T. V. Ramachandra

Biosorption of chromium (VI) from aqueous solutions by the husk of Bengal gram (Cicer arientinum)

The potential to remove Cr (VI) from aqueous solutions through biosorption using the husk of Bengal gram (Cicer arientinum), was investigated in batch experiments. The results showed removal of 99.9% of chromium in the 10

Insights to urban dynamics through landscape spatial pattern analysis

mgl^{-1}

Bioremediation and lipid synthesis through mixotrophic algal consortia in municipal wastewater

chromium solution, the biomass required at saturation was 1 g

Environmental audit of Municipal Solid Waste Management

mg^{-1}

Present and prospective role of bioenergy in regional energy system

. Kinetic experiments revealed that the dilute chromium solutions reached equilibrium within 180 min. The biosorptive capacity of the (bgh) was dependent on the pH of the chromium solution, with pH 2 being optimal. The adsorption data fit well with the Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The adsorption capacity calculated from the Langmuir isotherm was 91.64 mg Cr (VI)/g at pH 2. The adsorption capacity increased with increase in agitation speed and an optimum was achieved at 120 rpm. The biosorption of Cr (VI) was studied by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), which suggested that the presence of Cr (VI)ions in the biomass affects the bands corresponding to hydroxyl and carboxyl groups. Comprehensive characterisation of parameters indicates bgh to be an excellent material for biosorption of Cr (VI) to treat wastewaters containing low concentration of the metal.

Domestic energy consumption patterns in Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka State, India.

Urbanisation is a dynamic complex phenomenon involving large scale changes in the land uses at local levels. Analyses of changes in land uses in urban environments provide a historical perspective of land use and give an opportunity to assess the spatial patterns, correlation, trends, rate and impacts of the change, which would help in better regional planning and good governance of the region. Main objective of this research is to quantify the urban dynamics using temporal remote sensing data with the help of well-established landscape metrics. Bangalore being one of the rapidly urbanising landscapes in India has been chosen for this investigation. Complex process of urban sprawl was modelled using spatio temporal analysis. Land use analyses show 584% growth in built-up area during the last four decades with the decline of vegetation by 66% and water bodies by 74%. Analyses of the temporal data reveals an increase in urban built up area of 342.83% (during 1973-1992), 129.56% (during 1992-1999), 106.7% (1999-2002), 114.51% (2002-2006) and 126.19% from 2006 to 2010. The Study area was divided into four zones and each zone is further divided into 17 concentric circles of 1 km incrementing radius to understand the patterns and extent of the urbanisation at local levels. The urban density gradient illustrates radial pattern of urbanisation for the period 1973-2010. Bangalore grew radially from 1973 to 2010 indicating that the urbanisation is intensifying from the central core and has reached the periphery of the Greater Bangalore. Shannons entropy, alpha and beta population densities were computed to understand the level of urbanisation at local levels. Shannons entropy values of recent time confirms dispersed haphazard urban growth in the city, particularly in the outskirts of the city. This also illustrates the extent of influence of drivers of urbanisation in various directions. Landscape metrics provided in depth knowledge about the sprawl. Principal component analysis helped in prioritizing the metrics for detailed analyses. The results clearly indicates that whole landscape is aggregating to a large patch in 2010 as compared to earlier years which was dominated by several small patches. The large scale conversion of small patches to large single patch can be seen from 2006 to 2010. In the year 2010 patches are maximally aggregated indicating that the city is becoming more compact and more urbanised in recent years. Bangalore was the most sought after destination for its climatic condition and the availability of various facilities (land availability, economy, political factors) compared to other cities. The growth into a single urban patch can be attributed to rapid urbanisation coupled with the industrialisation. Monitoring of growth through landscape metrics helps to maintain and manage the natural resources

Wind energy potential assessment in Uttara Kannada district of Karnataka, India

Algae grown in outdoor reactors (volume: 10 L and depth: 20 cm) were fed directly with filtered and sterilised municipal wastewater. The nutrient removal efficiencies were 86%, 90%, 89%, 70% and 76% for TOC, TN, NH4-N, TP and OP, respectively, and lipid content varied from 18% to 28.5% of dry algal biomass. Biomass productivity of ∼122 mg/l/d (surface productivity 24.4 g/m(2)/d) and lipid productivity of ∼32 mg/l/d were recorded. Gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analyses of the fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) showed a higher content of desirable fatty acids (bearing biofuel properties) with major contributions from saturates such as palmitic acid [C16:0; ∼40%] and stearic acid [C18:0; ∼34%], followed by unsaturates such as oleic acid [C18:1(9); ∼10%] and linoleic acid [C18:2(9,12); ∼5%]. The decomposition of algal biomass and reactor residues with an exothermic heat content of 123.4 J/g provides the scope for further energy derivation.

Micro-scale anaerobic digestion of point source components of organic fraction of municipal solid waste.

