Sivasubramanian Velmurugan

National Institute of Technology Calicut | NITC · Department of Chemical Engineering

Azo compounds constitute the largest and the most diverse group of synthetic dyes and are widely used in a number of industries such as textile, food, cosmetics and paper printing. They are generally recalcitrant to biodegradation due to their xenobiotic nature. However, aquatic macrophytes are highly versatile in reduction of azo dyes due to their...

This study proposes a novel method for isolating Escherichia coli bacteria using iron oxide nanoparticles coated with phycocyanin, a fluorescent blue protein pigment found in cyanobacteria that can bind to the genomic area of the cell. This novel technique can be a promising method for the removal of E. coli cells from polluted water samples and al...

The morphology and performance characteristics of an asymmetric membrane can be tailored by precisely controlling the dope solution's thermodynamic features and diffusive behavior. In this work, integrally skinned asymmetric polyethersulfone (PES) membranes were made by phase inversion method. A study on the phase inversion behavior of PES membrane...

Physico-chemical properties, kinetics and thermodynamic analysis of biomass are important in designing an efficient pyrolysis process. The current study aims to investigate the physico-chemical behaviour, calorific value and kinetics of thermal decomposition of coconut wood (Cocos nucifera) at 10, 15, and 25 ºC/min using the thermogravimetric analy...

C‐phycocyanin(C‐PC), a blue pigment from cyanobacteria is a promising replacement for harmful synthetic food colours. The present study suggests that cyanobacterium Phormidium valderianum is an alternative source for C‐PC to the frequently utilized spirulina. In addition, this study emphasises the importance of harvest time as a key variable in the...

There are numerous elements of daily life where plastic is employed, yet it is uncertain exactly when it will deteriorate. Poly-(3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB), a biodegradable polymer, is viewed as a possible substitute for synthetic plastics made from petroleum. With Pseudomonas putida SS9, the current study sought to enhance operational conditions and...

Green Manganese Ferrite (GMF) and Chemical mediated Manganese Ferrite (CMF) were designed and prepared via in situ co-precipitation method and their adsorption potential was compared using the model dye, Metanil Yellow (MY). Previously, an extract of aquatic macrophyte and metal chloride were employed for the development of ecofriendly GMF. Alterna...

This study explores the extraction of lutein and zeaxanthin from Arthrospira Platensis (spirulina), with traditional protocols as a reference and response surface methodology as a tool for optimisation. An enhanced extraction procedure was developed for obtaining higher lutein concentration. The extraction process is further optimised using the cen...

Biogenic methane production from the coal faces difficulties in the conventional combustion process. Understanding the coal rank, structure, and the biogenic pathway is essential to introduce the innovations in the exploitation of coal reserves. Furthermore, in-depth investigation of the microbial diversity present in the coal beds is necessary to...

In this study, a sulfidogenic reactor fed with microalgal biomass of Chlorella pyrenoidosa as an electron donor was operated in a continuous mode. This study evaluated the influence of various initial sulfate concentration from 1.0 to 2.5 g/L on anaerobic sulfate reduction kinetics by a sulfidogenic enrichment culture predominantly Desulfovibrio sp...

In this study, we report the combined effect of graphene oxide (GO) and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) for the heavy metal removal efficiency of polyethersulfone (PES) membranes. PVP with four different amounts of GO was infused in the membrane matrix by the physical blending method. Characterizations such as porosity, contact angle, water flux and Fou...

High energy consumption and depletion of fossil fuels lead to the introduction of new technologies to produce alternative fuels with fewer emissions of greenhouse gases. The present investigation was focused to utilize the waste coal washery rejects as a substrate to produce biogenic methane under optimum conditions. Experiments were performed to e...

In this research work, the effect of various independent operating variables on the removal of malathion pesticide by electrocoagulation (EC) process was evaluated by single variable multivariable optimization. The various operating variables selected were reaction time (40 – 75 minutes), pH (6 - 9), applied voltage (8 – 20 V), and amount of electr...

In the current scenario, because of government policies, environmental factors, and technological improvements, there is a rapid growth in renewable energy sector. The current concerning factor is to obtain better system performance by effective resource utilization and providing security and reliability. This paper discusses the design and impleme...

High energy consumption and depletion of fossil fuels lead to the introduction of new technologies to produce alternative fuels with fewer emissions of greenhouse gases. The present investigation was focused to utilize the waste coal washery rejects as a substrate to produce biogenic methane under optimum conditions. Experiments were performed to e...

Hussain Sagar Lake (17.4239° N, 78.4738° E) located at the heart of the capital of Telangana state, Hyderabad, is well known by many as a tourist spot. However, during the recent years, this lake has been contaminated by various industries surrounding the lake, especially from the Kukatpally channel and NTR Marg. Such inflow and heavy dumping of wa...

