Bio
Mr. Thirumaran is a research staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) with a focus on industrial energy and water efficiency, thermal process intensification, industrial decarbonization, and statistical analysis. Mr. Thirumaran has more than 8 years of professional experience which includes working as a research staff at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, implementing utility rebate programs as an energy engineer for CLEAResult, and as an engineering lead for DOE's Industrial Assessment Center at North Carolina State University. A seasoned researcher with an eye for detail, Mr. Thirumaran is interested in working to develop the next generation of energy-efficient technologies and strategies.
As part of the Manufacturing Energy Efficiency Research and Analysis (MEERA) group, Mr. Thirumaran provides technical support to DOE Advanced Manufacturing Office’s (AMO’s) Better Plants Program. In his role as a Technical Account Manager, he assists partnering manufacturing companies achieve their energy, water, and carbon reduction targets by analyzing their energy consumption, identifying gaps in energy management practices, and supporting the implementation of relevant strategies and projects. Also, as the engineering lead for the program's water efficiency efforts, he conducts water efficiency workshops at industrial facilities. Mr. Thirumaran also supports the Department of Energy’s (DOE) effort to transition several legacy software tools to a modern, open-source format (MEASUR). This is a multi-year project working with programmers and subject matter experts to build, polish, and expand this tool to maximize its benefit to users. Mr. Thirumaran conducts life-cycle assessment and techno-economic analysis in the areas of sustainable manufacturing, circular economy, decarbonization, and water-energy nexus. Mr. Thirumaran assists AMO’s international activities through technical program management support and planning and development of tools and materials. Mr. Thirumaran has held training workshops and webinars in 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.
Education
- MS, Mechanical Engineering, North Carolina State University, North Carolina (2012-14)
- BE, Aeronautical Engineering, Anna University, Chennai, India (2008-12)
Publications: Journal Articles and Technical Proceedings
- Thirumaran, K., Supekar, S., and Nimbalkar, S., "Energy, Emission, and Materials Impact of Electrifying Cement Clinker Production Process and the Importance of a low-carbon electric grid" (Forthcoming)
- Jaehong, K., et al., “The Current State of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Industrial Applications” (Forthcoming)
- Chellam, S., et al., “The Current State of Wastewater Treatment and Reuse for Mining Applications” (Forthcoming)
- Guo, W., Perera, J. C., Cox, D., Nimbalkar, S., Wenning, T., Thirumaran, K., and Levine, E., "Variable-Speed Pump Efficiency Calculation for Fluid Flow Systems with and without Static Head". International Journal of Energy Management, June 2020.
- Nimbalkar, S., Armstrong, K., Thirumaran, K., Guo, W., Accawi, G., Wenning, T., and Thekdi, A., "Process Heating Assessments Using DOE’s Manufacturing Energy Assessment Software for Utility Reduction (MEASUR) Tool Suite", AISTech Conference, September 2020.
- Thirumaran, K., Nimbalkar, S., Thekdi, A., and Cresko, J., "Energy Implications of Electrotechnologies in Industrial Process Heating Systems", ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, August 2019.
- Thirumaran, K., and Wenning, T., "U.S. Department of Energy’s Resources for Boiler Manufacturers", American Boiler Manufacturers Association - Summer Meeting, June 2019.
- Thirumaran, K., Wenning, T., Armstrong, K., and Accawi, G., "MEASUR Demonstration - IETC Energy Managers Workshop”, 41st Industrial Energy Technology Conference, June 2019.
- Thirumaran, K., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., and Armstrong, K.,"U.S. Department of Energy’s Resources for Industrial Process Heating Systems", AISTech Conference, May 2019.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., Armstrong, K., and Levine, E., "A New Methodology for Calculating the Energy Performance of Manufacturing Facilities", Energy Engineering, January 2019.
- Thirumaran, K, Nimbalkar, S., Thekdi, A., and Cresko, J., "Application of Electro-technologies in Industrial Process Heating Systems", Material Science and Technology 2018, Oct 2018.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., Armstrong, K., and Levine, E., "Comparison of One- and Two-Variable Linear Regression Models and Classic Energy Intensity for Energy Performance Tracking of Two Manufacturing Sectors", Energy Engineering, August 2018.
- Thirumaran, K., Nimbalkar, S., Thekdi, A., and Cresko, J., "Energy and Productivity Potential of Electrotechnologies in Industrial Process Heating Systems", EPRI Electrification 2018, August 2018.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., and Cox, D., "Energy Performance Analysis for Wastewater Treatment Plants". Industrial Energy Technology Conference, June 2018.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., Cox, D., Thirumaran, K., and Glatt, S., "Industrial Energy Training and Certification”. Plant Engineering, November 2017.
- Wenning, T., Guo, W., Taylor, A., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., and Levine, E., “Quantifying the Statistical Importance of Utilizing Regression over Classic Energy Intensity Calculations for Tracking Efficiency Improvements in Industry”, 2017 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Industry, August 2017.
- Wenning, T., Guo, W., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., "Energy Treasure Hunt Exchange In-Plant Trainings: DOE Resources, Early Results and Lessons Learned". Industrial Energy Technology Conference, June 2017
- Thirumaran, K., “Optimization of Air Flow and Heat Transfer in a Convective Heat Shrink Oven”, Master’s Thesis - North Carolina State University, 2014.
Publications: Technical Reports
- Cresko, J., Thekdi, A., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., Hasanbeigi, A., and Chaudhari, S., “Advanced Manufacturing Office’s Thermal Process Intensification – Workshop Report” (Forthcoming)
- Malhotra, M., Nimbalkar, S., Armstrong, K., Thirumaran, K., and Garcia, S., "Plant Water Profiler: A Water Balance and True Cost of Water Calculator for Manufacturing Plants", ORNL/TM-2021/1918, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, April 2021.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Thirumaran, K., Nimbalkar, S., and Levine, E., "US DOE Better Plants Program Energy Treasure Hunt Exchange Toolkit". ORNL/TM-2019/108, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Oak Ridge, Tennessee, January 2019.
- Guo, W., Wenning, T., Nimbalkar, S., Cox, D., Thirumaran, K., and Glatt, S., "Training and Certification Programs on Industrial Energy Systems in the United States". ORNL/TM-2018/17, Jan 2018.
- Thirumaran, K, Wenning, T., and Nimbalkar, S.,"PEPEx Algorithm v1.01". ORNL/TM-2017/88, March 2017.
- Gopalakrishnan, B., Nimbalkar, S., Wenning, T., and Thirumaran, K., "Industrial Assessment Center (IAC) Operations Manual". ORNL/TM-2016/676, April 2017.
- Cox, D., Nimbalkar, S., Wenning, T., Thirumaran, K., and Guo, W., "Energy Systems Training Programs and Certifications Survey White Paper". ORNL/TM-2016/733 72118, Feb 2017.
- Thekdi, A., Nimbalkar, S., Thirumaran, K., “Algorithm Document for Process Heating Assessment & Survey Tool”, Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, ORNL/TM-2016/490, November 2016.