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IInvenTiv2026

Faculty details

Prof.Asim Kumar Mukherjee

Designation: Visiting Professor

Department: Fuel, Minerals and Metallurgical Engineering

Email: asimmuk[at]iitism[dot]ac[dot]in

Contact Number: 9204058834

Office Number: +91-326-223-NIL

Personal Page: Click Here

About Me: On completion of my graduation and post graduation from Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad with specialisation in Mineral Engineering joined Indian Rare Earths Ltd,and worked from 1991 to 1998. Subsequently, completed Ph.D in Materials & Metallurgical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur. Joined Tata Steel R&D Division in the year 1998 and superannuated as Chief, Raw Materials Research Group on 1st July'25. Presently a Professor in the Department of Fuel, Minerals & Metallurgical Engineering at IIT (ISM) Dhanbad. Implemented 12 projects in the plant for commercialization which have accrued significant audited benefit. These projects were carried out in collaboration with academia, OEM and various labs of international repute. Received National Mineral Award in the year 2007 from Govt. of India, Ministry of Mines. Received Mineral Beneficiation Award from Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers (IIME) in the year 2014. An Adjunct Professor in ACSiR scheme of CSIR. Published 114 papers in the peer reviewed (national & international) journal and filed 59 patents.

Research Interest: Mineral Beneficiation with emphasis on Coal, Iron Ore, Chromite, Manganese, Industrial Minerals and Critical Minerals. Pilot plant and commericial plant design. Commercialisation of projects driving through different Technology Rediness Levels (TRL). Preparation of Basic Engineering Report (BER) to defend project funding before funding agencies. Numerical analysis using Discrete Element Method (DEM), Population Balance Method (PBM), Data analysis and process control using statistical tecniques.

Curriculum
Vitae
Publications

Teaching

Academics

                                 Institute                                 Degree                 Department                                Year       OGPA/CGPA  

  • Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur      Ph.D.*    Materials & Metallurgical Engineering   2007           9.00/10
  • Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad              M. Tech                 Minerals Engineering               1992              4.38/5.0               

Position

. Professional Experience (in chronological order):

Positions held:

Sl. No.

Place of Employment

Period

Designation

i.

Indian Rare Earths Ltd.

1991-95

1 year Graduate Engineer Trainee and then Engineer

ii.

Indian Rare Earths Ltd.

1995-98

Senior Engineer

iii.

Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

1998-2002

Manager

iv.

Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

2002-07

Principal Researcher (R3)

vi.

Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

2007-2014

Principal Scientist (R3S)

v

vi

Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

Tata Steel, Jamshedpur

2014 – 2019

2019 – Till June’25

Head, Raw Materials Research Group

Chief, Raw Materials Research Group

Awards and Honors

           Awards & Honours received:

  • Selected in Tata Steel sponsored Ph.D. program at IIT Kanpur, 2002.
  • Received the prestigious “National Mineral Award – 2007” from Ministry of Mines, Govt. of India.
  • Received “IIME Mineral Beneficiation Award, R&D – 2014” from Indian Institute of Mineral Engineers
  • Received the prestigious “Tata Innovista – 2010 Award” in the category of “Promising Innovation” from Tata Group.
  • Awarded “Adjunct Faculty” by CSIR.
  • Review committee member on project evaluation and funded by Ministry of Steel. GOI.
  • Member of Technology Leadership Area (TLA) committee on Raw Materials
  • Member of International Advisory Committee of International Mineral Processing Congress (IMPC).
  • Supervisor for four Ph.D. student.
  • Best project award by Tata Steel, Tata Search and IIME in numerous occasions.
  • Membership of Professional/Academic bodies:

  •   Indian Institute of Metals                                                       ( Member)
  •   Institute of Minerals Engineers                                                          (Life Member)

  •            (Executive Council Member of the IIME and Vice President Jamshedpur Chapter, IIME till date.)

  • Member of BIS on Raw Materials & Ferro-alloy committee.
  • Member of International Mineral Processing Congress.
  • Ex-member of Research Council of IIT(ISM) Dhanbad.
  • Ex- Senate member of IIT Goa.
  • Well connected to OEMs, CSIR labs, international labs, Industry experts and Engineering companies.

