Old Version
ਪੰਜਾਬੀ

ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਗਰੀਕਲਚਰਲ ਯੂਨੀਵਰਸਿਟੀ

PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY

ਪੰਜਾਬ ਐਗਰੀਕਲਚਰਲ ਯੂਨੀਵਰਸਿਟੀ ਲੁਧਿਆਣਾ

PUNJAB AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY, LUDHIANA

62nd Year of Education & Service

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Home

The Department was established in the year 1967. The department has been teaching Mechanical Engineering courses to the students of B Tech., M. Tech. and Ph.D. in Agricultural Engineering, and catering the need of specialists in the areas of Thermal Engineering and Machine Design of various R & D organizations, teaching and research institutions, industries etc. The Department teaches 13 courses of total 35 credit hours to undergraduate students. The courses include Thermodynamics refrigeration and air conditioning, Fluid Mechanics, Engineering Drawing, Machine Design, Workshop Technology and Practice, Theory of Machines, Heat and Mass Transfer in food processing etc. So far 27 students have completed M.Tech in Mechanical Engineering. The postgraduate courses taught by the department are Viscous Flow and Convective Heat Transfer, Conduction and Radiation Heat Transfer, Thermal Environmental Engineering, Thermodynamics, Industrial Heat Transfer, Refrigeration Systems, Ideal Fluid Flow, Solar Energy Utilization, Steam Power Engineering. The Department has done commendable research work in the areas of thermal engineering and machine design.

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Head of Department

Name : Dr. V P Sethi

Address : Department of Mechanical Engineering

Office : 9814526629, 0161-2401960 Ext 222, Ext-322

E-Mail : hodme@pau.edu

Brief Introduction

Dr V P Sethi joined B Tech in Agricultural Engineering at College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology, PAU in the year 1985. He graduated in 1989 and gained industrial experience for two years before joining M Tech in the year 1991 in Mechanical Engineering department (Thermal Environmental Engg.,) at PAU. He received Jindal Irrigation scholarship during B Tech and PAU merit Scholarship during M Tech programme. He joined as Assistant Professor in the department of Mechanical Engineering in July 1993 and taught many subjects of Mechanical Engineering for about 11 years before joining Ph D (in Solar Thermal Engineering) at Energy Research Centre, Panjab University Chandigarh in 2004. His Ph D thesis was nominated amongst the top 10 best theses at the National level by Indian National Academy of Engineers (INAE) for innovative students’ project award-2007. He was promoted as Associate Professor in May 2007 and as Professor from July 2010. He remained Head of the Mechanical Engg. Dept. from Aug. 2014 to Aug. 2018. Now he has been given the additional responsibility of as HoD of the department.

Apart from teaching UG and PG courses, he has handled Five research projects as PI (i) ICAR funded extramural project; Design & Development of forced draft paddy straw bale combustor technology for water and greenhouse heating in winter for higher crop productivity. (ii) Design & Development of forced draft paddy straw bale combustor technology for multi-purpose applications (crop drying, room heating and cooking). (iii) Punjab Govt. (on Solar Energy Utilization), (ii) ICAR (AICRP, Solar Energy component) and (iii) RKVY (Indigenous Hydroponics Technology) & one Project as Associated Scientist (AICRP Wind Energy component).

During the last two decades, Dr Sethi has contributed significantly in research at National and International level by conducting important studies and developing technologies in the areas of Biomass (paddy straw management), greenhouse design, thermal modeling, micro-climate control, efficient solar cooker designs, Photovoltaic mathematical models for maximum power output. He has also developed many affordable and field-worthy greenhouse technologies for higher economic gains for the farmers. He has also developed indigenous substrate and Nutrient Film Technologies (NFT) hydroponics technologies (soil-less farming) for non-arable lands and urban rooftops along with nutrient dossier system for higher water and crop productivity.

