Dr Basu Saha
Senior Lecturer in Chemical EngineeringProfile
Basu Saha is the Head and Director of Studies for Chemical Engineering at 51福利 and an Associate Director of the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation. He is an Honorary Professor at the University of Brunel London, and an External Examiner for the Chemical Engineering UG and Master's courses at Swansea University, the University of Bradford and the MSc Sustainable Energy Engineering PGT Programme at the University of Nottingham.
Before joining 51福利, he worked as a Professor of Chemical and Process Engineering at LSBU for over a decade. He held various leadership roles, including Head of the Centre for Energy and the Environment Research, Founding Director of the Centre for Green Process Engineering, and Research Lead of the Applied Sciences Department at LSBU. Previously, he worked in the Chemical Engineering department of Loughborough University (as a Lecturer/Senior Lecturer/Reader in Chemical Engineering) for about 14 years. He was an External Examiner for the Chemical Engineering UG and Masters courses at the University of Hull and Canterbury University.
He was awarded a prestigious Royal Academy of Engineering Industrial Secondment with Syngenta Ltd in Huddersfield to study catalysis, kinetics, and chemical reaction engineering aspects for the industrially practised catalytic processes. He won a prestigious “Royal Society Brian Mercer Award” for developing an innovative epoxidation process technology. Recognised internationally, he held Visiting Professorships at the University of Barcelona, Spain; Saga University, Japan; and the University of Burgos, Spain, as well as an Adjunct Professorship at UCSI University, Malaysia. He maintains active research collaborations with Cairo University, The British University in Egypt, and Port Said University.
He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of The Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA), and a 2024/25 Bonington Leadership Fellow.
He has successfully trained 24 PhD students, 11 post-doctoral researchers, 1 MPhil student, and 6 visiting research students. He has examined 29 PhD theses from the UK and overseas institutions (e.g. Imperial College, University of Manchester, University of Sheffield, University of Newcastle, Queen’s University Belfast, Loughborough University, Swansea University, University of Bradford, University of Barcelona, Spain, University Politecnica de Catalunya-Barcelona TECH (UPC), Spain, IIT Bombay, India, etc.). He has published over 220 research articles (including peer-reviewed journal and conference papers), 7 book chapters, 1 authored/edited book, and is co-inventor of 7 patents [h-index of 42, with over 6,000 citations (Google Scholar)].
He has delivered about 100 invited and keynote lectures at national and international conferences, the House of Commons (UK Parliament), universities, research institutes, and industry. He has been invited as a member of the International Advisory and Scientific Committees of international conferences, Session Chair at national and international conferences, and a research grant reviewer of national (EPSRC Peer Review College and Engineering Panel member) and international funding bodies. He has co-organised sessions at national and international research events, conferences, and symposia.
He is an Editor of Green Processing and Synthesis Journal, an Advisory Board Member of Reaction Chemistry and Engineering (RSC) Journal, an Editorial Board Member of Energies Journal, Reactions Journal, and Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering Journal.
He is an active member of the IChemE Research Publications (Journals) Medals Committee, and a Committee Member of the IChemE Fluid Separations Special Interests Group (FSSIG) (2002 - present; Vice Chair of FSSIG from 2011 - 2022). As an IChemE Accreditation Assessor and member of the Education Subcommittee (EdSub), he is actively involved in the professional accreditation of Chemical Engineering degree programmes in the UK and overseas universities. He successfully led the IChemE accreditation process at 51福利 in 2025, resulting in all Chemical Engineering programmes being awarded accreditation without conditions.
He has received many national and international awards (e.g. from The Royal Society, The Royal Academy of Engineering, British Council, IChemE, NRI Welfare Society, etc.) in recognition of his research excellence. He received a prestigious "Jewel of India Award" from the NRI Welfare Society of India in recognition of outstanding services and scholarly achievements in Chemical Engineering.
Research Overview
His research focuses on innovative greener and sustainable processes and renewable and sustainable energy solutions for which he has established an international reputation. His research team aims to tackle the climate change challenge and contribute to the net-zero emission target. His research involved developing hydrogen storage using bio-based LOHC (liquid organic hydrogen carriers) technology, microwave plasma for novel processing and gasification, waste-based bioenergy and value-added products through various systems including transesterification and supercritical methanolysis (biodiesel production), biomass conversion, pyrolysis (fuel oil) etc. Several research projects have been conducted in his research group in collaboration with various researchers and industries – e.g. sustainable aquaculture leading to marine opportunities; process intensification for synthesis of industrially important building blocks; conversion of CO2 to high-value chemicals using heterogeneous catalysis; synthesis and modification of porous boron nitride materials for application in carbon dioxide capture; sustainable waste valorisation; biomass valorisation and process integration; decarbonisation and process optimisation; oxidation stability enhancement of biodiesel by extracting biological antioxidants from lignin etc.
His research has been supported by UKRI STFC grant, the British Council UK – Egypt HE Partnerships for Climate Change Programme, Newton Fund Impact Scheme, Newton Institutional Links Fund, Maritime Research and Innovation UK (MarRI-UK), EPSRC CO2-Chem Network, EPSRC, the European Union, The Royal Society, European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), GCRF (Co-I), The Royal Academy of Engineering, Commonwealth Scholarship, the Spanish, Nigerian, Malaysian and Pakistan Governments, Knowledge Transfer Collaboration and industry. He has successfully delivered a number of enterprise-related projects in collaboration with SMEs. He is a member of Supergen Bioenergy Hub, EPSRC-funded UK Catalysis Hub and CO2Chem Network.
Research Interests
- Greener and Sustainable Chemical Processes
- Renewable and Sustainable Energy Solutions
- Hydrogen Storage by Bio-based Molecules
- Carbon-dioxide Capture and Utilisation
- Circular Chemical Economy
- Process Intensification
Current Teaching
ENGR 285 Reaction Engineering I
ENGR 302 Chemical Process Design Project – Module Convenor
ENGR 360 Advanced Process Transfers – Module Convenor
ENGR 490 Advanced Reaction Engineering (until 2024-2025)
ENGR 495 MEng Dissertation Project
ENGR 445 Industry-linked Group Projects
PhD Supervision Interests
Applications are always welcome from PhD and Post-doctoral candidates, both home and overseas, with their own funding. There is also opportunity to collaboratively apply for funding based on mutual research interest. Please see my research profile and if you are interested, please feel free to contact me.
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01/09/2024 → 31/08/2026
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01/04/2024 → 31/03/2027
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17/04/2023 → 31/07/2023
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01/02/2023 → 31/03/2023
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21/11/2022 → 31/03/2023
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01/04/2022 → 31/05/2026
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01/04/2022 → 31/03/2024
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27/09/2021 → 15/03/2024
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27/09/2021 → 15/12/2021
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27/09/2021 → 31/12/2021
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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
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Participation in conference -Mixed Audience
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Prize (including medals and awards)
- Chemical Engineering Research Group