Publications

Books Published

 

Refereed Journal

 

No.

Full Name of Author

Title of Paper

Name of t     Name of the Journal

Year of

Publication

1.

A.K. Mukherjee, R.K. Dutta and P.V.T. Rao

Development of a mathematical model for prediction of washery Performance

Coal Preparation.

22, 109-122, 2002.

2.

A.K. Mukherjee and S. Chandra

A robust statistical method to evaluate unit operation in coal washery

International Journal of Mineral Processing.

66, 145-162, 2002.

3.

A.K. Mukherjee and Soni

Mathematical model for prediction of cone crusher performance

Tata Search

81-87,            2002

4

A.K. Mukherjee, R. Sripriya, PV.T. Rao and P. Das

Effect of increase in feed inlet pressure on feed rate of dense media cyclone

International Journal of Mineral Processing

69, 259-274, 2003

5.

A.K. Mukherjee, P.K. Banerjee, A.K. Bhatnagar, A. Dutta and S. Prasad

Strategy to improve fine clean coal yield at West Bokaro

Tata Search

57-66. 2003

6

P.K. Banerjee, A.K. Gupta, A.K. Mukherjee, P. Das, N.P. Singh and A.D. Baijal

Improvement of flotation performance at Bhelatand coal washery

Tata Search

9-25, 2004

7

A.K. Mukherjee and B.K. Mishra

Study of particle separation by fluidization

Trans. Of the Indian Institute of Metals

57(5), 2004

8.

A.K. Mukherjee, V.K. Dwivedi and B.K. Mishra.

Analysis of a laboratory jigging system for improved performance.

Minerals Engineering

18, 1037 – 1044, 2005

9.

A.K. Mukherjee, B.K. Mishra and S.P. Mehrotra

Two different modelling strategies for predicting jig bed stratification

Tata Search

39 – 44, 2005

10.

M. China, R. Sripriya, S.K. Rai, A.K. Mukherjee, S.K. Sinha and S. Verma

Performance of Noamundi iron ore processing plant: A critical evaluation

Tata Search

79 – 82, 2006

11.

A.K. Mukherjee, B.K. Mishra

An integral assessment of the role of critical process parameters on jigging

International Journal of Mineral Processing

80 (3), 187 – 200, 2006

12.

A.K. Mukherjee, D. Bhattacharjee and B.K. Mishra

Role of water velocity for efficient jigging of iron ore

Minerals Engineering

19, 952 – 959, 2006

13.

A.K. Mukherjee, P. Gupta, S. K. Sit, M.C. Thomas and H. Jha

Role of feed characteristics in jigging plant optimisation – A case study

Tata Search

73 – 78, 2007

14.

S.K. Rai, A.K. Mukherjee, P.K. Banerjee and M.C. Thomas

Beneficiation of Noamundi iron ore fines – A case study for alumina reduction

Tata Search

79 -82, 2007

15.

P. K. Banerjee, Ashiwani Kumar Gupta, A. K. Mukherjee, P. Das, N. P. Singh, RS Singh

Optimisation of reagents distribution down a coal flotation bank to improve the recovery of coarser particles

Coal Preparation

27, 39 – 56, 2007.

16.

A.K. Mukherjee, P. Gupta, S.K. Sit, M.C. Thomas, H. Jha, B.K. Mishra

Role of feed characteristics in jigging plant optimisation – A case study

Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy

Publication Series, pp 353 – 360.

17.

A.K. Mukherjee, B.K. Mishra

Experimental and simulation studies on the role of fluid velocity during particle separation in a liquid-solid fluidized bed

International journal of Mineral processing

83, 211 -221, 2007

18.

A.K. Mukherjee, P. Gupta, S.K. Sit, M.C. Thomas, B. K. Mishra

Method to evaluate the role of feed characteristics in iron ore beneficiation

Minerals & Metallurgical Processing

25(1), 25 – 31, 2008.

19.

A.K. Mukherjee, B.K. Mishra, Ran Vijay Kumar.

