Dhanaraj Turunawarasu 
PhD Candidate

Dhanaraj Turunawarasu is a Chartered Chemical Engineer, certified by IChemE and a Professional Technologist certified by MBOT. He currently serves as a Senior Process & Flow Assurance Engineer at Pace CCS, specialising in Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS), while pursuing a part-time PhD in Novel Carbon Capture Technology at Swinburne University. Dhanaraj has a strong passion for research and development and was key in the creation of a novel process technology that recovers condensate from flare gas to reduce CO2 emissions and enhance offshore oil production during his tenure as Senior R&D/Process Engineer and Technology Inventor at NGLTech. He also developed a new process scheme/patent utilizing MEG (anti-freeze/hydrate inhibition agent). This innovation earned a New Technology Award at the OTC Asia 2018 conference and received high commendation for the Oil & Gas Award at the 2018 IChemE Global Awards in London. While working at PETRONAS, Dhanaraj had the opportunity to work internationally, including on Sudan Facilities Modifications and various global projects. Notably, he led flow assurance studies in Mauritania, resulting in RM1 million/day savings by addressing hydrate blockage issues and worked on asphaltene issues in Turkmenistan. Dhanaraj has published seven international papers across diverse fields such as phase behavior, carbon capture, process technology, flow assurance, waste management, and environmental protection. In 2016 and 2018, he was nominated and recognised by IChemE as one of the top four finalists for the Young Chemical Engineer in Industry Award in Malaysia. His career consistently demonstrates that with the good attitude and right nurturing, chemical engineers have limitless potential.