Faculty Publications

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An empirical model for the estimation of moisture ratio during microwave drying of plaster of Paris
(2008) Ganesapillai, M.G.; Iyyaswami, I.; Murugesan, T.
The drying characteristics of plaster of Paris (POP) under microwave irradiation were studied for different shapes of materials through various drying parameters like microwave power, initial moisture content, and drying time. An empirical model for the estimation of moisture ratio was developed using the drying kinetic data of POP. Further, the experimental data on moisture ratio of POP for different operating conditions were fitted with the nine basic drying model equations. Based on the observations, the constants and coefficients of the literature models were rewritten in the form of Arrhenius and logarithmic expressions considering microwave power as input variable. Fifty-eight new model expressions were derived by changing the constants and coefficients and tested using the present experimental data. From the analysis of RMSE, ?2, and EF parameters for the derived models, a suitable empirical model (Model No. 55, RMSE = 0.0874; ?2 = 0.0020; EF = 0.9999) was established to represent the present experimental data on microwave drying of POP.
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.
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.
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.

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