Application of Liquid/solid fluidization in beneficiation of fines

International Journal of Mineral Processing

92 (2009) 67 - 73

20.

A.K. Mukherjee

A new method for evaluation of gravity separation processes

Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review

30: 191 - 210, 2009

21.

A.K. Mukherjee and Abhishek Kumar

Liquid/Solid fluidization its role and limitation in fine beneficiation – A review

Mineral Processing and Extractive Metallurgy Review

30: 280 – 306, 2009

22.

Atanu Banerjee and A.K. Mukherjee

Characterisation of typical Indian iron ore slime through quantitative mineralogy to evaluate beneficiation prospect.

ISIJ International

51, 1393-1395, 2011

23.

John Samuel Thella, Asim Kumar Mukherjee, N. Gurulaxmi Srikakulapu

Processing of high alumina iron ore slimes using classification and flotation

Powder Technology

217, 418-426, 2012

 

24.

A. Banerjee and A.K. Mukherjee

Method to establish theoretical yield-grade relation for Indian iron ore slime through quantitative mineralogy

Minerals & Metallurgical Processing

29(3), 144-147, 2012

 

 

25.

A.K. Mukherjee and S.N. Gurulaxmi

Float-sink apparatus and its use in the mineral industry

Mineral Processing & Extractive Metall. Rev.

34, 130-138, 2013

 

 

26.

D. Makhija, A.K. Mukherjee, T.K. Ghosh

Pre-concentration feasibility of gravity and magnetic techniques for Banded Hematite Jasper.

International Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing.

2(1), 8 – 15, 2013.

 

 

27..

A.K. Mukherjee, J.S. Thella, D. Makhija, A.S. Patra, M. Manna and, T.K. Ghosh

Process to recover iron values from High-Alumina Indian Iron Ore Slimes – a bench scale study.

Mineral Processing & Extractive Metall. Rev.

36, 39 – 44, 2014

 

 

28.

A.S. Patra, R. Tiwary, P. Dixit, S. Singh and A.K. Mukherjee

Investigation on collector performance in the presence of dispersant in the reverse flotation of iron ore slimes.

Tata Search

45 – 48, 2014

 

 

29.

R. Tiwari, P. Dixit, A.S. Patra, A.K. Mukherjee, P.K. Banerjee

Effect of process parameters on the solids concentration of stub cyclone underflow vis-à-vis degree of thickening

Tata Search

39 – 44, 2014

 

 

30.

P. Dixit, R. Tiwari, A.K. Mukherjee, P.K. Banerjee.

Application of response surface methodology for modelling and optimization of spiral separator for processing of iron ore slime.

Powder Technology

105-112, 275, 2015

 

 

31.

D. Makhija, A.S. Patra,  A.K. Mukherjee

Statistical analysis of the role of flotation frother and its optimization for selective recovery of iron minerals

Journal of ore dressing

16(31), 24, 2014

 

 

32.

R.Tiwari, P. Dixit and A.K. Mukherjee

Beneficiation of ultrafine iron ore slime using fine mineral spiral concentrator

Tata Search

53 – 57, 2015

 

 

33.

D. Makhija, and A.K. Mukherjee

Effect of undersize misplacement on product size distribution of Bond’s ball mill test

Minerals Processing and Extractive Metallurgy

125(2), 117 – 124, 2016

 

 

34.

A.S. Patra, D. Makhija, A.K. Mukherjee, R. Tiwari, C.R. Sahoo, B.D. Mohanty

Improved dewatering if iron ore fines by the use if surfactants.

Powder Technology

287, 43 – 50, 2016

 

 

35.

V. Singh, R. Venugopal, V.K. Saxena & A.K. Mukherjee

Study of the effect of ultrasonic treatment on minerals materials of different morphologies

Minerals & Metallurgical Processing

33, 2, 88 – 96, 2016

 

 

38..

D. Makhija, R.K. Rath, K. Chakravarty, A.S. Patra, A.K. Mukherjee, A.K. Dubey

Phosphorus partitioning and recovery of low-phosphorus iron-rich compounds through physical separation of Linz-Danwitz slag

International Journal of Minerals, Metallurgy and Materials.