The present study reports on production of biosurfactant (surface active compound) by a novel bacterial strain Brevibacillus sp. AVN 13 isolated from the crude oil contaminated soil. The purification and characterization of the biosurfactant were also investigated. Optimization studies using Box−Behnken design and response surface methodology were...

The electrocoagulation method is used for the treatment of hazardous cephalothin sodium antibiotic wastewater. The interaction effects of the various parameters on the maximization of removal efficiency (RE) and minimization of energy consumption (E) were studied through multivariable optimization. The optimum parameters obtained are 9.98 pH, elect...

In recent years, the volume of wastewater produced worldwide has led to an increase in the study and use of different membranes and their properties. The progress of membrane technology in hand with nanotechnology has brought to the establishment of advanced membrane materials that are effective in the field of wastewater treatment and water reclam...

A newly acquired polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) producing Pseudomonas sp. was characterized based on 16S rRNA gene sequences (1,423 bp) and identified as P. Putida SS9. This strain P. putida SS9 was considered in respect of its potential for achieving maximum production of PHA under controlled volumetric oxygen transfer coefficient (kLa) using inexpens...

This book comprises select proceedings of the International Conference on Energy and Environment - Global Challenges (ICEE 2018). The book focuses on applications of green technologies in chemical and biochemical engineering, wastewater treatment, energy and environmental sustainability. It covers current environmental issues such as air pollution...

This book presents select peer-reviewed proceedings of the International Conference on Sustainable Development in Energy and Environment (ICSDEE) 2019. The focus is on novel research in renewable energy resources and environmental issues and their implementation in augmenting sustainable development. This book includes chapters on solutions to prob...

In the present study, the influence of dextransucrase of Weissella cibaria NITCSK4 (DSWc4), sucrose concentration, and reaction temperature on the yield of low molecular weight dextran (LMWD-DexWc4) was investigated using mixed level Taguchi design and back propagation neural network (BPNN). BPNN model with three neurons in a hidden layer generated...

Computational chemistry is invaluable in calculating macroscopic and microscopic details of systems application in chemical industries which are involved in carbon capture through precombustion, post-combustion and oxy combustion technologies. This review discusses the role of computational chemistry for adsorption studies of metal–organic framewor...

This paper discusses a systematic study of Congo red dye removal by electrocoagulation process with an aluminium electrode pair. The statistical modelling technique, response surface methodology is used for the design of experiments. The various operating parameters chosen are reaction time (10–60 min), initial dye concentration (20–80 mg/L), pH of...

An attempt was made to maximize the sequestration of methylene blue (MB) dye from aqueous solution using magnetic biocomposite (WH/MnFe2O4) synthesized by chemical co-precipitation method. WH/MnFe2O4 was characterized by different techniques such as scanning electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Fourier-transform infrared, and Energy-dispersive X...

Distillation, the major process in crude oil refineries as of now. In this work we focused the attention to energy saving with respect to an industrial crude oil distillation unit. An alternative to the conventional crude oil distillation model present in the Bharat Petroleum Corporation, Kochi Refinery is proposed and simulated. The theoretical pr...

The current research work studies the removal of crystal violet (also known as gentian violet), a kind of dye, from simulated wastewater by electrocoagulation using scrap aluminium roofing sheet as electrode in a batch electrochemical cell. Optimization of different operational parameters - pH, current density, time, initial concentration - was car...

Biopolymers are a form of polymers derived from renewable biomass source unlike fossil fuel plastics. Limitation of petrochemical resources with an increase in oil price and environmental problems raises the interest in biopolymers. Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) are a group of interesting biopolymers accumulated within cells as energy storage materia...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of curing and microwave power levels on energy analysis, drying characteristics, modeling and quality parameters of turmeric slices in microwave dryer. Drying experiments were carried out for fresh and cured turmeric slices. Four microwave power levels of 30%, 50%, 80% and 100% with the total output...

Fatty acid methyl esters (FAME) were synthesized from the waste cooking oil (WCO) by direct transesterification with methanol. The WCO was pretreated to increase the efficiency of FAME production with 1% of potassium methoxide as a catalyst. The free fatty acid of raw source was reduced using 2% of activated charcoal as adsorbent. The process varia...

Plastics play a very important role in our daily life. They are used for various purposes. But the disposal of these petrochemical-derived plastics causes a risk to the human and marine population, wildlife and environment. Also, due to the eventual depletion of petrochemical sources, there is a need for the development of alternate sources for the...