In recognition of his research contributions, The Institution of Engineers (India) has awarded him two National awards (i) K F Antia Memorial award-2008 and (ii) President of India’s Award-2010 for best published work. He was sent by PAU for advance training on “Solar thermal & PV system applications” to the Department of Mechanical Engineering, North Dakota State University (NDSU), Fargo, USA for three months in 2011. Later on in 2012, Dr Sethi was again invited as “Visiting Research Faculty” by the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Department of Plant Sciences NDSU for collaborative research work in the area of Greenhouse thermal modeling and Micro-climatic control.

He was awarded distinction at International level by Stanford University, USA on 19 Nov. 2019 by publishing the list of the top 2% best scientists list at global level in which his name was included (Rank 151141) for scientists working in all fields of research on the basis productive and useful work on the basis of highly cited research in the area of Energy for the period for last 25 years (1996-2020). Only 1000 Indian scientists could make into this prestigious list at global level. Recently he was Conferred with “International Fellow Award” for outstanding contributions organized by SardarVallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture & Technology, Meerut and New Age Mobilization Society, New Delhi at National Conference on “Identification, Convergence, implementation & Extension of Researchable Issues (ICIESSD-2019) for Sustainable Development” 20-21 August 2019 at Meerut. He has published more than 80 research and review papers in international and national journals and presented 25 research papers and invited talks at National and International conferences in India and Abroad.

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Thrust Areas

  • To impart quality education to the students of B.Tech. (Agricultural Engineering) in the subjects of Mechanical Engineering.
  • To impart quality education to PG students of Agricultural Engineering.
  • To strengthen linkages with the Department of Farm Machinery and Power Engineering, Department of Processing and Food Engineering and Department of Renewable Energy Engineering for mechanical engineering research inputs.

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Faculty

Faculty

S.No Name & Designation E-Mail/Telephone
1. Er Ashwani Kumar Sharma
Assistant Professor		 ashuksharma@pau.edu
9888951607
2. Dr Bikramjit Singh
Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering)		 bsingh_13@pau.edu
9478180349
3. Dr R.S. Gill
Associate Professor (Mechanical Engineering)		 rsgill@pau.edu
9530562730
4. Dr Rashmi Arora
Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering)		 rashmiarora@pau.edu
9855006099
5. Dr Rupinder Pal Singh
Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering)		 rupinderpal@pau.edu
9646486499
6. Er Sumit Chopra
Assistant Professor (Mechanical Engineering-On study leave))		 choprasumit12@pau.edu
9417403995
7. Dr V.P.Sethi
Professor (Mechanical Engineering)		 vpsethi@pau.edu
9814526629
8. Dr V.S.Hans
Professor (Mechanical Engineering), Controller of Examination and Chief Engineer		 vishiihans@pau.edu
09779019304

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Faculty Distinctions

  • Dr. KD Mannan got National Research Development Council Award in 1982.
  • Dr VP Sethi got KF Antia National Award by Institution of Engineers (India) (2007-08), President of India's award (2010-11), visited to NDSU USA from Jan to April 2011 and from Sept to Dec 2012, got Albert Nelson Marquis Life time achievement award 2017 by the Marquis Publishing Board, USA and Professional Achievement Award in August 2017 by Institution of Engineers India, chandigarh chapter.
  • Dr VS Hans conferred with ISTE Best Teacher award in 2013.
  • Dr Sukhmeet Singh holds patent on "Packed Bed natural Circulation Solar Dryer". The Technology Forced circulation Solar dryer developed by him has been taken up by United Nations Development program (UNDP) and Ministry of New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) for popularization.
  • Name of Dr V P Sethi included in the list of top 2% best scientists of the world out of all fields research (rank 151141) by a worldwide study conducted by Stanford University, USA in 2020 for conducting impactful research during the period of study (1996 to 2020).

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Important Achievements

Technologies Developed:

  • Folding two-step asymmetric reflector solar cooker
  • Noise and Vibration reduction of Tractor Seat
  • Noise and Vibration reduction of Tractor Muffler
  • Collector-cum-storage type solar water heater
  • Scale free solar water heater
  • Rib roughness ‘multiple arc with gap’ of rectangular duct for higher thermo-hydraulic performance
  • Hybrid Hydroponics, Aeroponics and NFT with water and nutrient recirculation
  • Domestic solar dryer
  • Portable farm solar dryer
  • Design of solar-cum-biomass hybrid greenhouse crop dryer using flue gas heat transfer pipe network

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Current Projects

The faculty members are associated with the following projects in different departments as listed below:

  • AICRP on Energy in Agriculture and Agro based Industries, DRET-Solar Energy Component, (Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, PAU, Ludhiana)
  • AICRP on Ergonomics and Safety in Agriculture (Department of FMPE,PAU, Ludhiana)
  • AICRP on Farm Implement and Machinery (Department of FMPE,PAU, Ludhiana)
  • Efficacy study of various Crop production products when applied through drone spraying system to manage pests in various crops(Department of FMPE, PAU, Ludhiana)

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Important Publications

  • Singh Rupinder Pal, Kaushik SC., Rakshit D (2020) Performance evaluation of charging process in a cascade latent heat storage system ( C-LHSS ) based on heat flux DSC results. International journal of thermal sciences 106274, 1-14. NAAS Rating: 9.476.
  • Sethi VP, Dhiman M (2020). Design, space optimization and modelling of solar-cum-biomass hybrid greenhouse crop dryer using flue gas heat transfer pipe network. Solar Energy 206, 120–135. NAAS Rating: 10.67.
  • Dhiman M, VP Sethi, Biswajeet Singh, Ashwani Sharma (2019). CFD analysis of greenhouse heating using flue gas and hot water heat sink pipe networks. Computers and Electronics in Agriculture 163,1048-1053. NAAS Rating 9.17.
  • Singh Rupinder Pal, HaoxinXu., Kaushik, SC., Rakshit D., Romagnoli A (2019) Charging performance evaluation of finned conical thermal storage system encapsulated with nano-enhanced phase change material. Applied Thermal. Engg. 151, 176–190. NAAS Rating: 9.77.
  • Singh Rupinder Pal, HaoxinXu., Kaushik SC., Rakshit D., Romagnoli A (2019) Effective utilization of natural convection via novel fin design & influence of enhanced viscosity due to carbon nano-particles in a solar cooling thermal storage system. Sol. Energy 183, 105–119. NAAS Rating: 10.37.
  • Kaur H, Bedi S, Sethi VP and Dhatt AS (2018). Effects of substrate hydroponic systems and different N and K ratios on yield and quality of tomato fruit. Journal of Plant Nutrition 41(12), 1547-1554. NAAS Rating 6.75.
  • Sethi VP (2018). Thermal modelling of asymmetric overlap roof greenhouse with experimental validation. International Journal of Sustainable Energy DOI:10.1080/14786451.2018.1424167 NAAS Rating 7.1.
  • Sekhon M, Sethi VP (2018). Thermal modelling and analysis of novel twin-chamber community solar cooker as a replacement of biomass-based cooking. Internal Journal of Green Energy, DOI: 10.1080/15435075.2018.1551221 NAAS Rating 7.30.
  • Singh Manpreet, Sethi VP (2018). On the design, modelling and analysis of multi-shelf inclined solar cooker-cum-dryer. Solar Energy 162, 620-638. NAAS Rating 10.67.
  • Singh Rupinder Pal, Kaushik SC., Rakshit D (2018). Melting phenomenon in a finned thermal storage system with graphenenanoplates for medium temperature applications. Energy Convers. Manag. 163, 86–99. NAAS Rating: 11.59.
  • Singh Rupinder Pal, KaushikSC., Rakshit D (2018). Solidification behaviour of binary eutectic phase change material in a vertical finned thermal storage system dispersed with graphenenano-plates. Energy Convers. Manag. 171, 825–838. NAAS Rating:11.59.
  • Singh Biswajeet, Sethi VP, Dhiman Mankaran, Sharma Ashwani (2018). Design, evaluation and heat transfer analysis of novel forced draft paddy straw bale combustor using heat sink pipe networks for greenhouse heating. Energy Conversion and Management 173, 244-261. NAAS Rating 13.18.
  • Kaur H, Bedi S, Sethi VP, Dhatt AS (2017). Effects of substrate hydroponic systems and different N and K ratios on yield and quality of tomato fruit. Journal of Plant Nutrition. https://doi.org/10.1080/01904167.2018.1459689 NAAS Rating 6.75.
  • Hans V S, Gill R S, Singh S (2017). Heat transfer and friction factor correlations for a solar air heater duct roughened artificially with broken arc ribs. Experimental Thermal and Fluid Science 80 (1), 77-89. NAAS Rating: 8.128.
  • Gill R S, Hans V S, and Singh S (2017). Investigations on thermo-hydraulic performance of broken arc rib in a rectangular duct of solar air heater. International Communications in Heat and Mass Transfer (Elsevier) 88, 20-27. NAAS Rating: 8.56
  • Gill R S, Hans V S, Saini J S, Singh S (2017). Investigation on performance enhancement due to staggered piece in a broken arc rib roughened solar air heater duct. Renewable Energy 104, 148-162. NAAS Rating: 9.40.

