Faculty Publications
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Item Artificial neural network based modeling to evaluate methane yield from biogas in a laboratory-scale anaerobic bioreactor(Elsevier Ltd, 2016) Nair, V.V.; Dhar, H.; Kumar, S.; Thalla, A.K.; Mukherjee, S.; Wong, J.W.C.The performance of a laboratory-scale anaerobic bioreactor was investigated in the present study to determine methane (CH4) content in biogas yield from digestion of organic fraction of municipal solid waste (OFMSW). OFMSW consists of food waste, vegetable waste and yard trimming. An organic loading between 40 and 120 kg VS/m3 was applied in different runs of the bioreactor. The study was aimed to focus on the effects of various factors, such as pH, moisture content (MC), total volatile solids (TVS), volatile fatty acids (VFAs), and CH4 fraction on biogas production. OFMSW witnessed high CH4 yield as 346.65 L CH4/kg VS added. A target of 60–70% of CH4 fraction in biogas was set as an optimized condition. The experimental results were statistically optimized by application of ANN model using free forward back propagation in MATLAB environment. © 2016 Elsevier LtdItem Sensitivity Study of Nanocrystalline Fe3BO6 Sensor for Methane Gas Detection(Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Inc., 2018) Kumari, K.; Ram, S.The iron borate Fe3BO6 with functionalized properties in a nanostructure is an important material useful for electrodes, gas sensors, and biological probes. In this paper, we studied the X-ray diffraction pattern, field-emission electron microscopy, and methane (CH4) gas sensing properties of synthesized Fe3BO6 nanocrystallites in a shape of nanoplates and nanobars from an iron borate glass 40Fe2O3-60B2O3 by annealing it in microwave for 15 min at 823 and 1023 K, respectively, in air. The temperature dependent sensitivity for CH4 (1000 ppm) illustrates a maximum value of 43% at an operating temperature 525 K for the 1023 K annealed sample. The sensitivity is found to be varied from 9% to 39% when the CH4 gas concentration is increased from 50 to 1000 ppm. Thus, the sample has a reasonably good sensitivity for methane. Furthermore, the sensor exhibits fast response (1 min) and a good recovery time (1.6 min) as compared with other oxide materials. © 2001-2012 IEEE.Item The high energy supercapacitor from rGO/Ni(OH)2/PANI nanocomposite with methane sulfonic acid as dopant(Academic Press Inc. apjcs@harcourt.com, 2019) Viswanathan, A.; Nityananda Shetty, A.N.The low energy densities of supercapacitors limit their utilization as energy storage and energy conversion devices. To overcome this limitation, here we present a ternary nanocomposite of reduced graphene oxide (rGO)/nickel hydroxide (Ni(OH)2/polyaniline (PANI), with methane sulfonic acid as dopant, having weight percentages of 14%:14%:72% (G14NP), respectively, as an electrode material for supercapacitor. With 1 M sulfuric acid (H2SO4) as the electrolyte, the supercapacitor yields a high energy density of 120.48 W h kg?1, comparable with those of Li-ion batteries. The G14NP also exhibits good electrochemical performance with a specific capacitance of 602.40 F g?1 and a power density of 2584.83 W kg?1, at a current density of 1 A g?1. The G14NP also exhibits a promising stability of its electrochemical performances even after 16,500 cycles at a potential scan of 400 mV s?1. Remarkably, the composite performs exceptionally well at a potential window available in an aqueous electrolyte. The sustainability to high current loading while charging and its power backup application is satisfactorily demonstrated, by charging with a commercial 9 V battery. © 2019 Elsevier Inc.Item Heat transfer distribution of premixed methane-air laminar flame jets impinging on ribbed surfaces(Elsevier Ltd, 2019) Kadam, A.R.; Parida, R.K.; Hindasageri, V.; Kumar, G.N.Heat transfer distribution of premixed methane-air laminar flame jet impinging on ribbed surfaces is presented in this work. Experiments are carried out on ribbed plates with three different geometrical shaped rib elements i.e. circular, rectangular and triangular. In addition, numerical simulations are performed to study flow field distribution near the ribs. During the experiments, Reynolds number is varied from 600 to 1800 and burner tip to target plate distance is varied from 2 to 4. An analytical inverse solution to three dimensional transient heat conduction presented in our previous work is used to obtain heat transfer parameters. Heat transfer coefficients are found lower whereas reference temperatures are observed higher on ribbed surfaces as compared with smooth surface. Obstruction to the flow, flow separation and decrease in momentum are the reasons attributed for lower heat transfer rate for ribbed surfaces. © 2019 Elsevier LtdItem Co-digestion of Food Waste and Switchgrass for Biogas Potential: Effects of Process Parameters(Springer editorial@springerplus.com, 2020) Uma, S.; Thalla, A.K.; Devatha, C.P.Abstract: Anaerobic digestion is the