Directory / Faculty & Staff ¬

Dr. Ali Pourhashemi

Professor of Chemical Engineering, Department of Mechanical & Chemical Engineering
Dr. Ali Pourhashemi
Nolan Engineering Center 131
Mailbox #52
(901) 321-3401

Biography

Dr. Ali Pourhashemi is a professor in the Chemical and Biochemical Engineering department at Christian Brothers University. He is involved with teaching, research and supervising industrial internship programs. Dr. Pourhashemi’s primary teaching areas include process design, heat transfer, fluid mechanics, ChE thermodynamics, and the unit operations laboratory courses. He has authored several books and research publications in chemical engineering and related areas and has been involved with various packaging projects. He has a great passion for upgrading and developing new experiments for the undergraduate unit operations laboratory. His administrative experience includes serving as the department chair from 2011-2010.

Education

  • University of Maryland at College Park, PhD
  • Howard University, Wash. D.C., MS
  • Howard University, Wash. D.C., BS

Courses Taught

Publications and Research Focus

  •  

    Books:

    • Ali Pourhashemi, Ann A. Abraham, A. K. Haghi. New Advances in Materials Technologies- Experimental Characterizations, Theoretical Modeling, and Field Practices. Apple Academic Press, (2023)
    • Ali Pourhashemi, S. C. Deka and A. K. Haghi. Research Methods and Applications in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering. Apple Academic Press, (2019)
    • N. Guarrtxena (Editor), Ali Pourhashemi, E. Gennady, A.K. Haghi (reviewers and advisory
      Board). Research Methodology in Physics and Chemistry of Surfaces and Interfaces.
      Apple Academic Press, (2015).
    • Ali Pourhashemi, Engineering Materials: Applied Research and Evaluation Methods, Apple
      Academic Press, (2014).
    • A. K. Haghi, Sabu Thomas, Ali Pourhashemi, Abbas Hamrang, and Ewa , Klodzinska.
      Nanomaterials and Nanotechnology for Composites: Design, Simulation, and Applications,
      CRC Press, (2014).
    • Alfonso Jimenez and Ali Pourhashemi. Chemical Process in Liquid, and Solid Phase: Properties, Performance and Applications, CRC Press, (2014).
    • Ali Pourhashemi. Chemical and Biochemical Engineering: New Materials and Developed
      Components, Apple Academic Press, (2014).

    Journals (selected)

    • S. Malasri, A. Pourhashemi, R. Moats, A. Herve, J. Ferris, A. Ray, R. Brown (May 18, 2015).
    “Effect of temperature on Drinking Water Bottles.” International Journal of Advanced
    Packaging Technology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp 147-157
    • S. Malasri, P. Tiapradit, S. Russell, P. Poonpurmsiri, C. Tarkarnviroj, A. Pourhashemi, R.
    Moats, B. Hudson (2015). “Insulation Effectiveness of Rice Hull”, International Journal of
    Advanced Packaging Technology, 3(1), 158-168.
    • Ali Pourhashemi and Siripong Malasri (2014). “Softwood Pallet Stringer Temperature
    Estimation,” International Journal of Advanced Packaging Technology, 2(1), 96-104.
    • S. Malasri, J. Aflaki, A. Pourhashemi, R. Moats, M. Harvey, P. Aung, K. Godwin, W. Siow, R.
    Jordan, J. Laney, N. Sampson, L. Garcia, and R. Stevens, (January 2013). “Effect of Water
    Content on Compressive Strength and Impact Properties of New Softwood Pallets,”
    International Journal of Advanced Packaging Technology, Vol. 1, Issue 1, pp 1-10
    • Siripong Malasri, Mallory Harvey, Robert Moats, James Aflaki, Ali Pourhashemi, Griselda
    Matos Martinez, and Patrick Held (2013). “Effect of Wet-Dry Cycles on Compressive Strength
    and Impact Properties of New Softwood Pallets,” International Journal of Advanced
    Packaging Technology, 1(1), 15-21.
    • Siripong Malasri, Ali Pourhashemi, Ray Brown, Mallory Harvey, Robert Moats, Katie Godwin,
    Phyo Aung, and James Laney (2013). “Effect of Temperature on Static and Impact Properties
    f New Softwood Pallets,” International Journal of Advanced Packaging Technology, 1(1), 30-
    39.
    • Siripong Malasri, Ali Pourhashemi, Robert Moats, Mallory Harvey, Rebecca Wauford, David
    Guerrero, Patrick Held, Griselda Matos Martinez, Ebonee Malone, Christophere Nguyen,
    Matthew Ohlwein, Ike Griffith, and Frederique Worthy (2013). “Effect of Cushion Placed on
    Wooden Pallets,” International Journal of Advanced Packaging Technology, 1(1), 53-59.
    • S. Malasri, A. Pourhashemi, P. Aung, M. Harvey, and R. Moats, (November 2012). “Water
    Absorption of Wooden Pallets,” International Journal of Applied Science and Technology, Vol.
    2, No. 9, pp 1-10 (Refereed).

