T. Swaminathan

Heavy metal removal by biosorption using Phanerochaete chrysosporium

Biosorption using microbial cells as adsorbents is being seen as a cost-effective method for the removal of heavy metals from wastewaters. Biosorption studies with Phanerochaete chrysosporium were performed for copper (II), lead (II), and cadmium (II) to evaluate the effectiveness and to optimize the operational parameters using response surface methodology. The operational parameters chosen were initial metal ion concentration, pH, and biosorbent dosage. Using this method, the metal removal could be correlated to the operational parameters, and their values were optimized. The results showed fairly high adsorptive capacities for all the metals within the settings of the operational parameters. The removal efficiencies followed the order Pb>Cu>Cd. As a general trend, metal removal efficiency decreased as the initial metal ion concentration increased, and the results fitted the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherms well.

Biodegradation of ethanol vapour in a biofilter

Abstract Biofiltration is a cost effective air pollution control technology for volatile organic compounds. Biofiltration of ethanol vapour from air stream was evaluated in this study. Experimental investigations were conducted on a laboratory scale biofilter, containing mixture of compost and polystyrene inert particles as the filter materials. Mixed consortium of activated sludge was used as a inoculum. The continuous performance of biofilter for ethanol removal was monitored for different concentrations and flow rates. The removal efficiencies decreased at higher concentrations and higher gas flow rates. A maximum elimination capacity of 195 g m−3 h−1 was achieved. The response of biofilter to shut down and restart-up operation showed that the biofilm has got a good stability.

CFD analysis of dense gas dispersion in indoor environment for risk assessment and risk mitigation

Environmental risks are inherent in the operation of any complex chemical process industry. The indoor release of hazardous chemicals that are denser than air is a topic of special concern, since dense clouds tend to persist at ground level or human breath level which leads to a magnification of their harmful potential. In the present work, we propose a computational fluid dynamics (CFD) based model for indoor risk assessment considering accidental release of a sustained, small, undetected leak of a dense toxic gas (chlorine) in an industrial indoor environment. Results from simulations show that the denser chlorine gas spreads like a liquid and flows all along the floor. At the same time, its concentration at a point away from the ground level increases slowly, thus showing that both stratification and dilution effects are present as the dense gas spreads. The implications of this spreading pattern from a risk assessment and risk mitigation point of view are discussed.

Lactic acid fermentation in cell-recycle membrane bioreactor

Traditional lactic acid fermentation suffers from low productivity and low product purity. Cell-recycle fermentation has become one of the methods to obtain high cell density, which results in higher productivity. Lactic acid fermentation was investigated in a cell-recycle membrane bioreactor at higher substrate concentrations of 100 and 120 g/dm3. A maximum cell density of 145 g/dm3 and a maximum productivity of 34 g/(dm3…h) were achieved in cell-recycle fermentation. In spite of complete consumption of substrate, there was a continuous increase in cell density in cell-recycle fermentation. Control of cell density in cell-recycle fermentation was attempted by cell bleeding and reduction in yeast extract concentration.

Continuous Biosorption of Pb, Cu, and Cd by Phanerochaete chrysosporium in a Packed Column Reactor

The dynamic removal of lead, copper and cadmium in a single component system by Phanerochaete chrysosporium was studied in packed columns. The packed columns consisted of biomass of P. chrysosporium immobilized on polyurethane foam cubes. The performances of packed columns were described through the concept of breakthrough and the values of column parameters predicted as a function of bed depth. The column biosorption data were evaluated in terms of maximum (equilibrium) capacity of the column, the amount of metal loading and the yield of the process. The maximum capacities for lead, copper and cadmium were 70.7, 43.7 and 70.8 mg, respectively, and their yields were 39.2, 40.6 and 41%, respectively. The kinetic and mass transfer aspects of the dynamic removal of the three metals were studied using three mathematical models commonly used to describe the column performance in adsorption processes. Column studies showed good agreement between the experimental data and the simulated breakthrough curves obtained with Adams-Bohart or the Wolborska model and the Clark model. While the initial segment of the breakthrough curve was defined by the Adams-Bohart and Wolborska models, the whole breakthrough curve was well predicted by the Clark model for all the three metals studied.

Recycled Polyolefin-Based Plastic Wastes for Sound Absorption

Recycling of high-volume polyolefin-based packaging wastes in India is challenging, as they have low recycle value, high levels of contamination, and lack of direct processing methods. This work discusses a two-stage mechanical processing method for recycling the polyolefin-based plastic wastes that are not conventionally recycled. With the objective of improving specific properties like sound absorption and noise reduction, inhomogeneities were introduced in the recycled product. This was achieved by mixing polyolefin-based packaging wastes with other waste materials such as plastic-coated aluminium foils, expanded polystyrene, and coir pith in varying quantities. More than 30 times volume reduction was achieved by a two-stage compression molding process. The sound absorption properties of the recycled materials are found to be comparable to expanded polystyrene and glass wool when small quantities (2–3 wt%) of materials like expanded polystyrene waste and coir pith were added. Impact strength of the recycled material decreased with increasing amounts of secondary additives like metal foils. Flexural strength of the recycled material was found to be maximum at about 30 wt% of metal foils. The end product could find applications in the construction industry due to the sound-absorption properties and the mechanical strength.

Chlorpyrifos and Endosulfan degradation studies in an annular slurry photo reactor

TiO2 is one of those compounds which are highly used in photocatalytic degradation of substrates using UV radiation. The substrates are degraded oxidatively and hence finds an important position in advanced oxidation for water/wastewater treatment processes. The thrust of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Heterogeneous Photocatalysis (HP) technique, for the removal of pesticides from water/wastewater. The photo-catalytic degradation of two pesticides, widely used in India, viz., Endosulfan (ES) and Chlorpyriphos (CPS) was studied in an annular slurry photo reactor under UVillumination at 254nm. Results revealed that the degradation rate is significantly affected by the initial pesticide concentration, pH of the solution and catalyst concentration. Batch degradation studies on Endosulphan and Chlorpyrifos were conducted in the concentration range from 5 to 25mg/L at a pH ranging from 3.5 to 10.5 and at a catalyst loading of 0.5-2g/L. Endosulphan removal efficiency was about 80-99% and chlorpyrifos removal efficiency was about 84-94%. L-H rate constants were determined using L-H kinetics. High removal efficiencies obtained (80-99%) indicate the effectiveness of this process and its potential for practical application.

Substrate Versatility Studies on the Aerobic Degradation of BTX Compounds

Biodegradation studies were carried out in aerobic batch systems using Benzene, Toluene and Xylene (BTX) as the sole carbon source to evaluate the versatility of a bacterial consortium taken from a domestic sewage treatment plant. This mixed microbial culture was acclimatized using individual BTX compounds and the potential capability of microbes precultured on a single substrate to degrade other compounds was studied over a wide range of BTX concentrations (∼50-500mg/L). The biodegradation pattern and growth rates ascertained experimentally in these versatility studies were compared with results obtained from individual degradation experiments studied earlier. Similar growth pattern was observed for all the substrate with inhibition occurring at higher concentrations (∼200 mg/L for Benzene and Xylene, ∼250mg/L for Toluene). Toluene was degraded more than the other substrates followed by benzene and xylene. Adaptation to a more toxic compound like benzene and xylene improved the utilization of toluene. On the other hand microbes grown on a less toxic compound (toluene), grew at a lower rate in the presence of more toxic compounds. Kinetic parameters such as μmax, KI and KS were determined using the Haldane’s and Levenspiel’s substrate inhibition models. Results from Haldane’s model were more illustrative of the experimental observations and were found to satisfactorily explain the system behavior.