DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING Indian Institute Of Technology Madras
team

G. Venkatarathnam

Venkataraman and Sita Srinivasan Chair in Innovation;
Professor of Mechanical Engineering;
Associate faculty member of School of Sustainability

Room 013B, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Laboratory, New Academic Complex 2, Alumni Avenue

My current mission is to help Industry develop high efficiency and world class products in the broad areas of refrigeration, air conditioning, cryogenics and heat exchangers, including thermal management of batteries for electric vehicles.

Our aim is to bridge the gap between theoretical knowledge and practical applications.

I work with a broad range of industries, from very small to very large Indian, European and American companies, with the above goal.

We are developing a variety of innovative products and solutions as a part of our vision to make cooling Sustainable, e.g., low global warming potential refrigerants, high efficiency refrigeration systems, heat exchangers, and battery cooling systems.

I and my group also work on Automatic Fault Detection and Diagnosis of HVAC systems. My algorithms are currently used by a leading industry for AFDD of multiple chillers (100-1000 TR) at over 3500 locations every day.

Other types of thermodynamic algorithms developed by me are used in many thermodynamic and process simulation software such as NIST Refprop, Aspen Plus, etc.

MyProps, a software developed by me for the calculation of phase diagrams of fluid mixtures has been licenced by AspenTech, USA.

Many of my students also work on AI/ML and data based models for heat exchangers and HVACR systems, including optimizing the performance and reducing power consumption of large HVACR systems. Our work on Explainable AI for HVAC systems focuses on explaining the operators and engineers the reasons behind the AI model's outputs.

Some of my interns have been extending the above Explainable AI concepts to healthcare.

I'm also an Associate faculty member of the recently started School of Sustainability.

Contact me at the email address given below if you want to (a) licence our software, patents, or technology (b) want my advice/help to improve the performance of your systems to the next level (c) help you solve/analyze issues in your systems (d) develop a battery thermal management system from scratch or (e) do an internship with us.

Please see research areas below to know about our current projects. Come and visit my lab to see for yourself the exciting work that we are doing.

+91-44 -2257- 4685

gvenkat[at]iitm[.]ac[.]in

Scopus ID
Google Scholar

  • Development of new innovative refrigeration systems
  • Development of high COP of air conditioners and refrigerators
  • Development of Low GWP Refrigerant mixture alternatives for R404A, R410A, R508B etc.
  • Testing of flammability of refrigerants (A2, A2L, A3 etc.)
  • Artificial Intelligence and Machine learning methods for HVAC/Refrigeration systems as well as heat exchangers
  • Explainable AI for HVACR systems
  • Development of Battery cooling system for an electric vehicle
  • Fault detection and diagnosis of large chillers
  • Fault detection and diagnosis of HVAC systems
  • Improvement of efficiency of Refrigeration and Air conditioning Systems
  • Ontology of refrigerants
  • New refrigeration and liquefaction processes operating with mixtures
  • Small scale (1 Litre/hr) nitrogen liquefier
  • Heat exchangers – Modelling, additive manufacturing, testing
  • Thermodynamics of mixtures: Calculation of Phase envelopes, Next generation Multi-phase flash algorithms, Thermodynamic Property estimation software - MyProps
  • Cooling of Microscopes to cryogenic temperatures
  • Technology Innovation Platform (https://kite.iitm.ac.in)
  • Heat pump based drier
  • -80 Celsius Freezer
  • -55/-105 Celsius lyophilizer (Freeze drier)
  • Simulation and optimization of cross flow air cooled and Plate-fin heat exchangers, Software development
  • Optimization of flow path of a cross-flow heat exchanger using Ant Colony Optimization - MyCoil software
  • Testing of commercial air cooled condensers and evaporators in a wind tunnel
  • -30 Celsius Refrigerator for Cryotherapy (physiotherapy)
  • Digital twin of large HVAC systems

    Current Courses

  • ME1100 Thermodynamics (Undergraduate)
  • ME3250 Refrigeration and Air Conditioning (Undergraduate)
  • ME4100 Design Project (Undergraduate)
  • ME5132 Refrigeration and Cryogenics (Graduate)
  • ME5134 Process Simulation (Graduate)

  1. V. Dasari and G. Venkatarathnam, Machine learning algorithms for two-phase heat transfer and pressure drop estimation for Joule Thomson Cryocoolers, Indian J Cryogenics, 47(1):103-108, 2023, DOI:10.5958/2349-2120.2022.00018.8
  2. Vuppanapalli Chaitanya, S. Narasimhan, G. Venkatarathnam, Optimization of a Solvay cycle-based liquid air energy storage system, Energy,Volume 283, 2023,129051, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2023.129051.
  3. Rahul Kumar, Shankar Krishnapillai, G Venkatarathnam, Optimisation of flow paths of air-cooled heat exchangers, International Journal of Energy for a Clean Environment,Volume 24, Issue 4, 2023, pp. 53-65 (2023) doi://10.1615/InterJEnerCleanEnv.2022043633
  4. Vineed Narayanan, G Venkatarathnam, Theoretical analysis of Rankine cycle operating with zeotropic mixtures of carbon dioxide and hydrocarbons, ASME Journal of Energy Resources Technology, 144 (6), 062103 (2022)
  5. T. Barath Adhithya and G. Venkatarathnam, New pressure and density based methods for isothermal-isobaric flash calculations, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 537, 112980 (2021)
  6. H. Kruthiventi and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of J-T refrigerators operating with mixtures and coiled wire finned heat exchangers, Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry, 141, 2169–2175 (2020)
  7. Vineed Narayanan and G. Venkatarathnam, Prediction of vapour-liquid equilibria of binary mixtures of neon-nitrogen, neon-oxygen and neon-argon used in J-T refrigerators, Cryogenics, 106, 103039 (2020)
  8. Sunil Jerome and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of a Linde-Hampson refrigerator operating from –120 °C to –60 °C with optimised R14-hydrocarbon mixtures exhibiting vapour-liquid-liquid equilibria, Heat Mass Transfer, doi:10.1007/s00231-019-02801-z (2019)
  9. R. Satya Maher and G. Venkatarathnam, Estimation of performance of a J-T Refrigerators Operating With Nitrogen-Hydrocarbon Mixtures and a Coiled tubes-in-tube heat exchanger, Cryogenics, 92, 27-35 (2018)
  10. I.Sujatha and G. Venkatarathnam, Comparison of performance of a vapor absorption refrigeration system operating with some hydrofluorocarbons and hydrofluoroolefins as refrigerants along with ionic liquid [hmim][TF2N] as the absorbent, Int. J. Refrigeration, 88,370-382 (2018)
  11. V. Narayanan and G. Venkatarathnam, Prediction of Vapour-Liquid and Vapour-Liquid-Liquid equilibria of nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures used in J-T refrigerators, Cryogenics, 90, 70-85 (2018)
  12. G. Venkatarathnam, density marching method for drawing phase envelopes: 3. P-xy diagrams of binary mixtures, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 56 (46), 13894–13904 (2017)
  13. I. Sujatha and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of a vapor absorption heat transformer operating with ionic liquids and ammonia, Energy, 141, 924-936 (2017)
  14. S.S. Harish Kruthiventia and G. Venkatarathnam, Studies on capillary tube expansion device used in J-T refrigerators operating with nitrogen-hydrocarbon mixtures, Cryogenics, 87, October 2017, 76-84 (2017)
  15. H. Gurudath Nayak and G. Venkatarathnam, Occurrence of Dry out Phenomenon in an Auto Refrigerant Cascade Refrigerator operating with zeotropic mixtures, ASME J. Thermal Sci. Eng., 9(3):031012-031012-6. doi:10.1115/1.4035940 (2017).
  16. B. Sreenivas, H. Gurudath Nayak and G. Venkatarathnam, Relationship between composition of mixture charged and that in circulation in an auto refrigerant cascade and a J-T refrigerator operating in liquid refrigerant supply mode, Cryogenics 81, 42-46, (2017)
  17. Padmanabhan, C.S. Gurudath, Thota Srikanth, A Ambirajan, S.A. Basavaraj, Kumar Dinesh, and G. Venkatarathnam, Studies on Phase Shifting Mechanism in PulseTube Cryocooler, IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 171 012082 (2017)
  18. Vineed Narayanan, G VenkatarathnamExperimental investigation on mixed refrigerant cryocooler operating at 70 K for cooling high temperature superconductors, IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering 171 (1), 012073 (2017)
  19. V. Narayanan and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of two mixed refrigerant processes providing refrigeration at 70K, Cryogenics, 78, 66-73 (2016)
  20. P.C. Jayanti, and G. Venkatarathnam, Identification of the phase of a substance from the derivatives of pressure, volume and temperature, without prior knowledge of saturation properties: Extension to solid phase, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 425, 269-277 (2016)
  21. G. Sharma, R.L. Gardas, A. Coronas and G. Venkatarathnam, Effect of anion chain length on physicochemical properties of N, N-dimethylethanolammonium based protic ionic liquids, Fluid Phase Equilibria, 415, 1-7 (2016)
  22. Harish Kruthiventi SS, Venkatarathnam GG. Comparison of the Straight Adiabatic Capillary Tube Expansion Devices Used in Refrigeration Systems Operating With Refrigerants R134a and R1234yf. ASME. J. Thermal Sci. Eng. Appl., 8, 021015-1–021015-7 (2016)
  23. G.S.C. Prasad, C.S. Kumar, S.S. Murthy and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of an organic Rankine cycle with multicomponent mixtures,Energy, 88, 690-696 (2015)
  24. B. Sreenivas, D.R. Patel, S.S. Murthy, and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of mixed refrigerant cascade refrigerator for cooling a space simulation chamber, Indian Journal of Cryogenics 39 (1), 81-85 (2014)
  25. G. Venkatarathnam, Density Marching Method for Calculating Phase Envelopes, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 53, 3723-3730 (2014)
  26. G. Venkatarathnam, Density marching method for calculating phase envelopes: Part II – Three-phase envelopes, Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. Vol. 53, 12122-12128 (2014)
  27. Sumit K. Swarnkar, S. Srinivasa Murthy, Ramesh Gardas and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of a vapour absorption refrigeration system operating with ionic liquid-ammonia combination with water as cosolvent, Applied Thermal Eng. Vol. 72, 249-256 (2014)

