Indumathi M. Nambi

Hexavalent chromium reduction and energy recovery by using dual-chambered microbial fuel cell

Microbial fuel cell (MFC) technology is utilized to treat hexavalent chromium (Cr(VI)) from wastewater and to generate electricity simultaneously. The Cr(VI) is bioelectrochemically reduced to non-toxic Cr(III) form in the presence of an organic electron donor in a dual-chambered MFC. The Cr(VI) as catholyte and artificial wastewater inoculated with anaerobic sludge as anolyte, Cr(VI) at 100 mg/L was completely removed within 48 h (initial pH value 2.0). The total amount of Cr recovered was 99.87% by the precipitation of Cr(III) on the surface of the cathode. In addition to that 78.4% of total organic carbon reduction was achieved at the anode chamber within 13 days of operation. Furthermore, the maximum power density of 767.01 mW/m² (2.08 mA/m²) was achieved by MFCs at ambient conditions. The present work has successfully demonstrated the feasibility of using MFCs for simultaneous energy production from wastewater and reduction of toxic Cr(VI) to non-toxic Cr(III).

Effect of biosurfactants on the aqueous solubility of PCE and TCE

The effect of biosurfactants on the solubility of tetrachloroethylene (PCE) and trichloroethylene (TCE) was studied in batch experiments pertaining to their use for solubilization and mobilization of such contaminants in surfactant enhanced aquifer remediation. Biosurfactants, rhamnolipid and surfactin used in solubility studies were synthesized in our laboratory by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 2297) and Bacillus subtilis (MTCC 2423), respectively. The efficiency of the biosurfactants in solubilizing the chlorinated solvents was compared to that of synthetic surfactants. The Weight Solubilization Ratio (WSR) values for solubilization of PCE and TCE by biosurfactants were very high compared to the values obtained for synthetic surfactants. Surfactin proved to be a better surfactant over rhamnolipid. The WSR of surfactin on solubilization of PCE and TCE were 3.83 and 12.5, respectively, whereas the values obtained for rhamnolipid were 2.06 and 8.36. The solubility of the chlorinated solvents by biosurfactants was considerably affected by the changes in pH. The aqueous solubility of PCE and TCE increased tremendously with decrease in pH. The solubility of biosurfactants was observed to decrease with the pH, favoring partitioning of surfactants into the chlorinated solvents in significant amounts at lower pH. The excessive accumulation of biosurfactants at the interface facilitated interfacial tension reductions resulting in higher solubility of the chlorinated solvents at pH less than 7.

Toward a Comprehensive Strategy to Mitigate Dissemination of Environmental Sources of Antibiotic Resistance

Antibiotic resistance is a pervasive global health threat. To combat the spread of resistance, it is necessary to consider all possible sources and understand the pathways and mechanisms by which resistance disseminates. Best management practices are urgently needed to provide barriers to the spread of resistance and maximize the lifespan of antibiotics as a precious resource. Herein we advise upon the need for coordinated national and international strategies, highlighting three essential components: (1) Monitoring, (2) Risk Assessment, and (3) Mitigation of antibiotic resistance. Central to all three components is What exactly to monitor, assess, and mitigate? We address this question within an environmental framework, drawing from fundamental microbial ecological processes driving the spread of resistance.

Liquid crystal polaroid glass electrode from e-waste for synchronized removal/recovery of Cr(+6) from wastewater by microbial fuel cell.

This study demonstrates the use of Liquid Crystal coated Polaroid Glass Electrode (LCPGE) material collected from disposed liquid-crystal display (LCD) computer monitor as electrodes in microbial fuel cell (MFC) for the simultaneous reduction/recovery of Cr(+6) from chromium wastewater. Fourier transform infrared spectrum (FT-IR) confirms the presence of NH2, CN, CO and OC and/or COC functional groups in LCPGE. An excellent electrochemical performance with distinct redox peaks were observed in cyclic voltammetry test (100 mV/s). The maximum current density of 110 mA/m(2) (10 mW/m(2)) was achieved by operating MFC in batch mode. At the cathode LCPGE (10.5 cm(2)) interface, toxic Cr(+6) ions readily accepted electrons and formed nontoxic Cr2O3 as confirmed by FT-IR and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analysis. Moreover, electrochemical impedance analysis shows that bacteria were readily attached to the surface of LCPGE (10.5 cm(2)) within 24 h in a Bioelectrochemical System (BES).

