Dr. Pradeep N

Welcome to Dr. N. Pradeep's Thermal Energy and Sustainable Systems Research Group (TESS Lab)! The research activities of our group are centered on the development of innovative thermal and energy technologies for a sustainable future. Our expertise encompasses thermal energy storage, molten salt, thermochemical energy storage, immersion cooling for AI and high-performance computing systems, thermal management of fuel cells and power electronics, solar thermal technologies, CO₂ capture and Utilization, advanced heat transfer, and energy-efficient industrial processes. By combining experimental research, numerical modeling, artificial intelligence, and industrial product development, we aim to address pressing challenges in energy sustainability, thermal management, and carbon reduction.

Our vision is to foster transformative research, cultivate future innovators, and develop scalable technologies that create meaningful societal and industrial impact.

Assistant Professor # ME202, Department of Mechanical Engineering (Old Block) National Institute of Technology Tiruchirappalli Tamil Nadu – 620015, India Email: pradeepn@nitt.edu (Official) npradeepnitt@gmail.com (Personal) Contact: +91- 8608 666 594   Google Scholar:

 

Research Areas: 

• Thermal Energy Storage
• Thermochemical Energy Storage
• Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage
• Solar Thermal Energy Systems
• Hydrogen Energy Systems
• Heat and Mass Transfer
• Advanced Thermal Management
• Industrial Product and Process Development
• Sustainable Energy Technologies

 

Professional Experience: 

Position	Organization	Period
		From	To
Assistant Professor	NIT Trichy	10-12-2025	Till
R&D Head	Full Chain Electronics Materials International India Private Limited - India	1-07-2025	8-12-2025
Senior R&D Engineer	Full Chain Materials International Ltd, Taiwan	1-07-2024	30-06-2025
Senior Project Officer	IIT Madras	3-08-2022	31-03-2023
Half- Time Research Assistantship	IIT Madras	13-08-2021	10-08-2022
Senior Project Officer	IIT Madras	2-12-2019	12-08-2021
Project Officer	IIT Madras	16-02-2016	30-11-2019
Teaching Assistant	IIITDM Kancheepuram	4-08-2015	15-02-2016
Lecturer	MAR College of Engineering and Technology Trichy	11-08-2012	24-05-2013
Project Trainee	BHEL Trichy	2-12-2011	6-01-2012

Degree	Specialization	University/Institute	Year
Ph.D.	Mechanical Engineering	IIT Madras	2024
M.E	Energy Engineering	Anna University	2015
B.E	Mechanical Engineering	Anna University	2012
HSC	Science and Maths	Town Higher Secondary School Kumbakonam	2008

Taught Courses:

S.No.	Course Code	Course Title	Period
1.	MEPC15	Fluid Mechanics and Machinery	2026
2.	MELR14	Strength of Materials and Fluid Mechanics Laboratory	2026
3.	ME748	Project Work Phase II (M.Tech Thermal Power Engineering)	2026

P.G Students:

S.No	Student Name	Project Title	Year	Present Position
1.	Abhishek Yadav	Phase Boundary Dynamics of Molten Salt PCM Thermal Batteries with Multi-Mode Heat Transfer for AI Data Center Waste Heat Recovery	2026	Assistant Engineer (Design Analysis) –Caterpillar Inc.

U.G Students: 

 

Patents:  

1. Patent licensed on “SMART AND SUSTAINABLE DEVICES(SSD) FOR INFECTIOUS MASK & PPE WASTE TREATMENT” (Patent No: 415252, Dated: 30/06/2020, Date of Grant: 23/12/2022).
2. Patent licensed on “AMMONIA CRACKING SYSTEM” (Patent No: M667876, Date of Grant: 11/03/2025).
3. Patent licensed on “THERMAL ENERGY STORAGE – VIA SAND”. (Patent No: M668446, Date of Grant: 01/04/2025).
4. Patent licensed on “METHANOL PRODUCTION SYSTEM – VIA CO2 EFFECTIVE UTILIZATION”. (Patent No: M668622, Date of Grant: 01/04/2025).
5. Patent submitted on “AMMONIA DECOMPOSTION SYSTEM – VIA RECOVERY”. (App.No:NP-38769, Submitted Date: 17/12/2024).
6. Patent submitted on “A GAS-LIQUID MIXED REACTION SYSTEM”. (App.No:NP-38766, Submitted Date: 24/12/2024).
7. Patent submitted on “AMMONIA DECOMPOSTION SYSTEM – VIA SIZING”. (App.No:NP-38768, Submitted Date: 31/12/2024).
8. Patent submitted on “IMMERSION HEAT DISSIPATION DEVICE” (App.No:NP-38396, Submitted Date: 17/02/2025).

