Prof. A.A.P. De Alwis

Professor of the Department

De Alwis, A.A.P. (Professor)
B.Sc. Eng. (Moratuwa), Ph.D.( Cambridge )
ajith@cheng.mrt.ac.lk

Ajith joined the department in 1985 and was the former Head of Department. His research areas are on triple bottom line approach for the Chemical & Process industry, integrated solid waste management, anaerobic digestion systems, ICT in solid and hazardous waste management and process industry developments in Sri Lanka .

Research Interests:

• Process Industry - Developing environmentally friendly technologies for Sri Lanka, Appropriate technologies etc.
• Energy Efficiency and Conservation techniques for Process Industries, Renewable Energy Systems
• Process modifications and optimisation techniques to maximize yields and resource usage.
• Solid Waste Management and Waste to Energy Systems
• Food processing systems

List of Publications:

Peer Reviewed Journal Publications

de Alwis, AAP; Halden, K and Fryer, PJ. ‘Shape and conductivity effects in the ohmic heating of foods', Chem.Eng.Res.Des., 67, 159-168, 1989. Mitchell, R and de Alwis, AAP ‘Electrical conductivity meter for food samples', J. Phys. E: Sci. Instrum., 22 , 554-556, 1989. Halden, K; de Alwis, AAP and Fryer, PJ ‘Changes in electrical conductivity of foods during ohmic heating', Int.J Fd.Sci. Technol., 25, 9-25, 1990. de Alwis, AAP and Fryer, PJ ‘The use of network theory in the finite element analysis of coupled thermo-electric fields', Commun.Appl.Num method, 6, 61- 66, 1990. de Alwis, AAP and Fryer, PJ ‘A finite element analysis of heat generation and transfer during ohmic heating of food', 45, 6, 1547-1559, Chem.Eng.Sci. 1990. de Alwis AAP and Fryer PJ ‘The use of direct resistance heating techniques in the food industry', 11, 1, 3-27, J.Food.Eng. 1990. de Alwis AAP and Fryer PJ. ‘Operability of the ohmic heating process: Electrical conductivity effects', 15, 1, 21-48,J. Food Eng. 1992. Fryer, PJ, de Alwis AAP, Koury, E, Stapeley AGF and Zhang Li, ‘Ohmic heating of solid -liquid foods: Heat generation and convection effects', 18, 101-125, J of Food Eng., 1992. Liu S., Pain J-P, Proctor J, de Alwis AAP and Fryer PJ, ‘An experimental study of particle flow velocities in solid-liquid food mixtures’, Chemical Engineering Communications, Vol. 124, 97-114, 1993. Samaranayake CP, Bamunuarachchi A, and de Alwis AAP, Peroxide formation in Ohmic heating of meats, Ceylon Journal of Physical Sciences, 3(1), 30-35, 1996.  Edirisinghe EMRKB, Bamunuarachchi A. and de Alwis AAP, Study of some physical changes in selected foods during ohmic heating’, Ceylon Journal of Sciences: Physical Sciences 4(1), 61-72, 1997.  Jayawardhana LC, Manipura A, Ranasinghe M, Pilapitiya S., de Alwis AAP and Abeygunawardena I, Development of an Expert system for better management of solid waste composting for pradeshiya sabhas in Sri Lanka, Engineer Transactions 2001, 138-146, 2001 de Alwis AAP, Biogas – A review of Sri Lanka’s performance with a renewable energy technology, Energy for Sustainable Development, 6(1), 30-37, 2002.  Jayawardhana LC, Manipura A, Ranasinghe M, Pilapitiya S., de Alwis AAP and Abeygunawardena I, BESTCOMP: Expert system for Sri Lankan solid waste composting, J of Expert Systems with Applications, Elsevier (in press) * This paper won the 1989 IChemE Moulton Medal for the Best Paper published in their Transactions for the year, by the Institution of Chemical Engineers, UK.

Book Chapters and Monographs:

de Alwis AAP, Zhang LI and Fryer PJ ‘Modelling sterilisation and quality in the ohmic heating process', Advances in Aseptic Processing Technologies, Singh RK and Nelson, PE (Eds.), Elsevier Applied Sci Pub. Chap.5, 1992. Niranjan K and de Alwis AAP, ‘Agitation and Agitator design - Principles and Practice', in the Encyclopedia of Food Science, Food Technology and Nutrition, Vol. 1, Macrae R., Robinson RK and Sadler M (Eds) London: Academic Press, pp 72-80, 1993. de Alwis AAP (1997), Water Pollution Control, Harmonising Environment and Development in South Asia Wijayadasa KHJ (Ed.), Publication of SACEP/UNEP/NORAD. de Alwis AAP, Solid Waste Management in Sri Lanka: A Country Perspective in Solid Waste Management, Grover VI, Guha BK, Hogland W, McRae SG (eds), Oxford & IBH Publishing Co. Pvt Ltd. pp 203-233, 2000. de Alwis AAP, Study on the potential of Biogas in Sri Lanka, Renewable energy options – study 2, ITDG-South Asia publication, 2001. de Alwis AAP (2002), Industrial Biomethanation Practices for decentralised energy from waste: Options for Sri Lanka in Recovering Energy from Waste Various Aspects, Grover V, Grover VK, Hogland W (eds), Science Publishers Inc (USA) pp 151-16.

Peer Reviewed Conference Proceedings:

de Alwis, AAP and Fryer, PJ ?Preliminary experiments on heat transfer during the ohmic heating of foods' in Procs. of the 2nd UK Nat.Heat.Transf.Conf., Vol I, IMechE, 229-239, 1988. de Alwis, AAP and Fryer PJ ?Mathematical modelling of the ohmic heating process' in Engineering Innovation in the Food Industry; its role in Quality Assurance, (Eds) RB Field and JA Howell, Elsevier, 45-58, 1990. de Alwis AAP and Zaror CA ?Modelling Spray Evaporation using Equation Oriented Process Simulators', Food Engineering in a Computer Climate,  (30 March - 1 April 1992, Cambridge, UK) de Alwis AAP, Varley J and Niranjan K ?Simulation of Thermal Food Processing Operations (Blanching and Canning)', Food Engineering in a Computer Climate, (30 March - 1 April 1992, Cambridge, UK) Calcavecchcia B, de Alwis AAP and Niranjan K ?Freeze Drying of Food and Agricultural Materials - Experimental and Simulation studies', B. Calcavecchcia, AAP de Alwis and K Niranjan, Ag Eng.'92, Uppsala, 1-5 June, 1992.  Edirisinghe EMRKB, Samaranayake CP, Bamunuarachchi A, Walpala, S, and de Alwis AAP (1997), Nutrient retention in ohmic processing, Procs of Seventh International Congress on Engineering and Food, Brighton, UK, 13-17 April, 1997. Wijayapala S, de Silva NGH and de Alwis AAP (1998), Positive environmental management via waste minimization in a textile washing facility, Procs. of the Annual Symposium Research for Industry 1998, November UoM, pp157-167. de Alwis AAP (2001), Biogas! A Natural energy choice for both rural and urban environments, in Renewable Energy Technologies: Applications to Industries and Agriculture, Palaniappan C.; Kolar A.K. and Haridasan TM (Eds.) pp 252-260.

Membership in Professional Bodies:

Editorial Committte - “Chemunique” The official journal of the Chemical Engineering Society. Member of the International Editorial Board: IChemE (UK) Transactions C Food and Bioproducts Processing Journal Editor – ERU News – Newsletter of the Engineering Research Unit, Faculty of Engineering, University of Moratuwa (1998-2000)