Partial Characterization of Biosurfactant Produced under Anaerobic Conditions by Pseudomonas sp ANBIOSURF-1

In-situ applications such as Microbial Enhanced Oil Recovery (MEOR) and remediation of contaminated sites demand production of biosurfactants in large quantities under oxygen limiting conditions. Few microorganisms have been isolated so far which can cater such need. In this paper, the characteristics of a biosurfactant produced under complete anaerobic conditions are presented. A novel biosurfactant producing microorganism, Pseudomonas sp ANBIOSURF-1 was isolated in our laboratory, from a microbial consortium enriched from municipal sewage sludge. The microorganism utilized vegetable oils and produced biosurfactant under complete anaerobic conditions. TLC tests revealed the presence of sugar and lipid as hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties respectively. The biosurfactant synthesized under anaerobic condition thus belonged to class of glycolipids similar to that of rhamnolipids. The biosurfactant had a very low CMC value of 52 mg/l. The biosurfactant displayed good emulsifying activity over chlorinated solvents than the petroleum derivatives. The results suggest that Pseudomonas sp ANBIOSURF-1 could potentially be used for remediation of sites contaminated with chlorinated solvents through in-situ biosurfactant production.

Numerical Modeling on the Effect of Dissolved Oxygen on Nitrogen Transformation and Transport in Unsaturated Porous System

Nitrogen pollution in groundwater resulting from wastewater application to land is a common problem, and it causes a major threat to groundwater-based drinking water supplies. In this study, a numerical model is developed to study the nitrogen species transport and transformation in unsaturated porous media. Further, a new mass transfer module for dissolved oxygen (DO) is incorporated in the one-dimensional numerical model for nitrogen species transport to describe the fate and transport of nitrogen species, dissolved oxygen, dissolved organic carbon (DOC), and biomass. The spatial and temporal variation of dissolved oxygen is incorporated in the model through the mass transfer from gaseous phase to water phase in an unsaturated porous system. The numerical results of the water flow model and single species and multispecies transport model in an unsaturated zone developed for this purpose have been validated with the available analytical/numerical solution. The developed model is applied in clay loam, silt, and sand soils to analyze the transport behavior of nitrogen species under unsaturated condition. The numerical results suggest that the high rate of oxygen mass transfer from the air phase to the water phase positively increases the dissolved oxygen in the applied wastewater and enhances the nitrification process. Because of this high oxygen mass transfer, the nitrate nitrogen concentration significantly increases in the unsaturated zone and the same is transported to a larger depth at higher simulation period. On the other hand, the low rate of oxygen mass transfer implicitly enhances the denitrification process and finally reduces the nitrate nitrogen concentration in the unsaturated zone. The numerical results also show that the nitrate nitrogen transport is rapid in sandy soil when compared with clay loam and silty soils under high oxygen mass transfer rate. In essence, the high oxygen mass transfer rate significantly increases the nitrate nitrogen in the unsaturated zone, especially at a greater depth at larger time levels and eventually affects the groundwater quality.

Migration and entrapment of mercury in porous media.

Elemental mercury is an immiscible liquid with high density and high interfacial tension with water. Its movement in the saturated subsurface region is therefore considered as a case of two phase flow involving mercury and water and is expected to be governed by gravity, viscous, hydrodynamic and capillary forces. This paper investigates the migration and capillary entrapment of mercury in the subsurface based on controlled laboratory capillary pressure-saturation experiments. In the first place, entrapment of mercury was observed in homogeneous porous media. Residual mercury saturation and van Genuchtens parameters for mercury entrapment were generated. These data will provide vital inputs for mercury migration and entrapment models. Secondly, the dependency of residual saturation on fluid properties was brought out in this work by comparing the experimental results of mercury-water system and DNAPL-water systems. Capillary forces were large enough in mercury-water systems to counteract the high gravity forces and caused the entrapment of mercury. Large density differences between mercury and water lead to a high Bond number and thus a low residual mercury saturation was obtained which corroborates with existing DNAPL theories. However, the inverse relationship between residual saturation and capillary number established for NAPL-water systems cannot be compared with mercury-water systems. Moreover, the critical capillary numbers and Bond numbers to mobilize DNAPLs may not be applicable to mercury since mercury has a low capillary number and high Bond number. This work has enabled the understanding of the process of migration and entrapment of mercury and provided useful inputs for two phase flow models specific to mercury-water systems. It has also highlighted the influence of fluid properties on entrapment and mobilization particularly for highly dense, viscous fluid which also possesses high interfacial tension with water.