 

Publications: 

1. Nadiya Philip, N. Pradeep, P. C. Ghosh and K. S. Reddy, “Techno Enviro Economic analysis of Phase Change Material based Thermal Management System for Proton Exchange Membrane Fuel Cell Vehicles, Applied Thermal Engineering, 2025, 278, 127426. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2025.127426.
2. N. Pradeep, U. Nithiyandham, and K.S.Reddy, Impact on thermophysical properties of solar salt with different concentrations of SiC nanoparticles for thermal energy storage system, Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cell, 2024, 277, 113130. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solmat.2024.113130.
3. N. Philip, N. Pradeep, P. C. Ghosh and K. S. Reddy, "Influence of heat transfer fluid on the thermodynamic performance of PCM-based thermal management system in fuel cell vehicle," 2024 International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Energy Technologies (ICECET, Sydney, Australia, 2024, 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICECET61485.2024.10698630.
4. U. Nithiyandham, N.Pradeep, and K.S.Reddy, Development and comparison of multi-walled carbon nanotubes and graphite nano-flakes doped molten salt for thermal energy storage in concentrated solar power and process heating applications, Journal of Molecular Liquids, 2024, 402, 124787. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.molliq.2024.124787.
5. N.Pradeep, K.S.Reddy, Development and Investigation of Nitrate Phase Change Filler Material for Solar Process Heating Applications, SolarPACES Conference Proceedings, 2024, 2 , 1-10. https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v2i.917
6. K.S. Reddy and N.Pradeep, Design and techno-economic investigation of solar dish collector waste treatment system for infectious personal protection equipment and masks, Sustainable Energy Technologies and Assessments, 2023, 58, 103316. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seta.2023.103316.
7. N.Pradeep and K.S.Reddy, Performance enhancement of packed bed thermal energy storage system for solar cogeneration of power and potable water production, Journal of Cleaner Production, 2023, 136754. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2023.136754.
8. N.Pradeep and K.S.Reddy, Design and investigation of solar cogeneration system with packed bed thermal energy storage for ceramic industry, Renewable Energy, 2022, 192, 243-263. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2022.04.087.
9. N.Pradeep and K.S.Reddy, Development of an effective algorithm for selection of PCM based filler material for thermocline thermal energy storage system, Solar Energy, 2022, 236, 666-686. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2022.02.044.
10. K.S. Reddy and N.Pradeep, Stability analysis of the thermocline thermal energy storage system during high flow rates for solar process heating applications, Solar Energy, 2021, 226, 40-53. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.solener.2021.08.026.

 

Conferences:

1. Nadiya Philip, N.Pradeep, Prakash C. Ghosh, K.S.Reddy, Impact of melting point of PCM on the performance of thermal energy storage based thermal management system in fuel cell vehicle, 1st International symposium on renewable energy technologies: Energizing the future, 16th August 2024, IIT Delhi, India – Oral Presentation.
2. Udayashankar Nithiyanantham, N. Pradeep, and K.S.Reddy, Influence on the thermophysical properties of silicon carbide nanoparticles dispersed solar salt for thermal energy storage system, 1st International symposium on renewable energy technologies: Energizing the future, 16th August 2024, IIT Delhi, India – Oral Presentation.
3. Nadhiya Philip, N. Pradeep, Prakash C. Ghosh, K.S. Reddy, Influence of heat transfer on the thermodynamic performance of PCM-based thermal management system in fuel cell vehicle, 4th International Conference on Electrical, Computer and Energy Technologies, 25-27 July 2024, Sydney, Australia – Oral Presentation.
4. N.Pradeep, U.Nithiyanandham, and K.S.Reddy, Enhancement of thermophysical properties of hitec and solar salt via silicon carbide nanoparticle for solar thermal energy storage system, International Conference on Sustainable Materials for Engineering Applications,  1 -3 February 2024, India – Oral Presentation.
5. U.Nithiyanandham, N.Pradeep, and K.S.Reddy, Comparison Study of Structural and thermophysical properties of SiC nanoparticle doped hitec and solar salt for thermal energy storage system, International Conference on Sustainable Materials for Engineering Applications, 1-3 February 2024, India – Poster presentation.
6. N.Pradeep, K.S.Reddy, Implementation of a solar cogenerate system for power and potable water production with thermal energy storage for residential sectors, World Society of Sustainable Energy Technologies, 2023, UK – Newsletter.
7. N.Pradeep, K.S.Reddy, Development and Investigation of Nitrate Phase Change Filler Material for Solar Process Heating Applications, SolarPACES 2023, 29th International Conference on Concentrating Solar Power, Thermal, and Chemical Energy Systems, 10-13 October 2023, Sydney, Australia – Oral Presentation.
8. N.Pradeep, K.S.Reddy, Instability analysis of thermocline thermal energy storage system for solar process heating, 20th International Conferences on Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET 2023), 15-17 August 2023, University of Nottingham, UK.
9. INECC & SCINDeA Workshop, Locally Developed Choices for Nationally Determined Contributions (LDC for NDC), Chennai, 10th March 2023 – Invited Speaker.
10. Workshop on Photovoltaics Fundamentals Device Characterization, Simulation and Emerging Concepts, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, India, 10th March 2018.
11. TEQIP II Sponsored Workshop on Thrust Areas of Research and Student Projects, Anna University, Tamil Nadu, 17 -18 October 2013.
12. N.Pradeep, D.B.Sivakumar, Experimental Investigation and Numerical Modelling of Solar PV Panel Performance with Passive PCM Cooling Process, International Conference on Innovative Trends in Mechanical and Civil Engineering (ICITMC 2015), 10 April 2015, India – Oral Presentation.
13. N.Pradeep, D.B.Sivakumar, Experimental analysis of Automotive Refrigeration System by Waste Heat Recovery, International Conference on Innovative Trends in Mechanical and Civil Engineering (ICITMC 2015), 10 April 2015, India – Oral Presentation.
14. N.Pradeep, D.B. Sivakumar, Effect of Automotive Refrigeration Compressor Work done on Refrigeration System and Engine Performance, 2nd International Conference on Trends in Technology for Convergence associated with Nizwa College Of Technology Oman (TITCON 2015), 10 - 11 April 2015, India – Oral Presentation.