Chemical and Biomedical Engineering

Sampath Gunukula

Education

B.S. JNTU University, India, 2009

Ph.D. University of Wisconsin, Madison, 2016

Research Interests

• Thermochemical Conversion
• Deep Eutectic Solvents
• Lignin Composites
• Flow Behavior of Biomass Feedstocks
• Sustainability Analysis (LCA/TEA)

Current Research

My research is focused on finding innovative solutions to the environmental challenges through establishing fundamental correlations between the thermodynamic properties of deep eutectic solvents and its potential to solubilize lignin biopolymers and organic acids; developing fundamental correlations between lignin biopolymer structure and mechanical and viscoelastic properties of lignin derived composites such as polylactic acid-lignin bioplastic;, and mechanistic understanding of de-polymerization of plastic and non-plastic waste under supercritical water conditions.  My research uses life cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis to assess the environmental and economic impact of our materials and processes, enabling us to make informed decisions that promote the sustainable development of advanced materials and process.

• Thermochemical Conversion

Continuous hydrothermal liquefaction is used to understand the depolymerization mechanisms of biopolymers (e.g., cellulose and lignin) and plastic waste (e.g., polyethylene and polypropylene) under subcritical and supercritical water conditions.

• Deep Eutectic Solvents

We synthesize new ternary deep eutectic solvents to enhance the extraction of biomass derived products (e.g, organic acids) from dilute aqueous streams.

• Lignin Composites

The high chemical heterogeneity of lignin limits its use in thermoplastic composites. To enhance lignin’s applicability, we develop solvent fractionation and thermal carbonization processes to reduce chemical heterogeneity of lignin.

• Flow Behavior of Biomass Feedstocks

We examine the impact of the chemical and physical attributes of biomass feedstocks on the feedability of biomass slurries to high-temperature, high-pressure reactors using various pumps. This study aims to address challenges in feedstock handling at both pilot and industrial scales.

• Sustainability Analysis

We use the life cycle assessment and the techno-economic analysis methods to assess the environmental sustainability and economic viability of early-stage fuel, chemical, material production technologies.

Journal Publications

1. Sampath Gunukula, P. Keeling, R. Anex, Risk advantages of platform technologies for biorenewable chemical production, Chem. Eng. Research Design. 2016, 107, pp. 24-33. (Impact Factor: 4.119)
2. Sampath Gunukula, R. Anex, Evaluating and guiding the development of sustainable biorenewable chemical technologies, Biochem. Eng. J. 2017, 119, pp.74-83 (Impact Factor: 4.46)
3. J.L. Carrasco, Sampath Gunukula, A.A. Boateng, C.A. Mullen, W.J. DeSisto, M.C. Wheeler, Pyrolysis of forest residues: An approach to techno-economics for bio-fuel production, Fuel. 2017, 193, pp.477-484. (Impact factor: 8.035)
4. Sampath Gunukula, R. Anex Techno-Economic Analysis of Multiple Bio-based Routes to Adipic Acid, Biofuels Bioprod. Bioref. 2017, 11 (5), pp. 897-907 (Impact factor: 5.239)
5. Sampath Gunukula, T. Runge, R. Anex, Assessment of biocatalytic production parameters to determine economic and environmental viability, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2017, 5 (9), pp. 8119-8126 (Impact factor: 9.224)
6. H. AlMohamadi, Sampath Gunukula, W.J. DeSisto, M.C. Wheeler, Formate assisted pyrolysis: An economic analysis, Biofuels Bioprod. Bioref. 2018, 12 (1), pp. 45-55. (Impact factor: 5.239)
7. Sampath Gunukula, W.J. DeSisto, H. Pendse, M.C. Wheeler, Techno-Economic Analysis of Thermal Deoxygenation Based Biorefineries for the Coproduction of Fuels and Chemicals, Applied Energy, 2018, 214, pp. 16-23.  (Impact factor: 11.446)
8. Sampath Gunukula, W.J. DeSisto, H. Pendse, M.C. Wheeler, Heuristics to Guide the Development of Sustainable, Biomass-Derived Platform Chemical Derivatives, ACS Sustainable Chem. Eng. 2018, 6 (4), pp. 5533-5539. (Impact factor: 9.224)
9. K. Dalvand, J. Rubin, Sampath Gunukula, M.C. Wheeler, G. Hunt, Economics of Biofuels: Market Potential of Furfural and its Derivatives, Biomass and Bioenergy 2018, 115, pp. 56-63. (Impact Factor: 5.774)
10. Sampath Gunukula, A. Daigneault, A.A. Boateng, C.A. Mullen, W.J. DeSisto, M.C. Wheeler Influence of upstream, distributed biomass-densifying technologies on the economics of biofuel production, Fuel 2019, 249, pp. 326-333 (Impact factor: 8.035)
11. M. Khlewee, Sampath Gunukula, M.C. Wheeler, W.J. DeSisto, Hydrotreating of reduced oxygen content bio-oils produced by Formate-Assisted Pyrolysis Fuel 2019, 254 (Impact factor: 8.035)
12. Sampath Gunukula, D. Tran, I. Lee, Feasibility of advancing the development of compact energy systems, RSC Adv., 2019,9, 28618-28626 (Impact factor: 4.036)
13. P. Anderson, L. Price, Sampath Gunukula, D.T. Tran, Blue Whirl Phenomenon: A Potential Fuel-Flexible and Soot-Free Combustion Technology, Energy&Fuels, 2020 (Impact factor: 4.654) 
14. M. Patel, N. Hill, Sampath Gunukula, W. Desisto, Fast Pyrolysis of Lignin Pretreated with Magnesium Formate and Magnesium Hydroxide, Energies, 2020 (Impact factor: 3.252)
15. Sampath Gunukula, T. Schwartz, H. Pendse, W. Desisto, M.C. Wheeler, Assessing the economic viability of pretreatment technologies to make sugars for chemical catalytic upgrading to fuels and chemicals, RSC Sustainable Energy Fuels, 2021, DOI: 10.1039/D1SE01097B  (Impact factor: 6.813)
16. Sampath Gunukula, D.T. Tran, Modeling and Economic Analysis of Biomass and Plastic Conversion to Power, Biofuels Bioprod. Bioref. 2022. (Accepted) (Impact factor: 5.239)
17. Sampath Gunukula, D. T. Tran, Path forward to the viable production of lignin derived Biopolymers, Research and Development in Material Science, 2022
18. J. Kang, J. Parsons, Sampath Gunukula, D. Tran, Iron and magnesium impregnation of avocado seed biochar for aqueous phosphate removal, Clean Technologies, 2022.  DOI: 10.3390/cleantechnol4030042
19. Sampath Gunukula, L. Emdadi, S. Karunarathne, D. Liu, D. Tran, Ex-situ catalytic fast pyrolysis of wood chips using lamellar and Ni-supported lamellar MFI zeolites, Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis, 2022. DOI: 10.1016/j.jaap.2022.105821
20. Dipesh Karki, Sampath Gunukula, M. Clayton Wheeler, Peter vanWalsum, UV irradiated photo isomerization of 4,4-Diethoxy-Azobenzene enhances the precipitation of Organosolv Lignin from extraction solvents, 2023.