23(7), 751 -759, 2016

 

 

39

D. Makhija, A.K. Mukherjee, T.K. Ghosh

Pre-concentration feasibility of gravity and magnetic techniques for banded hematite jasper.

Int. Journal of Mining Engineering and Mineral Processing

2(1), 8 - 5,     2013

 

 

39.

D. Makhija and A.K. Mukherjee

Effect of undersize misplacement on product size distribution of Bond’s ball mill test.

Tata Search

29 – 34, 2017

 

 

40.

D. Makhija, P. Dixit, A.K. Mukherjee.

Recovery of blast furnace grade iron ore concentrate from iron ore rejects.

Metallurgical Research & Technology

114(2), 215, 2017

 

 

41.

P. Kopparthi, R. Singh, D. Nag & A.K. Mukherjee

Vitrinite maceral separation using column flotation

International Journal of Coal Preparation & Utilization,

38(1), 180 – 191. 2018

 

 

42.

A.S. Patra, N.V. Rao Nulakani, Y, Pavan Kumar, V. Subramanian, J. Dash, A.K. Mukherjee

Design synthesis of novel polyamine collector to recover iron values from iron ore slimes.

Powder Technology,

325, 180 – 191, 2018

 

 

43.

G. Chalavadi, A.K. Mukherjee, Ranjit Singh, Ratnakar Singh, R.K. Rath, A.K. Mukherjee

Development of dry beneficiation flowsheet for fine coking coal

International Journal of Coal Processing & Utilization,

1 -14, .2018

 

 

 

 

44.

Soni Jaiswal, Rashmi Singh, Veerendra Singh, A.K. Mukherjee

A study of the effect of thermal shocks on liberation characteristics of high coal ash particles.

Fuel,

233, 215 – 223, 2018

 

 

45.

Prasad Kopparthi, S. Balamurugan, and A.K. Mukherjee

Effect of ultrasonic pre-treatment time on coal flotation

Int. journal of Coal Preparation and Utilization

1 – 17, 2017

 

 

46.

P. Dixit, D. Makhija, A.K. Mukherjee, V.

List Of Research Publications (only in Peer-reviewed Journals)

Annexure – III

Details of patent:

               

Sl

Patent Name

Inventor (s)

Patent/Application No.

Year

Status

1

A method of evaluation of liberation characteristics of metallic / non-metallic ore feeds for gravity separation

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

254254

2012

Granted

2

Float-Sink Apparatus

Asim Kumar Mukherjee,

252774

2012

 Granted

3

Float-Sink method and apparatus to determine beneficiation prospects of minerals.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

PCT/IN2010/000741

2010

Published

4

Float-Sink method and apparatus to determine beneficiation prospects of minerals.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

PCT/South Africa/03957

2012

Granted

5

Float-Sink method and apparatus to determine beneficiation prospects of minerals.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

PCT/USA/513732

2010

Granted

6

Float-Sink method and apparatus to determine beneficiation prospects of minerals.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

PCT/Australia/320476

2010

Granted

7

Float-Sink method and apparatus to determine beneficiation prospects of minerals.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

PCT/Canada/8005924

2010

Granted

8

High-Frequency Separator

Asim Kumar Mukherjee

277246

2016

Granted

9

A novel beneficiation process for enrichment of iron values from ultra-fine iron ore slimes

Prashant Dixit, Rachit Tiwary, Asim Kumar Mukherjee

299362

2018

Granted

10

Use of enhanced gravity separator to enrich iron values of steel slag (LD slag)

Dilip Makhija, Asim Kumar Mukherjee

311339

2019

Granted

11

An improved dewatering process for ultrafine iron ore slime of size less than 10 micron to achieve a moisture content in ultrafine iron ore slime cakes, to 20% (by weight)

Asim Kumar Mukherjee, Rajeev Ranjan Singh, Atul Bhatnagar

305269

2019

Granted

12

Float Sink Apparatus for Coal and Mineral

Asim Kumar Mukherjee and Dr. B.K. Mishra

311342

2019

Granted

13

A process for compositional analysis of iron ores.