    Conferences & Proceedings (selected)

    • S. Malasri, D. Kodali, and A. Pourhashemi (2022). “Cardboard making using packaging laboratory equipment”, Cloud Publications-Proceedings of IESTOC Conference.
    •  S. Malasri, A. Pourhashemi, T. Podesta, K. Nicholson, T. Waddell, L. Rodriguez, M. Arnett, D. Duckworth, T. Ayesh, V. Fantaziu and B. Knighton (2021). “Performance Comparison of Gel and Ice Coolants for Cold Chain Packaging”, Cloud Publications Proceedings of the IESTOC 2021 Conference
    • A. Pourhashemi (2017). “Estimating the ChE seniors’ troubleshooting skills in process design course using the educational interactive computing models“, 2017-ASEE Summer School for the Chemical Engineering Faculty, North Carolina State University. R. Russell, C. Hare, D. Gurrerero, M. Johnson, J. Vazquez, T. Dickenson, S. Malasri, R. Moats, and A. Pourhashemi (2016). “Insulation Effectiveness of Coconut Fiber”, Proceedings of PACKCON 2016 Conference, pp 29-33.
    • R. Russell, S. Malasri, P. Poonpurmsiri, C. Tarkarnviroj, P. Tiapradit, A. Pourhashemi, R. Moats, B. Hudson (Sept. 2, 2015). “Insulation Effectiveness Comparison of Rice Hull, Coconut Fiber and Crumb Rubber”, Proceedings of PACKCON 2015 Conference, pp 4-7.
    • Siripong Malasri, Phyo T. Aung, Ali Pourhashemi, Robert Moats, and Thomas J. Sullivan (Oct28-29 2013). “Mold & Wooden Pallets: A Preliminary Study,” Proceedings of the MAESC 2013 Conference, Oxford, MS.
    • S. Malasri, A. Pourhashemi, R. Brown, M. Harvey, K. Godwin, P. Aung, J. Laney, and R. Moats, (November 2012). “Effect of High Temperature to Compressive Strength and Impact Acceleration of New Softwood Pallets,” Proceedings of the 2012 HPC, Fall Meeting, Memphis, TN.
    • Siripong Malasri, Ali Pourhashemi, Robert Moats, Mallory Harvey, and Phyo Aung, (May 1, 2012). “Water Absorption of Wooden Pallets: A Preliminary Study,” Proceedings of the MAESC 2012 Conference, Memphis, TN.
    • Madhavan, K. and Ali Pourhashemi (2012). Use of Case Studies in Design Courses in Engineering”, Mid-South Annual Engineering and Sciences Conference (MAESC).
    • Malasri, S., Pourhashemi, A., Aung, P., Harvey, M., and Moats, R., (2012). “Water Absorption of Wooden Pallets,” International Journal of Applied Science and Technology, Vol.2, No. 8, December, 2012.
    • Malasri, S., Pourhashemi, A., Brown, R., Harvey, M., Godwin, K., Aung, P., Laney, J., and Moats, R., (2012). “Effect of High Temperature to Compressive Strength and Impact Acceleration of New Softwood Pallets,” Proceedings of the 2012 HPC Fall Meeting, Memphis, TN, November 12, 2012.
    • Velasco, L., and Pourhashemi, A. (2011). “Energy Savings in a Thermal Oxidizer”, Mid-South Annual Engineering and Sciences Conference (MAESC)
    • Aflaki, J., and Pourhashemi, A. (2011). ” Strain Gage Based Densitometer”, Mid-South Annual Engineering and Sciences Conference (MAESC)
    • Cleaves, A., and Pourhashemi, A. (2011). “Soy Protein Isolate Production Increase”, Mid- South Annual Engineering and Sciences Conference (MAESC).

