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 through research and development at the interface between renewable and sustainable energy and low-carbon technologies. His research involved developing 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.
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.
Basu Saha is the Head of Chemical Engineering and Director of Studies at Lancaster University and also an Associate Director of the Centre for Global Eco-Innovation. He is currently an Honorary Professor at the University of Brunel London and an External Examiner for the Chemical Engineering UG and Masters courses at the University of Hull and the University of Bradford.
Before joining Lancaster University, he worked as a Professor of Chemical and Process Engineering at LSBU for over 10 years. 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 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. He is recognised as a leading expert in his field and held Visiting Professorships at the University of Barcelona, Spain; Saga University, Japan; the University of Burgos, Spain and an Adjunct Professorship at UCSI University, Malaysia.
He is a Chartered Engineer (CEng), a Fellow of The Institution of Chemical Engineers (FIChemE), a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). He is an Editorial Board Member of Green Processing and Synthesis Journal, Energies, and Reactions Journals; an Advisory Board Member of Reaction Chemistry and Engineering Journal, an Editorial Board Member of Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering Journal, and an Associate Editor of Sustainable Chemical Process Design Journal (speciality section of Frontiers in Sustainability).
He has successfully trained 24 PhD students, 10 post-doctoral researchers, 1 MPhil student, and 6 visiting research students. He has examined 27 PhD theses from the UK and overseas institutions (e.g. Imperial College, 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 200 research papers (including peer-reviewed journal and conference papers), 7 book chapters, 1 authored/edited book, and is co-inventor of 7 patents [h-index of 38, with ~5060 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 active member of the IChemE Research Publications (Journals) Medals Committee (2010 - present) and Vice-Chair of the IChemE Fluid Separations Special Interests Group (FSSIG) (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 (2013 - present).
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.
ENGR 302 Chemical Process Design Project – Module Convenor
ENGR 360 Advanced Process Transfers – Module Convenor
ENGR 490 Advanced Reaction Engineering – Module Convenor
ENGR 495 MEng Dissertation Project
ENGR 445 Industry-linked Group Projects
