Faculty Publications
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Publications by NITK Faculty
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Item Effect of dry torrefaction pretreatment of the microwave-assisted catalytic pyrolysis of biomass using the machine learning approach(Elsevier Ltd, 2022) Ramesh, R.; Suriapparao, D.V.; Sankar Rao, C.S.; Sridevi, V.; Kumar, A.This study employs the Leave-One-Out cross-validation approach to build a machine-learning model using polynomial regression to predict pyro product yield through microwave-assisted pyrolysis of sawdust over KOH catalyst and graphite powder a susceptor. The determination of coefficient (R2) validates the developed models. All the developed models achieved a high prediction accuracy with R2 > 0.93, which signifies that the experimental values are in good agreement with the predicted one. The dependence of the catalyst loading and pretreatment temperature on dominating process parameters such as heating rate, pyrolysis temperature, susceptor thermal energy, and pyro products, namely bio-oil, biochar, and biogas, are explored. The yield of biochar is reduced; however, bio-oil and biogas are enhanced as the catalyst loading increased. On the other hand, increasing the temperature of pretreated sawdust decreased bio-oil and biogas yields while increasing biochar yields. Further, microwave conversion efficiency, and susceptor thermal energy increased with increased catalyst quantity and pretreatment temperatures of sawdust. It was observed that the average heating rate was increased by increasing the catalyst quantity while maintaining the same pyrolysis time until pretreatment temperatures of 150 °C were reached, after which the heating rate dropped due to the continuous microwave energy input to the system. © 2022 Elsevier LtdItem Utilizing support vector regression modeling to predict pyro product yields from microwave-assisted catalytic co-pyrolysis of biomass and waste plastics(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Ramesh, P.; Sankar Rao, C.S.; Surya, D.V.; Kumar, A.; Basak, T.The rise in plastic waste production has led to the development of co-pyrolysis of waste plastics and biomass as a potential solution. This process converts waste into valuable resources, including chemicals and pollutant-absorbing materials. Accurately predicting product yields is crucial and involves considering feedstock characteristics and pyrolysis conditions. No previous work on machine learning (ML) predicts pyro-products considering catalyst and blend as input features. This study used a support vector machine (SVM) to predict pyro-product yields from microwave-assisted co-pyrolysis of biomass and plastics. SVM models were trained, validated, and then applied to new data. The results showed high predictive accuracy, with R2 values of 0.96, 0.93, and 0.91 for bio-oil, biochar, and biogas, respectively. The SVM model demonstrated strong predictive capabilities, indicating effective generalization ability based on statistical parameters. Additionally, SVM models incorporating all features performed better than those based on 'elementary analysis (EA)' and 'proximate analysis (PA)' alone. The pearson correlation coefficient (PCC) approach assessed the correlation between input features to remove highly correlated variables. The partial dependence analysis reveals the individual effects of influential factors and their interactions in the co-pyrolysis process, highlighting significant features like carbon, hydrogen, ash, volatile matter, and nitrogen content that influence oil, char, and gas yields, thereby providing valuable insights for optimization strategies in co-pyrolysis. © 2023 Elsevier LtdItem Exploring and understanding the microwave-assisted pyrolysis of waste lignocellulose biomass using gradient boosting regression machine learning model(Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Sinha, S.; Sankar Rao, C.; Kumar, A.; Venkata Surya, D.; Basak, T.The production of bio-oil is a complex process influenced by various parameters. Optimizing these parameters can significantly enhance bio-oil yield, thus improving process efficiency. This study aims to develop a predictive model for bio-oil yield using the Gradient Boosting Regression (GBR) technique. It also seeks to identify the key factors affecting bio-oil yield and determine the optimal conditions for maximizing production. The GBR model was constructed using data collected from the literature. The model's performance was evaluated based on its determination coefficients for training and testing datasets. Optimization studies were conducted to identify the best conditions for bio-oil production. The GBR model demonstrated high precision, with determination coefficients of 0.983 and 0.913 for the training and testing datasets, respectively, indicating its effectiveness in predicting bio-oil yield. The optimal conditions for maximizing bio-oil yield were identified as 20 min of pyrolysis time, a temperature of 771 °C, and 524W of microwave power. The two-way PDP analysis provided valuable insights into the interactive effects of temperature with other factors, enhancing the understanding of the dynamics of the bio-oil production process. This study not only identifies the most impactful variables for bio-oil yield but also offers critical guidance for optimizing the production process. © 2024 Elsevier LtdItem Hospital plastic waste valorization through microwave-assisted Pyrolysis: Experimental and modeling studies via machine learning(Elsevier Ltd, 2025) Ramesh, R.; Sankar Rao, C.; Surya, D.V.; Kumar, A.The COVID-19 pandemic generated a global upsurge in hospital plastic waste (HPW) as a consequence of the widespread utilization of personal protective equipment (PPE) composed of diverse polymer materials. The constant demand for PPE worldwide led to the accumulation of substantial volumes of high-polymer-based plastic waste. To tackle this challenge, researchers delved into the conversion of HPW into valuable chemicals through a process known as microwave-assisted pyrolysis (MAP). This method entails the transformation of HPW into high-quality char and liquid oil, which can