of theory and experiment)
Participation in Conferences
- Indian Institute of Chemical Engineers (IIChE) Cochin, Kerala, India
- IIChE Conference Bombay, Maharashtra, India
- Catalysis Workshop Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India
- Symp. On Synthetic Fibres IIT Delhi, India
- Catalysis Symposium Kingston, Canada
- AIChE Conference New York, USA
-
Secretary, Chem Eng Ass., Editor of Wall Magazine
Participation in Social and Cultural activities
Indian Institute Of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India1976 - 1978
-
Delivered lectures in Reaction Eng. Summer School
Indian Institute Of Science
Bangalore, Karnataka, India1979
Visits
- British Petroleum Research Centre, Sunbury
- University of Gent, Belgium
- Shell Laboratorium (KSLA), Amsterdam
- University of Karlsruhe FRG
- Selected for a high-level Fellowship of French Government to work in CNRS, Nancy (1985)
- Lummus
- Toyo
- IFP
- Lurgi
- Rurh
- Oel
- Veba
- Basf
- Mitsubishi
Miscellaneous
- Completed a Research Project on Mass Transfer in Pulsed and Unpulsed Bubble Columns as a part of M. Tech Program
- Analysed Convective Mass Transport with Surface Reaction in Multiparticle Systems
- Experience in setting-up and operation of Laboratory / Bench Scale Trickle Bed Reactors, Rotating Catalyst Basket Reactors (RCBR) and Slurry Reactors