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Academic Programs

Presently the Department is involved in teaching to students of B.Tech.(Agril.Engg), B.Tech.(Food Tech.), M.Tech (Agril.Engg) and Ph.D.(Agril.Engg). The following is the list of courses offered by the department:

Programme: B. Tech (Agril. Engg)

Sr. No. Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Semester
1. ME 103 Engineering Drawing 0+2 I
2. ME 208 Thermodynamics, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning 2+1 I
3. ME-302 Machine Design 2+0 I
4 ME- 104 Workshop Technology and Practice 1+2 II
5 ME- 108 Heat and Mass Transfer 2+0 II
6. ME 202 Fluid Mechanics and Open Channel Hydraulics 2+1 II
7 ME 207 Theory of Machines 2+0 II

Programme: B. Tech (Agricultural Engineering) Elective Course

Sr. No. Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Semester
1 ME 404 Mechatronics 2+1 II

Programme: B. Tech (Food Technology)

Sr. No. Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Semester
1. ME-101 Workshop Technology 1+2 I
2 ME 201 Heat and Mass Transfer in Food Processing 2+1 I
3. ME-102 Engineering Drawing and Graphics 0+3 II
4. ME 106 Food Thermodynamics 2+1 II
5 ME 305 Fluid Mechanics 2+1 II

PG courses

Sr. No. Course No. Course Title Credit Hrs. Semester
1. ME-502 Conduction and Radiation Heat Transfer (3+0) I
2 ME-505 Thermal Environmental Engineering (3+0) I
3. ME-513 Solar Energy utilization (3+0) I
4. ME-506 Thermodynamics (3+0) II
5 ME-510 Industrial Heat Transfer (3+0) II
6 ME-511 Refrigeration system (3+0) II

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / Facilities & Services

WELDING SHOP
CARPENTARY SHOP
DRAWING HALL
MACHINE SHOP
SHEET METAL SHOP
FITTING SHOP
FOUNDARY SHOP
FLUID MECHANICS LAB
CAD LAB

College of Agricultural Engineering & Technology / Mechanical Engineering / PG Students

M.TECH THESIS OF DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL ENGINEERING