serve as a source of fuel. In this study, our primary focus was to understand how the ratio of HPW (hospital plastic waste) to susceptor weight influenced the yields and characteristics of the resulting products in the context of the MAP process. To facilitate the experimental setup, a Central Composite Design (CCD) was employed. The impact of varying HPW weights and susceptor quantities on the production of value-added products was investigated. The analysis of condensed organic vapor decomposition revealed an increase in liquid yields (73.6 wt %, 76.6 wt %, 80.7 wt %) as the graphite content increased at a constant 30 g HPW. Conversely, gas yield decreased with higher susceptor and HPW quantity. Keeping the graphite constant at 4g, the gas yield declined (32.5 wt %, 30.7 wt %, and 24.7 wt %) as HPW increased. Additionally, gas yield exhibited a drop (32.5 wt % to 18.1 wt %) with an increase in both graphite and HPW. Furthermore, the residual yield decreased (from 1.7 wt % to 1.2 wt %) with a 30 g increase in HPW. In-depth analysis incorporated machine learning techniques to understand the behavior of response variables about susceptor and HPW quantities. The optimization of the MAP process for HPW encompassed various supplementary operational parameters, including susceptor thermal energy, average heating rate, microwave energy, specific microwave power, and product yields. Moreover, the residue generated from the MAP of HPW underwent characterization through X-ray diffraction (XRD), FTIR, and BET analysis. © 2025 Elsevier LtdItem Human-in-the-Loop Data Analytics for Classifying Fatal Mining Accident Causes Using Natural Language Processing and Machine Learning Techniques(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2025) Sharma, A.; Kumar, A.; Vardhan, H.; Mangalpady, A.; Mandal, B.B.; Senapati, A.; Akhil, A.; Saini, S.Mining remains one of the most hazardous industries globally, marked by frequent fatalities resulting from complex operational risks. While accident investigation reports hold valuable insights for improving safety practices, the manual coding of fatality narratives remains labor-intensive, inconsistent, and impractical for large datasets. Although natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) techniques have gained traction for automating the analysis of safety narratives in other high-risk industries, their application to mining accident data, particularly within the Indian context, remains limited. Addressing this gap, the present study proposes a ML framework for the semi-automated classification of fatal accident causes from unstructured text narratives reported by the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) between 2016 and 2022. A total of 401 fatal accident descriptions were pre-processed and vectorized using Bag-of-Words, TF-IDF, and Word2Vec techniques, followed by model evaluation across multiple algorithms. A semi-automated classification scheme was developed to balance efficiency with expert oversight, where high-confidence predictions were assigned automatically and uncertain cases were flagged for manual review. Logistic regression combined with TF-IDF unigram features achieved the highest performance, with an F1 score of 0.78 and an accuracy of 0.81. Overall, the developed framework successfully auto-coded 68.75% of cases with 94% accuracy, 0.93 recall, and 0.91 precision. Word cloud visualizations were also employed to capture dominant words associated with different cause categories. The proposed framework offers a practical and operationally feasible solution for assigning fatality causes in the mining sector, contributing to active safety management, surveillance, and policy formulation. © Society for Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration Inc. 2025.Item An uncertainty-aware decision support system: Integrating text narratives and conformal prediction for trustworthy accident code classification(Institution of Chemical Engineers, 2025) Kumar, A.; Senapati, A.; Upadhyay, R.; Chatterjee, S.; Bhattacherjee, A.; Samanta, B.It is imperative to assign accident classification codes to the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) accident data for effective data analysis and risk assessment. Although trained personnel are capable of performing this task, the manual process is both time-consuming and resource-intensive. Automating the classification process with machine learning (ML) algorithms promises to expedite code assignment. However, ML predictions typically lack uncertainty metrics. This study proposes an uncertainty-aware hierarchical classification framework that assists human experts in efficiently and accurately assigning accident codes. Several text representation techniques combined with different ML algorithms were employed within a hierarchical architecture to assign classification codes. Low-frequency codes were consolidated into a single category, with a primary classifier distinguishing between these and a secondary classifier further classifying the grouped categories. Regularized Adaptive Prediction Sets (RAPS) was integrated to quantify uncertainty. Highly confident predictions yielding single-class sets were automatically classified, whereas multi-class sets were flagged for manual review. Primary Classifier with XGBoost with word2vec text representation achieved the best performance, with 95.12 % coverage, 37.02 % single-class prediction sets at 96.11 % accuracy, and an average prediction set size of 2.39. Whereas the secondary classifier, a logistic regression model with TF-IDF representation, yielded 96.19 % coverage, an average set size of 1.80, and 53.66 % single-class prediction sets with 98.90 % accuracy. Additionally, sensitivity analysis determined that a 95 % coverage guarantee offers the best trade-off between prediction set size and coverage. The framework effectively integrates conformal prediction to quantify uncertainty and aid human experts in improving the decision-making process in safety management. Although the framework is broadly applicable across different sectors, it needs to be retrained on domain-specific data for effective use. © 2025 The Institution of Chemical Engineers