technology aimed at organic substrates conversion to biomethane potential. The co-digestibility performance of food waste and switchgrass at different mix ratio and the temperature is evaluated in the present study. To address this performance evaluation, the response of volatile acid groups’ viz. acetic, propionic, butyric and valeric acids, pH related to the biomethane potential. The highest methane yield observed with 1:1 FW: SG is 267 ml/g VSadded at mesophilic and 234 ml/g VSadded at thermophilic condition respectively. Methane yield has a positive response on co-digestion is confirmed by digestion performance index (DPI). Also, process parameters viz acetic and butyric acid concentrations were in the range 15–70% and 18–70% for the loadings at 35 °C and 55 °C respectively. SG showed the highest butyric acid concentration, and in contrast, the utmost acetic acid produced from both FW and SG respectively. Even though at higher acid concentrations, less significant inhibition on biomethane yields is observed during performance evaluation. Result revealed that co-digestion at 1:1 ratio yields the improved performance with FW and SG at mesophilic as well as in thermophilic condition. Food waste is predominant and achieves the second highest methane yield compared to switchgrass in single substrate digestion. This study confirms the presence of slow and fast biodegradable organic matters have an equal contribution to the biomethane yield. Graphical Abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.] © 2018, Springer Nature B.V.Item Experimental investigation of methane-enriched biogas in a single cylinder diesel engine by the dual fuel mode(Taylor and Francis Ltd., 2022) Chandrashekar, J.; Gumtapure, V.In this experimental work characteristic such as performance, combustion and emission of a single cylinder, four-stroke constant speed, direct injection, water-cooled diesel engine is investigated. The engine is operated by dual fuel mode using methane-enriched biogas (88.10%-CH4 + 11.89%-CO2) obtained from the food waste. Biogas (BG) is inducted into the engine at intake manifold with various mixtures like BG20, BG30 and BG40 mixed with air (i.e. BG40-40% of CH4 by mass respectively) at actual injection timing of 27.5° before top dead centre (bTDC) for different loads. The performance, combustion and emission characteristics of the engine operated by dual fuel mode were experimentally investigated, and compared with respect to diesel. By observing the experimental results, BG40 was optimized on the basis of lesser emissions and improved performance. BG40 showed lesser brake thermal efficiency and higher brake specific energy consumption than BG20 and BG30 for all loads. On the other hand, BG40 showed lower BTE by 15.5% and 15.62% compared to diesel at 3/4th and full load. Whereas the cylinder peak pressure for BG40 is higher than diesel by 5.36% and the net heat release rate is 14.9% higher than the diesel at full load. BG40 emitted higher carbon monoxide (CO) emissions than diesel by 5% at full load. The nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission for BG40 was lesser by 26.60% than diesel at full load, whereas the soot emission was 22.71% lower than diesel at full load respectively. © 2022 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.Item Effects of chemical pretreatments on material solubilization of Areca catechu L. husk: Digestion, biodegradability, and kinetic studies for biogas yield(Academic Press, 2022) Vannarath, A.; Thalla, A.K.This study aimed to understand the pretreatment-aided anaerobic digestion of lignocellulosic residues and to assess the substrate solubilization capacity of pretreatment processes. We evaluated the feasibility of biogas production using chemically pretreated Areca catechu L. (Arecanut husk, AH). AH was pretreated for 24h at two different temperatures—25 °C and 90 °C with four different chemicals viz. H2SO4 (acidic), NaOH (alkaline), H2O2 (oxidative), and ethanol in 1% H2SO4 (organosolv) under each temperature. AH solubilization assessment included analyses of parameters such as volatile solids to total solids (VS:TS) ratio, soluble chemical oxygen demand, total phenolic content, and biomass composition. Alkaline pretreatment of AH at 90 °C resulted in the maximum biogas yield of 683.89mL/gVS, which was 2.3 times more than that obtained using raw AH without pretreatment. Methane content of biogas produced using AH pretreated with 2–10% of NaOH was found to be between 71.53% and 75.06%; methane content of biogas using raw AH was 62.31%. In order to describe the AH degradation patterns, biogas production potential from pretreated AH was evaluated using bacterial kinetic growth models (First-order exponential, logistic, transference, and modified Gompertz models). The modified Gompertz and logistic models (correlation coefficient >0.99) were found to have the best fit of all kinetic models for the cumulative experimental biogas curve. We formulated a multiple linear regression equation depicting the