Numerical study on kinetic/equilibrium behaviour of dissolution of toluene under variable subsurface conditions

Estimating the extent of kinetic/equilibrium behaviour of dissolution is essential for selecting remediation strategy for highly soluble aromatic constituents of petroleum present in the subsurface. Present study aims at numerically simulating dissolution and transport of toluene under the effect of sorption and biodegradation to understand their synergistic influence during the tailing phase. Subsurface conditions influencing mass transfer such as porous media properties, flow velocity and volumetric residual saturation of toluene entrapped in the pore space are varied and their impacts are assessed. The numerical results in terms of dimensionless numbers suggest that influence of soil grain size and porosity are most significant in calculating the extent of mass transfer limitation. Increases in the volumetric residual saturation results in prolonged near-equilibrium condition for dissolution especially for fine-grained porous media. Tailing is found to be prolonged for sand with low saturations and high flow velocities indicating the importance of mass transfer limitation for the estimation of total clean-up time.

Human health risk assessment of ground water contaminated with petroleum PAHs using Monte Carlo simulations: A case study of an Indian metropolitan city

Underground pipelines are frequently used to transport petroleum fuels, through industrial as well as residential zones. Chennai is one of the four largest metropolitan cities of India. The region of interest in this study is located in the northern part of the Chennai. Ground water of this area was contaminated with polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from the leaking oil storage tanks and pipe lines. Health risk assessment was conducted for exposure to PAHs in the ground water using incremental life time cancer risk (ILCR) models coupled with benzo[a]pyrene toxic equivalent method. The exposure pathways considered in this study were direct water ingestion and dermal contact under residential scenario. Exposure input parameters were transformed to statistical parameters using lognormal/uniform distributions and resultant probabilities of cancer risk were estimated by performing Monte Carlo simulations. Preliminary remediation goals were predicted using the combination of the cancer risk models of all the exposure routes with the consideration of high-safety risk of 1-in-1 million. Results showed that the cancer risk is predominantly contributed (greater than 98%) by dermal exposure than the oral in both adults and children. The total ILCR is found to be greater than a low safety risk of 1-in-10,000 with higher probability percentages (>90%). The 95th percentile values of the risk were presented in order to address the need for remediation. Appropriate remedial and treatment methods for the subject site were proposed. The results of the study will be useful for the regulatory boards and policy makers in India in understanding the actual impact of the contamination on receptors, setting up final remediation goals and deciding on a specific remedial method.

Heterocyclic aminopyrazine–reduced graphene oxide coated carbon cloth electrode as an active bio-electrocatalyst for extracellular electron transfer in microbial fuel cells

In the present study, a low molecular heterocyclic aminopyrazine (Apy)–reduced graphene oxide (r-GO) hybrid coated carbon cloth (r-GO–Apy–CC) was employed as an active and stable bio-electro catalyst in a microbial fuel cell (MFC). The presence of imine (–NH–) and pyridinic (–NC–) functional groups on the r-GO–Apy–CC electrode plays a critical role in the formation of bacterial colonization and enhanced extracellular electron transfer (EET) over a considerable period. The bacterial colonization over the r-GO–Apy–CC electrode was investigated in a Sacrificial Electrode Mode Reactor (SEMR) in which attached bacterial density with extracellular polysaccharides was monitored over a period. Simultaneously, cyclic voltammetry (CV) was performed in a bioelectrochemical system (BES) reactor, resulting in an increased current density–voltage response from 0.27 mA cm−2 to 1.84 mA cm−2 over a period of time. In addition, when r-GO–Apy–CC was employed as an anode in MFC, the power density was nearly two times (1253 mW m−2) than that of the MFC employed with plain carbon cloth (PCC) (663.7 mW m−2) at a steady state condition. It was proposed that the combined effect of Apy hybridized with nanostructured r-GO provides a large surface area for bacterial colonization. Moreover, the high bioelectrocatalytic activity was attributed to the low molecular nature of the Apy, which incorporated well into the EET pathway of the exoelectrogens by a redox mechanism.