The management of municipal solid waste has become an acute problem due to enhanced economic activities and rapid urbanisation. Increased attention has been given by the government in recent years to handle this problem in a safe and hygienic manner. In this regard, Municipal Solid Waste Management (MSWM) environmental audit has been carried out for Bangalore city through the collection of secondary data from government agencies, and interviews with stakeholders and field surveys. Field surveys were carried out in seven wards (representative samples of the city) to understand the practice and identify the lacunae. The MSWM audit that was carried out functional-element-wise in selected wards to understand the efficacy and shortfalls, if any, is discussed in this paper.

Urban growth analysis using spatial and temporal data

Bioenergy is the energy released from the reaction of organic carbon material with oxygen. The organic material derived from plants and animals is also referred to as biomass. Biomass is a flexible feedstock capable of conversion into solid, liquid and gaseous fuels by chemical and biological processes. These intermediate biofuels (such as methane gas, ethanol, charcoal) can be substituted for fossil based fuels. Wood and charcoal are important as household fuels and for small scale industries such as brick making, cashew processing etc. The scarcity of biofuels has far reaching implications on the environment. Hence, expansion of bioenergy systems could be influential in bettering both the socio-economic condition and the environment of the region. This paper examines the present role of biomass in the regions (Uttara Kannada District, Karnataka State, India) energy supply and calculates the potential for future biomass provision and scope for conversion to both modern and traditional fuels. Based on the detailed investigation of biomass resource availability and demand, we can categorise the Uttara Kannada District into two zones (a) Biomass surplus zone consisting of Taluks mainly from hilly area (b) Biomass deficit zone, consisting of thickly populated coastal Taluks such as Bhatkal, Kumta, Ankola, Honnavar and Karwar. Fuel wood is mainly used for cooking and horticulture residues from coconut, arecanut trees are used for water heating purposes. Most of the households in this region still use traditional stoves where efficiency is less than 10%. The present inefficient fuel consumption could be brought down by the usage of fuel efficient stoves (a saving of the order of 27%). Availability of animal residues for biogas generation in Sirsi, Siddapur, Yellapur Taluks gives a viable alternative for cooking, lighting fuel and a useful fertiliser. However to support the present livestock population, fodder from agricultural residues is insufficient in these Taluks. There is a need to supplement the fodder availability with fodder crops as successfully tried in Banavasi village by some progressive farmers.

Assessment of treatment capabilities of Varthur Lake, Bangalore, India

Abstract Energy planning of any region should be based on existing levels of energy consumption. Sectorwise disaggregated information of energy usage is developed for the Uttara Kannada District to assist in the regional energy planning exercise. This paper provides comparative analyses of village level domestic energy consumption patterns across coastal, interior, hilly and plain zones considering regional and seasonal variations. Cooking, water heating and space heating are the major end use activities. The results, based on eighteen months of field research in five taluks of Uttara Kannada, reveal that the average energy consumption norm does vary significantly for cooking and water heating in various seasons across the zones. Among the five taluks, 90 villages (out of 119) and all divisions of Kumta town in the Kumta taluk and 190–220 randomly selected households in selected villages of Sirsi, Mundgod, Siddapur and Ankola were studied. A survey of 1304 households from 90 villages in the Kumta taluk shows that most of them still use traditional stoves for cooking (97.92%) and water heating (98.3%). Average consumption (kg/person/day) for cooking ranges from 2.01±1.49 (coastal) to 2.32±2.09 (hilly). Seasonwise cooking fuel wood requirement for coast and hilly zones, ranges from 1.98 and 2.22 (summer) to 2.11 and 2.51 (monsoon), respectively, while for water heating (for bath and washing), it ranges from 1.17±0.02 (coast) to 1.63±0.05 (hilly). Seasonal variation is evident from the range 1.12 and 1.53 (summer) to 1.22 and 1.73 (monsoon) for coastal and hilly zones, respectively. Analysis of other sources of energy for domestic purposes shows that kerosene is used for cooking and lighting in the coast. Kerosene consumption (l/person/month) for cooking ranges from 0.05 (hilly) to 0.34 (coast) and for lighting ranges from 0.75 (coast) to 0.99 (hilly). Availability of bioresources in hilly zone is the main reason for less consumption of kerosene for cooking. In the hilly zone, electrification of all households has not been possible, as they are scattered. Because of the erratic supply during all seasons (especially monsoon), electrified households also depend on kerosene for lighting. Based on fuel consumption norms (regionwise, seasonwise and end usewise), (a) the total fuel wood required (cooking, water heating, space heating, jaggery making and parboiling) works out to 1.668,698.23 tonnes/year, (b) the electricity demand, excluding irrigation, is about 32.65 million kWh/year and (c) the kerosene demand for cooking and water heating is about 15.86 million litres per year.