Faculty Publications
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Item A Review on Heavy Metal Adsorption Using Nanocomposites for Wastewater Treatment(Springer, 2025) Uma, U.; Gopi Kumar, S.An introduction of heavy metals through anthropogenic activity into water streams polluting the environment. The effective requirement for removal of heavy metal from wastewater and utilize the treated water for managing the water scarcity among population over the world. The studies on carbon-based nano-materials and its utility in heavy metal removal are improving incredible attraction over the past decades. Carbonaceous nanomaterials exhibit the distinctive properties of hybridized carbon bonds with extraordinary physical–chemical properties at a nano-scale. The special attention focused on different nanomaterials such as graphene-oxide and, carbon nano-tubes. This present study reviews the utilization of nanomaterial composites in the adsorption of heavy metals in the wastewater purification. Further the innovation, forthcoming development, challenges of cost-effective and environmentally acceptable nanomaterials and its interaction between adsorbents for water purification are discussed and reviewed in this article. This review concluded that nanomaterials have many unique morphological and structural properties that qualify to be as effective absorbents to solve several application environmental purifications. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.Item Domestic water use efficiency and circular economy(Elsevier, 2025) Nikhil, S.; Sridevi, S.; Rao, C.S.; Gudapati, G.Water is essential for economic growth because it interacts with the manufacturing, agricultural, and energy segments. Sustainable practices in household water management involve preserving water resources and mitigating the environmental effects of water extraction, treatment, and disposal. One can minimize wastewater and encourage resource efficiency by optimizing water use inside households through technology, practices, and policies to reduce water consumption, such as gray water systems, low-flow fixtures, rainwater harvesting, and water recycling systems. In addition to improving the condition of agronomic soils, reusing treated wastewater for irrigation may reduce greenhouse gas emissions. This is in line with the circular economy's tenets, which include reducing waste, recycling materials, mitigating economic uncertainty, and optimizing resource use throughout the lifespan of a product. Implementing circular water management techniques at home promotes resource stewardship and builds a more resilient and sustainable water system. This chapter explains how the framework may improve resilience and reduce emissions while making sustainability more financially and ecologically viable. Encouraging water-saving practices among families is essential for increasing water usage efficiency, in addition to technical solutions. The adoption of the suggested efficiency indices to improve urban water conservation tactics for the majority of water consumption. © 2025 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.Item ANN & regresssion analysis based predictions of BOD5 & COD for refinery wastewater(2007) Rene, E.R.; Saidutta, M.B.Industrial wastewater quality is indicated by several physico-chemical and biological parameters. If a Suitable correlation is established between them, some difficult and not instantaneously available parameters can be easily predicted. Such correlations are traditionally achieved by regression analysis. However, non-linear fluctuations are not easily represented by these correlations. Models based on artificial neural networks (ANNs) are fast emerging as an alternative tool to predict and forecast water quality parameters based on a well-defined set of training data that are easily available. The present study reports the correlations for BOD5 and COD with TOC for a refinery wastewater. Additionally, 12 ANN based models were developed to forecast the BOD5 and COD by considering other water quality indices as the input data. The results from this study indicate that ANNs are simple and reliable, under adequately trained conditions.Item Separation of dimethyl phenol using a spiral-wound RO membrane - Experimental and parameter estimation studies(2009) Srinivasan, G.; Sundaramoorthy, S.; Murthy, D.V.R.Reverse osmosis (RO) is increasingly used as a separation technique in chemical and environmental engineering for the removal of organics and organic pollutants present in waste water. Treatment of organics by RO is dependent on many factors and hence developing a viable RO system involves extensive pilot-plant studies. The removal of an organic compound, namely dimethyl phenol, using a polyamide membrane was investigated in this study. Experiments were conducted on a laboratory-scale spiral-wound RO module. The permeate concentrations and rejection coefficient values were measured for various transmembrane pressures and feed concentrations. A maximum rejection of 97% was observed. A mathematical model was developed for the RO module assuming a solution-diffusion mechanism for solute and solvent transport through the membrane and considering the concentration and pressure to be uniform on both permeate and retentate sides. The model has four parameters. A graphical method for estimating the model parameters was proposed. The model and the estimated parameter values were validated with the experimental data. The model was able to predict the permeate concentration within an error of 19% and rejection within 2% error. © 2009.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 Bed depth service time model for the biosorption of reactive red dye using the Portunus sanguinolentus shell(2010) JagadeeshBabu, P.E.; Krishnan, R.; Singh, M.Biosorption is an efficient and regenerative technique that often uses low-cost adsorbent materials, particularly for the treatment of wastewaters containing dyes and heavy metals. This study investigates the ability of crab shell (Portunus sanguinolentus) to remove reactive red dye in a packed bed up-flow column (internal diameter 2 cm; height 35 cm). Crab shell has high surface area (after proper size reduction) and high regenerative capacity. The experiments were performed with different bed heights (20 and 30 cm) and using different flow rates (12 and 17 ml/min) in order to obtain experimental breakthrough curves. The bed depth service time (BDST) model was used to analyze the experimental data and the model parameters were evaluated. The column regeneration studies were carried out for five different sorption-desorption cycles. The elutant used for the regeneration of the sorbent was 0.01 M EDTA (disodium) solution at pH 9.8 adjusted using NH4OH. This solution was found to have the best bed regeneration