Dr. Manpreet Singh joined Punjab Agricultural University as Assistant Research Engineer on 12 January, 2012. He is currently working as Scientist in Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India. He has received his Ph.D. in Processing and Food Engineering from Punjab Agricultural University, Punjab, India. His work is focused on biomass briquetting, pelletization and solar thermal applications like solar dryers in food processing. He has co-investigated one adhoc project and one CRP project (ICAR funded). He has led one ICAR project and was involved in four other ICAR projects. He has published 42 research papers in reputed national and international journals, 1 book and 2 book chapters and 16 extension articles. He has guided 3 M.Tech. and 1 Ph.D students. He also serves as a technical reviewer for several peer-reviewed journals.

Professional Accomplishments

Research Projects completed

• ICAR-AICRP (All India Coordinated Research Project on Energy in Agriculture and Agro-based Industries)
• Development of solar dryer with heat storage (as Co-PI)
• Development of a solar drying system for marigold flowers to extract seeds (as Co-PI)
• Survey of water-logged regions in South-west Punjab for the isolation of promising microalgae with biofuel potential (as Co-PI)
• Development and evaluation of microalgal cultivation system for enhanced algal biomass production (as Co-PI)
• ICAR-CRP (Consortia Research Platform on Energy from Agriculture)

• Energy efficient briquetting system for chopped paddy straw (as Co-PI)
• Long duration testing/evaluation of briquetting machine to study the wear and tear of fast moving components (as Co-PI)
• Adhoc project funded by Central Power Reaserch Institute (CPRI), GoI under National Mission on use of biomass in coal fired thermal power plants (Sub group-1)

• Research and development on biomass properties/characteristics (as Co-PI)

Research Publications

1. Singh M, Dogra R and Hans V S (2024). Techno‑economic evaluation of energy efficient briquetting system for rice straw and quality of briquettes. Biomass Convers Biorefin. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-024-05475-8

2. Borse S M, Singh M, Kaur P, Singh S and Zalpouri R (2024). Drying behavior and nutritional quality of bittergourd slices dried in a solar dryer with tray and skewer arrangement. Environ Prog Sustain Energy 2024: e14445. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.14445

3. Kumar C, Singh M, Zalpouri R and Kaur P (2023). An in-depth analysis of various technologies used for mushroom drying. Food Eng Rev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-023-09351-5

4. Zalpouri R, Singh M, Kaur P, Kaur A, Gaikwad K K and Singh A (2023). Drying kinetics, physicochemical and thermal analysis of onion puree dried using a refractance window dryer. Processes 11(3):700. https://doi.org/10.3390/pr11030700

5. Kaur S, Singh M, Zalpouri R and Kaur K (2023). Potential application of domestic solar dryers for coriander leaves: Drying kinetics, thermal efficiency, and quality assessment. Environ Prog Sustain Energy. https://doi.org/10.1002/ep.14092

6. Zalpouri R, Singh M, Kaur P and Singh S (2022). Refractance window drying – A revisit on energy consumption and quality of dried bio‑origin products. Food Eng Rev. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12393-022-09313-3

7. Kaur D, Singh M, Zalpouri R and Singh I (2022). Osmotic dehydration of fruits using unconventional natural sweeteners and non-thermal-assisted technologies: A review. J Food Process Preserv 2022:e16890. https://doi.org/10.1111/jfpp.16890

Awards and Recognition

Awarded prestigious CSIR research fellowship during his Ph.D. study.