Asim Kumar Mukherjee, Rajesh Mukherjee & Tamal Kanti Ghosh

322661

2019

Granted

14

Method of selective fragmentation of low-grade iron ores through phase transition

N. Gurulkshmi, Asim Kumar Mukherjee, Anshuman Parida

305258

2019

Granted

15

A beneficiation process for iron ore fines

Prashant Dixit, Dilip Makhija & Asim Kumar Mukherjee

305396

2019

Granted

16

A novel process for separating iron values of steel slag by reduction roasting-magnetic separation technique.

Dilip Makhija, Prashant Dixit & Asim Kumar Mukherjee

343977

2020

Granted

17

To develop a process to measure dewatering efficiency of reagents used for dewatering of slimes/tailings of mineral and to measure settling profile.

Anish Dubey, Abhay Shankar Patra & Asim Kumar Mukerjee

340241

2020

Granted

18

An Improved Fertilizer for Augmenting soil quality and corp productivity for light texture acidic soil

Prashant Dixit, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Dilip Makhija

352241

2020

Granted

19

A method to decrease the alumina content of iron ore fines of size less than 6mm through physico-chemical scrubbing.

Dilip Makhija, A S Patra, Ashish Sharma, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & B D Mohanty.

340351

2020

Granted

20

Synthesis and Flotation Analysis of Aliphatic and Aromatic Guanidine Collectors for Enhanced Iron ore-Gangue Separation

Pratap Bhaskar, Abhay Shankar Patra, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Jyotirmayee Dash

336588

2020

Granted

21

Soil amendment from waste of iron ore slime beneficiation

Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Pradip Kumar Banerjee

352209

2020

Granted

22.

A settleometer to measure settling rate and analyse settling profile during sedimentation or dewater.

Anish Dubey, Abhay Shankar Patra & A.K. Mukherjee,

367545

2021

Granted

23

Synthesis of novel collector for Oxidised coal flotation

Abhirup Basu, Prem Kumar Begari., Abhay Shankar Patra & Asim Kumar Mukherjee,

372971

2021

Granted

24

A process for preparing flotation reagents and application thereof.

Prem Kumar Begari, Abhay Shankar Patra, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Kushagra Garg.

359706

2021

Granted

25

Dewatering of coal slurry by pre-treatment with surfactant.

Md. Naveed Azad, Abhay Shankar Patra, Asim Kumar Mukherjee, Prem Kumar Begari, Sachinraj D.

363702

2021

Granted

26.

Beneficiation process for iron ore fines using novel reagents.

 N. Gurulakshmi, Asim Kumar Mukherjee, Pradip Kumar Banerjee.

382744

2021

Granted

27

A flotation reagent and methodology of preparing the same.

Arijit Das, Prem Kumar Begari & Asim Kumar Mukherjee,

376818

2021

Granted

28.

Reagents for Enhanced Iron ore-Gangue Separation in reverse flotation process.

 Abhay Shankar Patra, Prem Kumar Begari & Asim Kumar Mukherjee

415326

2022

Granted

29.

Synthesis of reagent based on ß-cyclodextrin for the beneficiation of low-quality iron ore by selective flocculation process

Abhay Shankar Patra, Sagar Pal, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Priyapratim Patra.

412157

2022

Granted

30.

Polyhedral Oligomeric Silsesquioxane (POSS) compounds and thereof.

Prem Kumar Begari, Prasad Kopparthi,& Asim Kumar Mukherjee

407729

2022

Granted

31.

Method for the recovery of low ash coal from high ash coal.

Sayed Janisar Anzoom, Abhirup Basu, Prem Kumar Begari & Asim Kumar Mukherjee.

399056

2022

Granted

32.

Synthesis of aliphatic guanidine collectors for enhanced iron ore-gangue separation.

Abhay Shankar Patra, Pratap Bhaskar, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Jyotirmoyee Dash.

402133

2022

Granted

33.

Beneficiation process ...liberation characteristics

N Gurulakshmi, John Samel Thella, Tamal Kanti Ghosh & Asim Kumar Mukherjee

389774

2022

Granted

34.