capacity and could be reused for several sorption-desorption cycles. The elution efficiency was greater than 99.1% in all seven cycles. Continuous use of the crab shell leads to a decrease in the adsorptive performance, as observed by the breakthrough curves becoming flatter and also because of a broader mass transfer zone. © 2009 Curtin University of Technology and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.Item Modelling and simulation of steady-state phenol degradation in a pulsed plate bioreactor with immobilised cells of Nocardia hydrocarbonoxydans(2011) Shetty K, V.S.; Verma, D.K.; Srinikethan, G.A novel bioreactor called pulsed plate bioreactor (PPBR) with cell immobilised glass particles in the interplate spaces was used for continuous aerobic biodegradation of phenol present in wastewater. A mathematical model consisting of mass balance equations and accounting for simultaneous external film mass transfer, internal diffusion and reaction is presented to describe the steady-state degradation of phenol by Nocardia hydrocarbonoxydans (Nch.) in this bioreactor. The growth of Nch. on phenol was found to follow Haldane substrate inhibition model. The biokinetic parameters at a temperature of 30 ± 1 °C and pH at 7.0 ± 0.1 are ? m = 0.5397 h -1, K S = 6.445 mg/L and K I = 855.7 mg/L. The mathematical model was able to predict the reactor performance, with a maximum error of 2% between the predicted and experimental percentage degradations of phenol. The biofilm internal diffusion rate was found to be the slowest step in biodegradation of phenol in a PPBR. © 2010 Springer-Verlag.Item Characterization and proinflammatory response of airborne biological particles from wastewater treatment plants(2011) Gangamma, S.; Patil, R.S.; Mukherji, S.Wastewater contains a variety of microorganisms, and unit operations in the plants could release these biological components into the air environment. These airborne biological particles could have adverse health effects on plant workers and the downwind population. This study provides a first report on the concentration and characterization of the airborne biological particles in six wastewater treatment plants in Mumbai, India. The study indicates that 49% and 27% of the samples exceed, respectively, the exposure limit for airborne endotoxin and bacteria in occupational settings. Endotoxin was identified as the single most important component of the particulate matter responsible for induction of proinflammatory indicator (tumor necrosis factor-?) in in vitro assay. Identification of several clinically important bacterial species in the samples suggests that the workers at the treatment plant are exposed to opportunistic and infectious bacteria. Principal component analysis was used to identify the groups among the bacterial species which serves as the signature for transport study. Analysis also shows that the component related to spore-forming bacteria is present in all samples. © 2011 American Chemical Society.Item Experimental investigation for treating ibuprofen and triclosan by biosurfactant from domestic wastewater(Academic Press, 2023) Jayalatha, N.A.; Devatha, C.P.The presence of emerging pollutants of pharmaceutical products and personal care products (PPCPs) in the aquatic environment overspreads the threat on living beings. Bioremediation is a promising option for treating wastewater. In the present study, an experimental investigation was carried out to produce a biosurfactant by Pseudomonas aeruginosa (MTCC 1688) for the removal of Ibuprofen (IBU) and Triclosan (TCS) from domestic wastewater. It was performed in three stages. Firstly, the production and optimization of biosurfactant was carried out to arrive at the best combination of crude sunflower oil, sucrose and ammonium bicarbonate (10%: 5.5 g/L: 1 g/L) to yield effective biosurfactant production (crude biosurfactant) and further extended to achieve critical micelle concentration (CMC) formation by dilution (biosurfactant at 10.5%). The stability of the biosurfactant was also confirmed. Biosurfactant showed a reduction in the surface tension to 41 mN/m with a yield concentration of 11.2 g/L. Secondly, its effectiveness was evaluated for the removal of IBU and TCS from the domestic wastewater collected during the dry and rainy seasons. Complete removal of IBU was achieved at 36 h & 6 h and TCS at 6 h & 1 h by crude biosurfactant and biosurfactant at CMC formation for the dry season sample. IBU removal was achieved in 2 h by both crude and biosurfactant at CMC and no TCS was detected in the rainy season sample. Thirdly, biotransformation intermediates of IBU and TCS formed during the application of the biosurfactant and degradation pathways are proposed based on the Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry (LC-MS) and it indicates that there is no formation of toxic by-products. Based on the results, it is evident that biosurfactant at CMC has performed better for the removal of IBU and TCS than crude biosurfactants without any formation of toxic intermediates. Hence, this study proved to be an eco-friendly, cost-effective and sustainable treatment option for domestic wastewater treatment. © 2022 Elsevier LtdItem Continuous fixed-bed adsorption of reactive azo dye on activated red mud for wastewater treatment-Evaluation of column dynamics and design parameters(Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH, 2023) Mavinkattimath, R.G.; Shetty K, V.; Srinikethan, G.Continuous adsorption of Remazol Brilliant Blue (RBB) dye in water onto sulfuric acid activated red mud (CATRM) in a fixed bed column was investigated. Breakthrough curves were obtained experimentally by varying the bed height (Z), influent flow rate (Q), and dye concentration(C0). The adsorption efficiency in the removal of RBB was favored at lower C0, higher Z, and lower Q. The maximum adsorption capacity of the activated red mud bed in the column was obtained at C0 = 70 mg/L, Z = 8 cm, and Q = 5 mL/min and found to be 106 mg/g. Important parameters of column dynamics and design such as mass transfer zone (MTZ) and length of unused bed (LUB) were evaluated from the breakthrough curves. The MTZ and LUB have varied with varying Z, which indicated the existence of nonideal conditions. Thomas model was found to be valid to predict the column dynamics and the model parameters were evaluated. Bed depth service time (BDST) model parameters were evaluated to facilitate the determination of packed bed height for the design of packed bed adsorption column. The bed could be regenerated with NaOH solution with desorption efficiency decreasing from 83.8 to 55.72% from the first to third cycle. A fixed bed of CATRM can be effectively used for continuous dye removal from industrial wastewater. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.