Dr. Sachin Nimbalkar serves as the group leader for the Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research & Analysis (MEERA) Group in the Manufacturing Science Division (MSD) at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL). Dr. Nimbalkar has more than 16 years of professional experience which includes working as a Distinguished R&D staff member at ORNL. Dr. Nimbalkar and his group conduct research; analyze and disseminate knowledge on energy, water, and material efficiency in the manufacturing sector; and develop, deploy, and promote impactful practices, tools, and technologies in the field of energy, water, and material efficiency. Dr. Nimbalkar provides technical support to DOE Industrial Technologies Office’s (ITO) Better Plants Challenge partners through energy roadmap development, baselining analyses, in-plant trainings, and field visits to investigate feasible measures to reduce process energy requirements. Dr. Nimbalkar conducts life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis in the areas of advanced manufacturing, energy productivity & production optimization technologies, smart manufacturing, and water-energy nexus. Dr. Nimbalkar assists DOE’s international activities through technical program management support and planning and development of tools and materials. Dr. Nimbalkar has held several training workshops and webinars throughout Brazil, China, Costa Rica, India, Turkey, and Ukraine, covering energy efficiency in process heat systems and waste heat recovery from industrial process heating equipment and DOE’s Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool. Dr. Nimbalkar is an active member of Sigma Xi, the Society of Mechanical Engineers, and the American Society of Mechanical Engineers. He has achieved the “Qualified Specialist” recognition in using three key DOE energy-efficiency software tools—the Process Heating Assessment and Survey Tool, the Pump System Assessment Tool, and the Steam System Assessment Tool. These are comprehensive tools used to evaluate energy-savings improvements in pump, process heating, and steam systems.
Research and Technical Skills
- Industrial energy efficiency and production optimization
- Industrial process heating and waste heat management (reduce, recover, and recycle)
- Life-cycle energy and emissions analysis, techno-economic analysis, modeling, and projection of energy efficient technologies and innovative manufacturing processes
- Smart manufacturing and Internet of Things (IoT) opportunities for manufacturing plants
- Fluid mechanics, heat transfer, thermal sciences, and combustion
- Analysis work using medium plant cross-cutting (IAC) and large plant system-specific assessments (ESAMS) databases and best practices in energy efficiency
- Communication and work with project sponsors, industry partners, and ORNL technical staff
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April 29, 2024
9 MIN READ
Better Plants program leads to carbon reduction, cost savings for US manufacturing
