Faculty Publications
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Item Characterization and process optimization of microwave drying of plaster of Paris(2008) Ganesapillai, M.G.; Iyyaswami, I.; Murugesan, T.The changes in the characteristics of plaster of Paris (pop) during drying operation under microwave irradiation conditions, namely surface morphology, effective moisture diffusivity, and absorption of microwave, were studied. The drying characteristics and kinetics of the process during microwave drying of plaster were studied for rectangular-faced cuboids (80 × 70 × 15, L × B × H in mm) through various drying parameters like microwave power input, initial moisture content, and drying time. Further, the experimental data on moisture ratio of plaster for different operating conditions were obtained and the optimization of the microwave drying process parameters was performed with response surface methodology (RSM) by considering all the above-said independent variables. Based on the RSM analysis, the optimum values of the process variables were obtained as: initial moisture content (A) 60%; microwave power input (B) 180 W; and drying time (C) 480 S.Item Modelling, analysis and optimization of adsorption parameters for H3PO4 activated rubber wood sawdust using response surface methodology (RSM)(2009) Helen Kalavathy, M.H.; Iyyaswami, I.; Ganesapillai, M.G.; Miranda, L.R.Adsorption capacity of Cu2+ from aqueous solution onto H3PO4 activated carbon using rubber wood sawdust (RSAC) was investigated in a batch system. Kinetic and isotherm studies were carried out, the thermodynamic parameters like standard Gibb's free energy (?G°), enthalpy (?H°) and entropy (?S°) were evaluated. The pseudo-second-order model was found to explain the kinetics of Cu2+ adsorption most effectively. The process optimization was performed through Central Composite Rotary Design using response surface methodology (RSM) by Design Expert Version 5.0.7 (STAT-EASE Inc., Minneapolis, USA). An initial concentration of 35 mg L-1, temperature of 26 °C, carbon loading of 0.45 g (100 mL)-1, adsorption time 208 min and pH of 6.5 was found to be the optimum conditions for the maximum uptake of copper ions of 5.6 mg g-1 in batch mode. © 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Optimization and analysis of nickel adsorption on microwave irradiated rice husk using response surface methodology (RSM)(2009) Ganesapillai, M.G.; Iyyaswami, I.; Helen Kalavathy, M.H.; Murugesan, T.; Miranda, L.R.Background: The removal of heavy metals using adsorption techniques with low cost biosorbents is being extensively investigated. The improved adsorption is essentially due to the pores present in the adsorbent. One way of improving the porosity of the material is by irradiation of the precursor using microwaves. In the present study, the adsorption characteristics of nickel onto microwave-irradiated rice husks were studied and the process variables were optimized through response surface methodology (RSM). Result: The adsorption of nickel onto microwave-irradiated rice husk (MIRH) was found to be better than that of the raw rice husk (RRH). The kinetics of the adsorption of Ni(II) from aqueous solution onto MIRH was found to follow a pseudo-second-order model. Thermodynamic parameters such as standard Gibbs free energy (?G°), standard enthalpy (?H°), and standard entropy (?S°)were also evaluated. The thermodynamics of Ni(II) adsorption onto MIRH indicates that it is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. The response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the design parameters for the present process. Conclusion: Microwave-irradiated rice husk was found to be a suitable adsorbent for the removal of nickel(II) ions from aqueous solutions. The adsorption capacity of the rice husk was found to be 1.17 mg g-1. The optimized parameters for the current process were found as follows: adsorbent loading 2.8 g (100 mL)-1; Initial adsorbate concentration 6 mg L-1; adsorption time 210 min.; and adsorption temperature 35°C. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry.Item An optimization study on microwave irradiated, decomposition of phenol in the presence of H2O2(2009) Prasannakumar, B.R.; Iyyaswami, I.; Murugesan, T.Background: Removal of phenol from industrial waste waters involves basic techniques namely extraction, biodegradation, photocatalytic degradation, etc. Among the available processes, the oxidation of phenols using H2O2 is a suitable alternative because of low cost and high oxidizing power. The application of an oxidation process for the decomposition of stable organic compounds in waste water leads to the total degradation of the compounds rather than transferring from one form to another. Since oxidation using Fenton's reagent ismore dependent on pH, in this present work it was proposed to use H2O2 coupled with microwave irradiation. The effects of initial phenol concentration, microwave power and the irradiation time on the amount of decomposition were studied. Results: In the present work experiments were conducted to estimate the percentage degradation of phenol for different initial concentrations of phenol (100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 mg L-1), microwave power input (180, 360, 540, 720 and 900 W) for different irradiation times. The kinetics of the degradation process were examined through experimental data and the decomposition rate follows first-order kinetics. Response surface methodology (RSM) was employed to optimize the design parameters for the present process. The interaction effect between the variables and the effect of interaction on to the responses (percentage decomposition of phenol) of the process was analysed and discussed in detail. The optimum values for the design parameters of the process were evaluated (initial phenol concentration 300 mg L-1, microwave power output 668 W, and microwave irradiation time 60 s, giving phenol degradation 82.39%) through RSM by differential approximation, and were confirmed by experiment. Conclusion: The decomposition of phenol was carried out using H2O2 coupled with microwave irradiation for different initial phenol concentrations, microwave power input and irradiation times. The phenol degradation process follows first-order kinetics. Optimization of the process was carried out through RSM by forming a design matrix using CCD. The optimized conditions were validated using experiments. The information is of value for the scale up of the oxidation process for the removal of phenol from wastewater. © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry.Item Optimization of two step karanja biodiesel synthesis under microwave irradiation(2011) Venkatesh Kamath, H.; Iyyaswami, I.; Saidutta, M.B.The free fatty acid of crude karanja oil (Pongamia pinnata) was reduced and biodiesel was synthesized from pretreated oil under microwave irradiation. The process variables such as irradiation time, methanol-oil ratio and sulfuric acid concentration for pretreatment step; irradiation time, methanol-oil ratio and KOH concentration were optimized through the Box-Behnken experimental design. The free fatty acid of crude karanja oil was reduced to 1.11 ± 0.07% with an optimal combination of 190 s irradiation time (180 W), 33.83 (w/w)% methanol-oil ratio and 3.73 (w/w)% sulfuric acid concentration. An optimal combination of 150 s irradiation time, 33.4 (w/w)% methanol-oil ratio and 1.33 (w/w)% KOH concentration yielded 89.9 ± 0.3% biodiesel. The model was validated by conducting experiments at optimal design conditions. The present work confirmed that the microwave energy has a significant effect on esterification and transesterification reaction. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.Item Microwave-assisted batch and continuous transesterification of karanja oil: Process variables optimization and effectiveness of irradiation: Microwave-assisted transesterification of karanja oil(Springer Verlag service@springer.de, 2013) Iyyaswami, I.; Venkatesh Kamath, V.K.; Yarramreddy, S.R.; Malur Bharathaiyengar, S.The technological advancement in biodiesel production has been the focus area for last the few years and microwave-assisted biodiesel synthesis is one such promising new technology. In the present investigation, microwave irradiation was used to produce biodiesel from non-edible Karanja (Pongamia pinnata) oil in batch and continuous mode. Experiments were conducted to understand the effect of volume of the reaction mixture, irradiation time, and irradiation power on the yield of biodiesel. To increase the effectiveness of the microwave irradiation, biodiesel was synthesized in a continuous tubular reactor at two different holdup volumes. The effect of process parameters viz., irradiation time, irradiation power, and methanol to oil ratio were optimized using Box-Behnken experimental design. The effectiveness of microwave irradiation for the different process conditions have been represented through an effectiveness factor. The results reinforce the advantages of continuous processes over batch processes for the production of biodiesel. The properties of biodiesel, namely ester content, density, viscosity, acid value, and cetane index were analyzed and found to be within the limits as prescribed in ASTM D6751-09 standards. The experimental results that have been obtained in this study would be very useful in the scale-up of the microwave-assisted biodiesel process. © 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.