    Selected Supervised Industrial Internship Projects (local companies):

    Improvement of cooling tower and heat exchanger performance through reduction of bacterial fouling (Arkema, Memphis),
    • Heptane Recovery from A Multi-Step Process (PennAkem LLC),
    • Biodiesel Desulfurization Improvement Study: Splitting Sulfur in Biodiesel Products (Bioenergy Development Group),
    • Recycle of caustic filtrate for reuse at the Memphis Cellulose Mill (GP Cellulose LLC),
    • Process development and scale-up of a new creping adhesive (Buckman, Memphis),
    • Deodorization/Purification of 1,2- pentanediol using an artisan evaporator-stripper column (PennAkem LLC),
    • Comparison of rice hula media prepared by partial combustion for adsorption of metal ions (Glanris Inc.),
    • Reduction of variation of raw material usage in a fiberglass reinforced panel plant (Stabilit America Inc.),
    • Pilot study to optimize rotary kiln reactor for processing rice hulls to produce biochar (Glanris Inc.),
    • Optimization of white soap base manufacturing (Vanguard Soap),
    • Aluminum ion removal from concentrated sulfuric acid by two-step ion exchange (Jordan Aluminum co.),
    • WIP recovery and batch cycle time reduction for tolling process (PennAkem LLC),
    • The formulation of liquid Oxone product from mother liquor feedstock (Lanxess),
    • Increasing efficiency of Can production (BWAY co.)
    • Pilot plant air flow study and dust collection system design (Georgia-Pacific),
    • The optimization of industrial water system (BASF West Memphis),
    • Sphere tank spillback optimization (Valero Refinery),
    • Process understanding and improvement on dual salt production (GlaxoSmithKline),
    • Evaluation of diesel hydrotreating unit for processing of heavy cat naphtha (Valero Refinery),
    • Process understanding and improvement for Dual Salt production (GlaxoSmithKline),
    • Scale up of an HF Alkylation Depropanizer (Valero Refinery),
    • Validating Production of Mass Filling of Medical Device Gases (NexAir),
    • Energy savings in a thermal oxidizer (AOC Inc.),
    • Soy protein isolate production increase (Solae Company),
    • The Polymerization & Formation of Polyethylene Terephthalate (RING Container Technologies),
    • Dust containment control at GlaxoSmithKline (GSK Inc.),
    • Long term alternatives for phenol removal in refinery wastewater (Valero Refinery),
    • Condensate return for boiler feed water (Memphis BioFuel),
    • Optimization of fuel usage in lime kilns (Packaging Corporation of America; PCA),
    • Benzene removal from reformate (Valero Refinery),
    • Sewer neutralization cost reduction (Solae Company).

     

Service and Community Engagement

  • Member of the Grade Appeal committee
  • Served as a member of the faculty Review committee
  • Served as a member of the library committee,
  • Member of the Chemical Engineering department advisory board
  • Member of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE)