Dr Waheed Afzal
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Dr Waheed Afzal
CEng, CSci, FIChemE, FHEA
Senior Lecturer
- About
-
Biography
In the context of chemical and process engineering, my research covers a range of problems from the capture and utilization of carbon dioxide (CCU) to the conversion of waste plastics and from sustainability to safety.
Before joining the University of Aberdeen in 2015, I worked at Punjab University for over 10 years that I left as an associate professor in chemical engineering. I also completed my 3-year post-doctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley. I attended MINES ParisTech and the Technical University of Denmark for PhD in chemical and process engineering with Docteur de L’Union Européenne. I also attended the University of Aberdeen for PgCert in Higher Education.
I am the Guest Editor of a special issue of Molecules on "chemical recycling of waste plastics"; Molecules is an open-access journal the current Impact Factor of 4.927.
If you are interested in pursuing PhD studies, please get in touch by sending me an email along with your academic interests and educational background.
Memberships and Affiliations
- Internal Memberships
- External Memberships
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Memberships
Fellow of the Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE),
Chartered Chemical Engineer (CEng),
Chartered Scientist (CSci),
Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (FHEA).Examinations and Quality Assurance
External Examiner, MEng/ BEng Chemical Engineering, University of Manchester
External Examiner, HND/ HNC Chemical Engineering, Teesside University
PhD Examiner, Universities of Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Strathclyde, Exeter, and Teesside
External Services
University assessor for the accreditation of undergraduate and master degree programs: IChemE
Assessor and Panel Member, Chartered Chemical Engineers and Professional Process Safety Engineers under Individual Case Procedure: IChemE
Funding Agencies and Panels
Reviewers Penal for Engineering and Physical Sciences, the Newton Fund administered by the British Council (2016-2019)
Reviewer, foreign National Research bodies of South Africa, Singapore, and Pakistan, 2016-
Reviewing for Journals
Journal of Physical Chemistry (ACS); Journal of Chemical & Engineering Data; Journal of Chemical Thermodynamics; Fluid Phase Equilibria; Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research; Chemical Engineering Communications; Journal of Quality and Technology Management; PIChE Journal
Latest Publications
Meta-Analysis of Vaterite Secondary Data Revealed the Synthesis Conditions for Polymorphic Control
Chemical Engineering Research & Design, vol. 188, pp. 668-680Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2022.10.008
Process simulation and life cycle assessment of waste plastics: a comparison of pyrolysis and hydrocracking
MoleculesContributions to Journals: ArticlesDevelopment of a Data-Driven Scientific Methodology: From Articles to Chemometric Data Products
Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, vol. 225, 104555Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2022.104555
Modelling co-gasification of plastic waste and lignin in supercritical water using reactive molecular dynamics simulations
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 47, no. 49, pp. 21060-21066Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.04.251
Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Journal of Building Engineering, vol. 48, 103906Contributions to Journals: Articles
Prizes and Awards
European Doctorate (2010)
- Research
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Research Overview
Low carbon cement and construction material; mineral Carbon capture and utilization; clean energy technologies; waste plastics
Research Areas
Accepting PhDs
I am currently accepting PhDs in Engineering.
Please get in touch if you would like to discuss your research ideas further.
Research Specialisms
- Chemical Engineering
- Energy Engineering
- Safety Engineering
- Minerals Processing
Our research specialisms are based on the Higher Education Classification of Subjects (HECoS) which is HESA open data, published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
Current Research
Current PhDs:
- Muhammad Usman Azam (PhD Expected 2023), Sustainable technologies for the conversion of mixed waste plastics, (lead supervisor).
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Bishnu Bhattarai (PhD Expected 2024), Management of industrial waste with xenobiotics, (lead supervisor)
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Zahrah Zanna Ibrahim (PhD Expected 2022), Advances in EoR aided by ionic liquids, (co-supervisor)
- Rukayat Salawu (PhD Expected 2025), Mineral carbon capture and conversion, (lead supervisor)
Successful PhDs:
- Lewis McDonald (2022), Precipitated Calcium Carbonate for Low-Carbon Portland Cements, (lead supervisor).
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Wanawan "Nan" Pragot (2021), Mineral carbon capture and conversion into useful products: an experimental and ecological study (lead supervisor). University of Aberdeen
- Mohamud Yassin (2021), Feasibility study of microwave-assisted swing adsorption for post-combustion carbon capture (co-supervisor).
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Mohsin Ali Raza (2020): Thermodynamic and transport properties of biomass based chemicals (lead supervisor). University of Aberdeen
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Geraldo AR Ramos (2018): Investigation of EOR techniques (co-supervisor). University of Aberdeen
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Purnomo Sidi (2018): Investigating the suitability of Eichhomia crasspipes for use in drilling fluids (lead supervisor). University of Aberdeen
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Muhammad S Akram (2018), Kinetic study and reactor simulation of methylcyclohexane dehydrogenation reaction for a mobile power plant (co-supervisor). Punjab University, Lahore
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Dureem Munir (2018), Catalytic hydrocracking of waste plastics to liquid fuels (co-supervisor). Punjab University, Lahore
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Shahzad Y Khawaja (2014): Factors influencing the extraction efficiency in a pulsed sieve-plate extraction column (co-supervisor). Punjab University, Lahore
Post-Doc:
- Dr Maria-Ara Carballo-Meilan (2018-19), Precipitated calcium Carbonate Products (OMYA RG 14551), University of Aberdeen
Past Research
Fluid-phase equilibria and thermophysical properties; conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to liquid fuels; applications of ionic liquids in chemical processes; Impact of sulphur species on oil and gas systems; gas hydrates
Collaborations
Prof. Christophe Coquelet, Director of Process Thermodynamics, Department of Energy and Processes, École des Mines de Paris (MINES ParisTech)
Prof. Georgios Kontogeorgis, Department of Chemical and Biochemical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark
Prof. Paul Hallett, School of Biological Sciences, University of Aberdeen
Prof. John Prausnitz, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Berkeley
Funding and Grants
Current and Recent External Grants
Grant ‘Add Your Value Application’ to European Commission: Successful £47,179 (Co-I along with several other colleagues). 2019-21
Grant 'Integral Process Optimization for Sustainable Offshore-Structure Dismantling Yard Operation Application', Royal Academy of Engineering: £79,934- (Co-with three other colleagues). 2019-2021
Grant, 'Carbon utilization in high-value precipitated calcium carbonate under low solid conditions' £100,000 PI, 2018- 2019
Scottish Funding Council through the Northern Research Partnership, Sulphur species in fuel products and environment, £4000, PI, 2016-2017
Scottish Funding Council, Micro wind turbine with carbon capture module, £5000 PI, 2015-2016
Travel Grant: Santander Mobility Grant, Raman spectroscopy in carbon capture, Visit of Germany, December 2016
Travel Grant: British Council Researcher Links, Renewable energy technology: future, opportunity, and challenges for the UK and Turkey, Istanbul 4-7 April 2016
Travel Grant: UK Carbon Capture and Storage Research Centre, CCS in the UK - Moving Forward, Manchester Biannual, Manchester 13-14 April 2016
- Teaching
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Programmes
- Postgraduate, 3 semester, September start
- Postgraduate, 3 stage, January start
- Postgraduate, 3 year, September start
- Postgraduate, 3 semester, January start
- Postgraduate, 3 stage, September start
Teaching Responsibilities
Programme Design and Leadership
Programme Coordinator:
MSc Advanced Chemical Engineering
MSc Process Safety
Current Teaching
MSc: Separations & Product Purification (Coordinator and Contributor)
MSc: Safety & Risk Management (Contributor and Coordinator)
MSc: Human Factors Engineering (Contributor and Coordinator)
BEng/MEng: Biochemical Engineering (Contributor)
BEng/MEng: Chemical Engineering Design (Contributor)
MEng: Group Design Project in Chemical Engineering (Contributor)
BEng/MEng/MSc: individual Research Projects
Research Supervision
Personal Tutor
Teaching in the Recent Past
Process Risk Identification & Management
Energy Conversion and Storage
Advanced Process Dynamics and Control-Theory
Process Dynamics and Control-Theory
Process Instrumentation and Control-Lab
- Publications
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Page 1 of 7 Results 1 to 10 of 65
Meta-Analysis of Vaterite Secondary Data Revealed the Synthesis Conditions for Polymorphic Control
Chemical Engineering Research & Design, vol. 188, pp. 668-680Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cherd.2022.10.008
Process simulation and life cycle assessment of waste plastics: a comparison of pyrolysis and hydrocracking
MoleculesContributions to Journals: ArticlesDevelopment of a Data-Driven Scientific Methodology: From Articles to Chemometric Data Products
Chemometrics and Intelligent Laboratory Systems, vol. 225, 104555Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chemolab.2022.104555
Modelling co-gasification of plastic waste and lignin in supercritical water using reactive molecular dynamics simulations
International Journal of Hydrogen Energy, vol. 47, no. 49, pp. 21060-21066Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijhydene.2022.04.251
Evidence of scawtite and tilleyite formation at ambient conditions in hydrated Portland cement blended with freshly-precipitated nano-size calcium carbonate to reduce greenhouse gas emissions
Journal of Building Engineering, vol. 48, 103906Contributions to Journals: ArticlesSimulation of softwood lignin gasification in supercritical carbon dioxide
Journal of CO2 Utilization, vol. 59, 101959Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcou.2022.101959
The physicochemical properties of Portland cement blended with calcium carbonate with different morphologies as a supplementary cementitious material
Journal of Cleaner ProductionContributions to Journals: ArticlesA systematic analysis of the dynamics of microwave- and conventionally-assisted swing adsorption on zeolite 13X and an activated carbon under post-combustion carbon capture conditions
Journal of Environmental Chemical Engineering, vol. 9, no. 6, 106835Contributions to Journals: ArticlesA comparative analysis of microwave-assisted regeneration against conventional regeneration for post-combustion carbon capture
18th International Conference on Microwave and High Frequency Applications, AMPERE 2021, pp. 2Contributions to Conferences: Abstracts- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus
A modified human reliability analysis method for the estimation of human error probability in the offloading operations at oil terminals
Process Safety Progress, vol. 40, no. 3, pp. 84-92Contributions to Journals: Articles- [ONLINE] DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/prs.12223
- [ONLINE] View publication in Scopus