Sr. No. Name of the Student Roll No. Title of Thesis Year of Passing Major Advisor
1 P.P Singh L-72-AE-163-M Optimal Solar Energy Collector at Moderately High Temperatures with Cylindrical Parabolic Collector. 1974 Dr. L.S Cheema
2 G.S Dhillon L-73-AE-83-M Cooling with Solar Energy 1976 Dr. K.D Mannan
3 Kamaljit Singh L-73-AE-84-M Optimization of Circular Cylinderical Solar Heat collector of Stationery Type. 1976 Dr. K.D Mannan
4 Amrit Lal L-74-AE-198-M Investigation and Performance of Cylinderical Parabolic collector with Fully Automatic Tracking Device. 1978 Dr. K.D Mannan
5 Manjit Sahota L-86-AE-204-M Study and Control of Vibration in Powered Knapsack Sprayer. 1989 Dr. A.S Bansal
6 R.S Gill L-90-AE-282-M Studies on Combustion of Fuel Wood. 1993 Dr. Y.P Gupta
7 Veerprakash Sethi L-90-AE-283-M Air Pollution Caused by a 5 HP Diesel Engine, Analysis and control. 1993 Dr. K.S Salaria
8 Rajesh Kumar L-91-AE-200-M Studies on the Performance of Exhaust Muffler(s) of Tractor Engine(s) and the Design Improvement. 1994 Dr. A.S Bansal
9 Sukhmeet Singh L-92-AE-109-M Regenration of Silica Gel in Multishelf Solar Regenerator. 1995 Dr. Parampal Singh
10 Sameer Thapar L-91-AE-201-M Studies on Ride Vibration of Tractor(s) and Improvement in Suspension System of Seat (s). 1995 Dr. A.S Bansal
11 S.S Cheema L-95-AE-205-M Computer Aided Analysis and Synthesis of Disc Cam and Flower Mechanism 1997 Dr. Joginder Singh
12 Vikas Aggarwal L-97-AE-253-M Dynamic Response of Periodical Constrained System(s) with one of the constraints Displaced. 1999 Dr. A.S Bansal
13 P.S Dhillon L-97-AE-252-M Isothermal Analysis of Hydrodynamic Journal Bearing Using Effective Velocity Approach. 1999 Dr. K.S Panesar
14 Gurpreet Singh L-94-AE-108-M Design, Development and Performance Evaluation of Solar Spouted Bed Dryer for Sawdust. 1999 Dr. Y.P Gupta
15 R.K Pal L-96-AE-280-M Performance Evaluation of Cotton Stalk Gasifier for Power Generation. 1999 Dr. Y.P Gupta
16 Ramandeep Singh L-95-AE-205-M Computer Aided Kinematic Synthesis and Design Optimization of Loader Mechanism. 1999 Dr. P.S Grewal
17 Amanpreet Singh L-2014-AE-216-M Thermal Modeling of Asymmetric Overlap Roof of Greenhouse for Year Round Microclimate Control 2017 Dr. V.P Sethi
18 Amritpal Singh L-2014-AE-217-M Heat and Fluid Flow Analysis of Solar Air Heater Duct Roughened with Saw-Tooth Shaped Transverse Rib 2017 Dr. Sukhmeet Singh
19 Gurpreet Singh L-2014-AE-219-M Effect of Angle of Attack on Heat Transfer and Friction Characteristics of Inclined Rib Roughened Solar Air Heater Duct 2017 Dr. V.S Hans
20 Mandeep Singh Sekhon L-2014-AE-221-M Development of a Thermal Model and Performance Evaluation of Twin-Chamber Community Solar Cooker 2017 Dr. V.P Sethi
21 Simranjeet Singh L-2014-AE-222-M Recovery of Sensible Heat from Air Leaving Drying Chamber of Conventional Forced Circulation Solar Dryer 2017 Dr. Sukhmeet Singh
22 Daljit Singh L-2015-AE-194-M Thermal and Thermohydraulic Performance Evaluation of an Evacuated Tube Collector solar Air Heater 2017 Dr. V.S Hans
23 Inderjeet Singh L-2015-AE-195-M Computational Fluid Dynamics of Heat and Fluid Flow of Square Wave Profile Transverse Rib Roughened Solar Air Heater Duct 2017 Dr. Sukhmeet Singh
24 Manpreet Singh L-2015-AE-196-M Performance Evaluation and Thermal Modelling of Box Type Multi-Shelf Inclined Solar Cooker-cum- Dryer 2017 Dr. V.P Sethi
25 Amanpreet Kaur L-2016-AE-211-M Computational Fluid Dynamics Analysis of Solar Air Heater Duct Roughened with Multiple Arc Rib having Gap and Staggered Rib Piece 2018 Dr. V.S Hans
26 Biswajeet Singh L-2016-AE-212-M Performance Evaluation and Analysis of Forced Draft Paddy Straw Bale Combustor for Heating Applications 2018 Dr. V.P Sethi
27 Saloni Spall L-2015-AE-197-M Thermal Modeling and Performance Evaluation of North Wall Reflective Multi-Tray Cabinet Solar Dryer 2019 Dr. V.P Sethi