  1. Sanket Barbade, G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of Linde-Hampson Refrigerator operating with a zeotropic refrigerant for ultralow temperature applications, Paper 892, Proceedings of the 26th International Congress of Refrigeration, August 21st-25th, 2023, Paris, France
  2. Venkatesh Dasari, G. Venkatarathnam, Comparison of void-fraction and two-phase heat transfer models for estimation of composition change due to liquid holdup in Mixed Refrigerant Joule-Thomson Cryocoolers, Paper 1111, Proceedings of the 26th International Congress of Refrigeration, August 21st-25th, 2023, Paris, France
  3. Abhishek Dey, V. Raghavan, and G. Venkatarathnam, Thermal-Hydraulic Behaviour Comparison of Two Novel Lattice Structures with Simple Cubic BCC Lattice Structure, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT’23), Ottawa, Canada – June 07-09, 2023, Paper No. 174, DOI: 10.11159/ffhmt23.174
  4. C. Chaitanya Kishore, V. Raghavan, G. Venkatarathnam, Effects of Geometrical Parameters on Thermal-Hydraulic performance of air flowing in Additively Manufacturable Heat Exchanger, Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Fluid Flow, Heat and Mass Transfer (FFHMT’23), Ottawa, Canada – June 07-09, 2023, Paper No. 173, DOI: 10.11159/ffhmt23.173
  5. V.V.S. Murthy, Padma Nabhan, G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of a single-stage mixed refrigerant miniature Joule-Thomson cryocooler operating at 90-100 K for space applications, Presented at the Cryogenic Engineering Conference CEC/ICEC 2023, Hawaii, July 9-13, 2023
  6. Vuppanapalli Chaitanya, S. Narasimhan, G. Venkatarathnam, A systematic method for performing pinch analysis of the Liquid Air Energy Storage (LAES) process, Computer Aided Chemical Engineering, Volume 52, Pages 3123-3128, (2023)
  7. G. Venkatarathnam, MyCOIL – A program for the rating and optimisation of the flow path of air-cooled heat exchangers, Paper No. 384, Proceedings of the ISHMT-ASTFE Heat and Mass Transfer conference (IHMTC 2021) 17-20th December, 2021
  8. . Barath Adithya and G. Venkatarathnam, A review of second-order isobaric-isothermal flash calculations, paper no. NCCS_TP_1029, National conference on Cryogenics for Space, Thiruvanathapuram, 12-14, December 2019
  9. V. Chaitanya, S. Narasimhan and G. Venkatarathnam, Effect of assumption of common stream temperature in the simulation of multistream heat exchangers on the overall process efficiency, paper no. NCCS_TP_1015, National conference on Cryogenics for Space, Thiruvanathapuram, 12-14, December 2019
  10. G. Venkatarathnam, Some exciting developments in cryogenic engineering applications, Invited paper, National conference on Cryogenics for Space, Thiruvanathapuram, 12-14, December 2019
  11. G. Venkatarathnam, Alternatives for low GWP refrigerants for India, Invited paper, International conference on Recent advancements in Air conditioning and Refrigeration, RAAR-2019, Bhubaneswar, 28-30, November 2019
  12. G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of A Small Nitrogen Liquefier, 27th “National Symposium on Cryogenics and Superconductivity, Mumbai, January 16-18, 2019
  13. G. Venkatarathnam, Three-phase routines for the NIST Refprop program, 27th “National Symposium on Cryogenics and Superconductivity, Mumbai, January 16-18, 2019
  14. H. Gurudath Nayak and G. Venkatarathnam, Performance of an auto refrigerant cascade refrigerator operating in gas refrigerant supply mode with optimized nitrogen- hydrocarbon refrigerant mixtures, Paper No. PA-C-001,the sixth International Conference on Cryogenics and Refrigeration, April 12–14, 2018 at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China
  15. G. Venkatarathnam, Thermodynamics of refrigerant mixtures used in J-T refrigerators, Presented at the 26th International Cryogenic Engineering Conference, March 7-11, 2016, New Delhi
  16. G. Venkatarathnam, Thermodynamics of refrigerant mixtures used in Cryogenic Mixed Refrigerant Processes, National Symposium on Cryogenics, Hyderabad, December 8-10, 2014, Hyderabad, India
  17. Sunil Jerome and G. Venkatarathnam, Comparatative study of Helmholtz, Peng-Robinson and PC-SAFT equation of state applied to a J-T Cryocooler, National Symposium on Cryogenics, Hyderabad, December 8-10, 2014, Hyderabad, India
  18. Vineed Narayanan and G. Venkatarathnam, A mixed refirgerant cycle for providing refrigeration below 70 K for superconducting application, National Symposium on Cryogenics, Hyderabad, December 8-10, 2014, Hyderabad, India