biodegradability index (BI) as a technical tool to determine biomethane production; BI is represented as a function of biomass composition (cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin), with a high correlation (>0.95). Based on our analyses of AH pretreatment and substrate utilization for biogas production, we propose that the biochemical composition of lignocellulosic residues should be carefully considered to ensure their biodegradability when subjected to anaerobic digestion. © 2022 Elsevier LtdItem Combustion modelling of sequential combustion in steam-methane reformation (SMR) furnace using adiabatic flamelet generated manifold(Elsevier Ltd, 2023) Joe, E.S.; Arumuga Perumal, D.A.Hydrogen as an energy vector of the future is being explored by many. Steam-methane reformation proves itself as a major source of hydrogen that is to play a major role in the electrification of the energy sector and decarbonization efforts. Detailed design and design optimization of SMR furnaces are required to maximize the production within a plant. Unit-operation level process of a cogeneration plant, producing both energy and hydrogen, have been studied by other researchers. Sequential combustion of natural gas/methane within the furnace of an SMR unit placed downstream of a power generating gas turbine is analysed within the present work using computational fluid dynamics. Flamelet generated manifolds as a means of combustion modelling for a large-eddy simulation is used to analyse the flow features, flame structure and the vortex-flame interaction. The fuel rich case features a stable flame although with a lower temperature, and the fuel lean case features an unstable flame. The outcomes of this study may be utilized by designers to study factors that bottle-neck production in the furnace. © 2023 Elsevier LtdItem Co-digestion of mushroom compost with switchgrass using solid-state anaerobic digester(ICE Publishing, 2023) Nair, R.R.; Thalla, A.K.; Nair, V.V.Spent mushroom compost (SMC) already broken down into smaller particles by fungal action is an ideal material for producing biogas. Two cycles of five solid-state anaerobic digesters (SS-ADs) with different mix-ratio of SMC and switchgrass (SG) were operated at feedstock-to-effluent ratio of 2 at a temperature 35 ± 2°C. The total solids concentration of the digester was kept at 17%. Initial biogas production observed during the start-up of the digester confirmed the presence of readily available extractives for digestion. In the first cycle, the highest methane yield was observed in SMC 0 (0% SMC + 100% SG) of 28.82 l/kg VS/d and the lowest yield was observed in SMC 4 (100% SMC + 0% SG) as 10.32 l/kg VS/d. The substrate containing 100% SG (SMC 0) recorded the highest cumulative biogas yield of 295.43 l/kg VS in 63 days. The digesters with higher SMC fraction showed lower methane production, low pH value and high volatile fatty acids content upon decomposition. The SS-ADs having SMC/SG of 50 : 50 showed more than 2 times methane production in comparison with SS-ADs having SMC as sole substrate. An estimation of volumetric productivity also established a linear relationship with the SMC/SG ratio. © 2023 Emerald Publishing Limited: All rights reserved.Item Durable and high energy yielding PANI/Ni(OH)2 nanocomposites and its supporting electrolyte improved supercapacitance(Elsevier Ltd, 2024) Viswanathan, A.; Nityananda Shetty, A.N.The driving force behind supercapacitor research is to enhance the energy density (E) to the level of Li-ion batteries, and achieving high power density (P). This task is accomplished by using nanocomposites of polyaniline (PANI) and Ni(OH)2 (PN) as the electrode material for supercapacitors. These nanocomposites were synthesized using acetic acid (PN - AA) (PANI 75% and Ni(OH)2 25%) and methane sulphonic acid (PN - MSA) (PANI 83.33% and Ni(OH)2 16.67%) as dopants for PANI through an in-situ single-step method. The PN – MSA exhibited higher energy storage characters than PN – AA with 1 M H2SO4 (SA) as electrolyte. PN - MSA exhibited high-energy characteristics, including a specific capacitance (Cs) of 735.29 F g‒1, an energy density (E) of 147.05 W h kg‒1 (comparable to Li-ion batteries), and a power density (P) of 2.3466 kW kg‒1 at 1 A g‒1. In addition, it also exhibited an exceptional cyclic stability up to 58,800 cycles at 0.4 V s‒1. The energy characters of PN-AA are also substantially high and are a Cs of 641.02 F g‒1, an E of 128.20 W h kg‒1 (in the same order of Li-ion batteries), a P of 2.0385 kW kg‒1 at 1 A g‒1 and a cyclic stability up to 18,400 cycles was also obtained at 0.4 V s‒1. Both PN - AA and PN - MSA demonstrated an impressive feature of an increase in energy storage with an increase in the number of charge/discharge cycles. PN - MSA exhibited an improvement in energy storage characteristics of up to 44% when a mixture of sulphuric acid and methane sulphonic acid with concentrations of 1 M and 0.33 M, respectively, was used as an electrolyte. © 2024 Elsevier Ltd