Rameshprabu Ramaraj

Potential development of compressed bio-methane gas production from pig farms and elephant grass silage for transportation in Thailand

This research project evaluated biogas production using anaerobic co-digestion of pig manure and elephant grass silage in large scale to delivered transportation directly for cars. Anaerobic co-digestion was estimated in three full-scale continuously stirred tank reactors (CSTRs) at 40°C. In the form of compressed bio-methane gas (CBG) production was 14,400m(3)/day (CH4 60-70%) amount of CBG was 9600m(3)/day. The procedure was enhanced by using molecular sieve, activated carbon for removal of moisture and CO2 membrane H2S and CO2 respectively. The results were demonstrated the amount of CO2, H2S gas was reduced along with CH4 was improved up to 90% by volume and compressed to 250bar tank pressure gauge to the fuel for cars. The CBG production, methane gas improvement and performance were evaluated before entering the delivered systems according to the energy standards. The production of CBG is advantageous to strengthen the Thailand biogas market.

An exploration of the relationships between microalgae biomass growth and related environmental variables.

Algal community plays critical roles as the primary producer and as a major biotic component in the nutrient/energy cycle in aquatic ecosystems. The potential of fresh water algal biomass to mitigate global problems of food and energy and its significance as a carbon sink have been recognized. In this study, with a view to decreasing the cost of producing algal biomass for various purposes, the natural medium of unsupplemented freshwater was applied to mimic the real world to produce algal biomass. The relevant physicochemical variables in the improvised algal growth environment were analyzed and monitored, to investigate the algal growth mechanism. The simple regression analysis showed the applicability of the unsupplemented natural medium with sufficient natural nutrition for algal biomass production. The multiple linear analyses explained the complexity of the mimicked freshwater mixed-algal community in the laboratory. The laboratory results obtained in the present study also provide better insights that improve our understanding of the natural algal growth characteristics.

Biomass of algae growth on natural water medium.

Algae are the dominant primary producers in aquatic ecosystems. Since algae are highly varied group organisms, which have important functions in ecosystem, and their biomass is an essential biological resource. Currently, algae have been applied increasingly to diverse range of biomass applications. Therefore, this study was aimed to investigate the ecological algae features of microalgal production by natural medium, ecological function by lab scale of the symbiotic reactor which is imitated nature ecosystem, and atmospheric CO2 absorption that was related the algal growth of biomass to understand algae in natural water body better. Consequently, this study took advantages of using the unsupplemented freshwater natural medium to produce microalgae. Algal biomass by direct measurement of total suspended solids (TSS) and volatile suspended solids (VSS) resulted as 0.14g/L and 0.08g/L respectively. The biomass measurements of TSS and VSS are the sensible biomass index for algae production. The laboratory results obtained in the present study proved the production of algae by the natural water medium is potentially feasible.

Impact and significance of alkaline-oxidant pretreatment on the enzymatic digestibility of Sphenoclea zeylanica for bioethanol production

Gooseweed (Sphenoclea zeylanica Gaertn.) is a pest on the rice field that has a potential to be a promising substrate for bioethanol production. Dry powdered gooseweed was firstly pretreated with 1% NaOH, following 1% H2O2 at variety conditions. The hydrolysis process was set at 50°C for 24-72h with enzyme cellulase (β-glucosidase) while the fermentation process was carried using Saccharomyces cerevisiae TISTR 5020 at 33°C for nine days. The ethanol concentration was recorded for three, five, seven, and nine days using an ebulliometer. The results showed that the treatment with only 1% NaOH for 24h has the highest sugar performance. In regard with hydrolysis, the optimum retention time was at 24h. Lastly, the highest ethanol concentration was achieved at 11.84g/L after five days and a rapid decreasing after seven to nine days was also observed.