the MAGIC of Flows ft. Ketan Madane

In this episode

• What “MAGIC” processes are: modular, agile, intensified and continuous alternatives to mixing chemicals in a stirred tank, and how even the shape of a pipe changes the flow
• How a fluidic oscillator, first invented in the 1960s for fluid-based computers, makes a jet swing back and forth with no moving parts, thanks to the Coanda effect
• How a vortex diode creates bubbles whose shockwaves can break crystals, as an alternative to milling
• The project Ketan is proudest of: adding these devices to a stirred tank to make paracetamol crystals smaller, more even and more repeatable
• His path from mechanical engineering and industry in India, via CSIR National Chemical Laboratory in Pune, to a PhD at the University of Limerick
• His three wishes: better bridges between disciplines, a supercomputer, and sustainable research funding and recognition

Key Takeaways

• PhD student at University of Limerick designing ‘MAGIC’ (modular, agile, intensified, continuous) processes using fluidic devices with no moving parts, fluidic oscillators (Coandă effect) and vortex diodes.
• Uses CFD (Navier–Stokes) to predict and optimise flow, mixing and residence-time distribution before manufacturing a device, ’time-travelling in fluidic devices’.
• Mechanical-engineering background; found industrial CFD work more monotonous than research.
• Values endless curiosity, challenging established ideas (the stirred tank), and how science benefits society.
• Three wishes: bridging mechanisms between interdisciplinary fields, unrestricted access to computational/experimental tools (a supercomputer), and sustainable research funding and recognition.

Listen on

About the guest

Ketan Madane is a PhD Student at the University of Limerick in Ireland, designing fluidic devices with no moving parts, such as fluidic oscillators and vortex diodes, for modular, intensified and continuous processes like antisolvent crystallisation. He trained in mechanical engineering in India and worked in industry and as a lecturer before his master’s in thermal engineering at Walchand College of Engineering.

Ketan Madane curated the Real Scientists Nano Twitter account (@RealSci_Nano) from November 12 to November 20 2023. Read all of Ketan’s tweets from that week.