Nitin Pawar working on recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) using antisolvent crystallization. He obtained a PhD in Chemical Engineering in 2020 on antisolvent crystallization of pharmaceutically relevant compounds. He works in the ANTISOLVO group of KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm as a postdoctoral researcher from November 2021.. (Leuven 10.06.2022)
What are you working on?
My research is on the recovery of rare earth elements (REEs) from leached liquor solution using antisolvent crystallization. The scarcity and wide applications of REEs makes them more valuable and prone to secondary recovery sources. With an expertise in antisolvent crystallization, I work on enhancing recovery of rare earth metals with desired product quality and purity along with kinetic estimation of process. During my PhD, I also worked on antisolvent crystallization of pharmaceutical compounds using experimental and modeling approach. Applying of antisolvent crystallization to the hydrometallurgical separation of rare earth metals is an interesting field to explore with new challenges and difficulties. The process needs to be studied to understand and optimize for better recovery and recycling of REEs.
What attracts you in the research project you are working on?
The project I am enrolled in is aiming at developing sustainable and secure supply of rare earth metals for essential applications. The project also is focusing on alternate recovery route from secondary sources for the recycling of REEs and to overcome its dependency on mining. This project gave me the opportunity to work on research problem currently the world and Europe are facing in renewable energy sources. The project is also interesting to learn and develop new expertise from the work I have done during my PhD. It is also giving me a wider perspective to my problem-solving ability and helps to keep a good connection to the academia, industry, and research institutions. I want to take this opportunity as a challenge to do best research in this area.
Where do you work? What do you like about your organization or the city you live in?
I work in the resource recovery division, (Chemical engineering department) at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. I joined the group as a postdoctoral researcher and I am working with the expert team which is helping me to learn a lot and to grow personally and professionally. The environment at KTH is so friendly and best to enjoy work life.
The city where I live in is very multicultural with a good heritages and tourist spots to visit. The chilling weather here is so refreshing. I can say that Stockholm is perfect place to live and enjoy life.
How do you recharge?
I love travelling and visiting new places that I haven’t seen before. It keeps me charged. It also helps me understand new cultures and meeting new peoples. Stockholm is blessed with lot of places to visit like world heritages, museums, art galleries, suburbs, and amusements park. These are perfect places for someone like me to recharge myself. I also love reading books, novels, watching sports and spending time with family and friends.
BIO
Nitin Pawar was born in Maharashtra (India) and there he studied at the LIT Nagpur, obtaining a bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering (2008), a bachelor’s (2012) and a master (2016) in Chemical Engineering at NIT Raipur. He worked on membrane separation process during master and on antisolvent crystallization of pharmaceutical compounds during doctoral study. With interest to learn and develop new expertise he moved to Stockholm to joined ANTISOLVO project for a postdoctoral work. Since November 2021, he is working in the ANTISOLVO project as a researcher.