  1. P. Rajagopal, G. Venkatarathnam and Shivam Agarwal, A device and a method for imaging a freeze zone of a cryosurgical process, India Patent No. 531 852, 2024
  2. Rajiv Sharma, G. Venkatarathnam, Abdus Samad, Fruits and Vegetable Vending cart, India Design Patent No. 373318-001 (2022)
  3. Venkatarathnam, G., System and method for the liquefaction of feed fluid operating at high ambient temperature, Indian Patent No. 352407 (2020)
  4. Venkatarathnam, G., Refrigerant composition and process for preparation thereof, US Patent No. 7722780 (2010)
  5. Venkatarathnam, G., Refrigerant composition for refrigeration systems, US Patent No. 7582223 (2010)
  6. Venkatarathnam, G., A refrigerant composition for refrigeration systems, India Patent No. 211627 (2007)
  7. Venkatarathnam, G., A refrigerant composition for a single stage refrigeration system, India Patent No. 205644 (2007)
  8. Venkatarathnam, G., A refrigerant composition for refrigeration systems, India Patent No. 197997 (2006)

  1. G. Venkatarathnam Cryogenic Mixed Refrigerant Processes, International Cryogenics Monograph Series, Springer, (2008) ISBN 978-0-387-78513-4
  2. G. Venkatarathnam Cryogenic Heat Exchangers, Hand Book of Heat Exchanger Design, (2012) ISBN 978-1-56700-423-6
  3. L.R. Oellrich, T. Engler, S. Srinivasa Murthy, G. Venkatarathnam and A.R. Balakrishnan, Refrigerant Mixtures as Alternatives to HCFC22 and R502: Systematic screening and Pinch Point Studies, Forschungsberichte des Deutschen Kälte-und Klimatechnischen Verenins Nr. 54, Germany (1997) ISBN 3-922-429-39-4
  4. Prasad Devkar and G. Venkatarathnam, Enhancing Fault Detection and Diagnosis in AHU Using Explainable AI, Chapter 13, Sustainability in Energy and Buildings 2023, Springer, (2024) ISBN 978-981-99-8500-5