Iron ore slime beneficiation for fraction below 45 microns

Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Manindra Manna

404111

2022

Granted

35.

Phase transformation of Goethite rich iron ores for improved liberation and beneficiation

N Gurulakshmi, Asim Kumar Mukherjee & Pradip Kumar Banerjee

397649

2022

Granted

36.

Projects & Activities

Sponsored Research Projects (External Funded)

  1. Major achievements towards establishing Technology Leadership.

  • Developed technology to lower alumina and / or Phosphorus in the concentrate from low grade iron ore.
  • Develop process to lower clean coal ash with no / minimum drop in clean coal yield.
  • Improving plant throughput / efficiency.
  • Developing / adopting new equipment to fulfill above three points.
  • Enabling the team with new skillsets and capability.
  • Connecting the team with collaborating partners within and outside Tata Steel

2.    Selected Few Commercialised Projects * :

  1. Developed a new process on beneficiation of high alumina iron ore slime and established involve selective flocculation process. The process can lower alumina% from around 10 to 3 with process reject to contain less than 45% Fe. Implementation in progress.
  2. Developed Tata – JK Dense Media Cyclone from 1st Principal involving CFD studies. The commercial scale trial showed Ep value less than 0.02.
  3. A new generation external sparger was developed based on extensive CFD studies and commercialised in the column flotation plant at Bhelatand. Implemented
  4. a new reagent for iron ore scrubbing which helps in reduction in moisture content of the fine concentrate as well as in decreasing the alumina level in the fines. Implemented.
  5. Initiated development of physics-based model for unit operations using CFD and DEM in the group.
  6. Initiated quantum mechanics model to develop reagents for beneficiation and agglomeration processes.
  7. Developed process flowsheet for New Millennium Iron ore deposit at Canada and Sedibang iron ore deposit at South Africa. Presently, Tata Steel is operating in Canada mines.
  8. Part of team that commissioned Jig plant at Noamundi, the first of its kind in India.
  9. Increased plant throughput of dry beneficiation plant at Joda by 30% using Superabsorbent Polymer (SAP). Implemented at various site.
  10. Developed new iron ore flotation reagent through molecular modelling and reagent synthesis. The new reagent lowers alumina content in the product by 2%. The process established at pilot plant scale.
  11. Initiated high value collaboration with Chinese University (CUMT), US agency (Patterson & Cooke), OEMs and many IITs, CSIR labs and national institutes.
  12. Developed vendors working in Mineral processing domain.
  13. Developed iron ore beneficiation pilot plant, developed interface science lab, developed flowability lab, developed fluid flow modelling lab, developed Reagent synthesis lab, at R&D
  14. CAPEX scheme (of around Rs. 100 Cr) prepared for a continuous pilot scale beneficiation plant on coal & iron ore along with E&P.
  15. Implemented new flocculant for dewatering of coal washery tailings.
  16. Implemented new design feed well for thickener at West Bokaro Washer III.
  17. Implemented Oily bubble flotation to improve coarse clean coal recovery at West Bokaro washery.
  18. Implemented new design 3D screen panel for ultrafine dewatering at Noamundi wet processing plant.
  19. Implemented new design (self-cleaning) screen panel at Joda Dry beneficiation plant to improve plant throughput by 10% at high moisture feed.
  20. New design drive for screen panel at scalper of Joda Wet Processing plant. Implementation in progress.
  21. Implemented new design hydrocyclone to reduce cut size from 45 micron to 15 micron at Noamundi.
  22. Developed from 1st principal a new organic binder for pellet making and demonstrated the same at plant scale. Implementation in progress.
  23. Established Centre of Excellence (COE) at IIT(ISM) Dhanbad for Tata Steel Raw Materials technology development.

[* Benefit potential of implemented projects is between Rs 10 Cr to Rs 100 Cr/annum and are mostly recurring type. All these projects started at low TRL and implemented by our team with required support from operation]

Guidance

  • I was supervisor to four PhD students. Guided numerous projects to co-workers in the Industry.
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