In this study, a hydrocarbon degrading organism Brevibacillus sp. AVN 13 was isolated and utilized for biosurfactant production. A total of twenty four isolates were obtained from crude oil spilled soil and screened for biosurfactant production using different methods such as blood agar test, cetyl trimethylammonium bromide methylene blue agar test...

Cr(VI) removal was studied with Artocarpus heterophyllus peel as a biosorbent in batch and continuous mode. Parameters influencing the maximum removal efficiency like biosorbent dose, contact time, pH, temperature, agitation speed, initial chromium concentration have been optimized in batch studies. Cr(VI) removal was observed to be 99.92 percentag...

The use of woven and nonwoven fibers and meshes in membrane bioreactors (MBRs) has enhanced the study of the development of dynamic membranes, which aid to a large extent in overcoming the traditional problem of fouling associated with MBRs. The present study reports the mixing characteristics and the gas–liquid mass transfer characteristics of a p...

Physical distillation is the major process in crude oil refineries as of now. To ensure quality control in the final products, it is essential to ascertain the true boiling point of the crude oil and the products. The work is mainly concentrated to an industrial crude oil distillation unit. The objective of the paper is to present the simulation an...

The main objective of this study was the removal of an anionic bisazo dye from synthetic wastewater using electrocoagulation (EC) process. An electrochemical reactor was used with commercially available scrap aluminium sheets as electrodes (composition in weight %: aluminium, 48.71; carbon, 24.74; oxygen, 26.55). Literature suggests that most influ...

Gracillaria corticata, a red alga, has been tested for its ability to remove malachite green (MG) from aqueous phase. The surface morphology of G. corticata is studied using Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). The analytical evidence from FTIR spectra confirms the involvement of amine group in the biosorption of malachite green. The effects of bios...

This study assessed remediation of sulfate-rich wastewater using microalgal biomass of Chlorella pyrenoidosa as the sole electron donor for sulfidogenic enrichment culture obtained from lignite mine spoils (NLC India Ltd.). Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene showed that the microbial culture used, mainly composed of bacteria closely related to...

This work presents the effect of autoclave, microwave and ultrasonication pretreatment on anaerobic digestion of food waste co-digested with poultry manure. Four batch reactors with 2 L volume each were used for the study. The reactors were operated with a hydraulic retention time of 30 days and stirred twice a day. The daily biogas production, cum...

The most influencing factor on dextran production by Weissella cibaria NITCSK4 were screened using Plackett Burman design at 95% confidence limit with higher value of co-efficient of determination (R²) 99.58%. The combined effects of significant factors, namely, sucrose, temperature, dipotassium hydrogen phosphate (K2HPO4) and yeast extract were st...

In the present study, Self forming Dynamic Membrane (SFDM) on rigid High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) mesh with a large pore size of 2mm is reported for the first time. The system was investigated for utilisation in simulated wastewater treatment by integrating the mesh with an aerobic bioreactor. The SFDM was analysed using Fourier Transformation I...

With the high demand for fuel supply, as well as environmental concerns, the development and production of biodiesel produced from renewable, bio-based raw materials are of great concern. The increase in greenhouse gases has become the driving force for the shift from fossil fuels to alternative fuels. Aging of the biofuels on storage is a major co...

A detailed study of kinetics in transesterification of non edible crude rubber seed oil using calcium oxide, CaO prepared from waste eggshells as catalyst has been carried out. Egg shells are generally waste materials which several researches had reported to contain high content of calcium oxide. Utilization of these waste materials as catalysts re...

In this study, a sulfidogenic enrichment culture was obtained from lignite mine spoils and utilized for the remediation of sulfate-rich wastewater. By 16S rRNA analysis, the enrichment culture was identified to be predominantly Desulfovibrio sp. strain VSV1. Lactate was proved to be the suitable electron donor for the enrichment culture when compar...

In this study, biogas production through anaerobic digestion of food waste was investigated by applying four factor-four level Taguchi design under experimental conditions such as solid concentration (5%–12.5% TS), pH (6–9), temperature (30–60 °C), and co-digestion of poultry waste (10%–40%). Multi-objective techniques such as grey relational analy...

A novel nanoscale zero-valent iron Sargassum swartzii (nZVI-SS) biocomposites, was tested for its ability to remove malachite green (MG) from aqueous solutions. Batch equilibrium tests at different pH condition showed that at pH 10, a maximum removal of 142.85 mg/g was observed according to Langmuir model. Involvement of various functional groups o...

This study reports the biosorption of MG using a novel nano zero valent iron Sargassum swartzii (nZVI-SS) biocomposite. Response surface methodology derived from Box–Behnken design (BBD) was applied for optimizing the essential variables such as pH, initial MG concentration, and biosorbent dosage. The results obtained from BBD design showed the max...

In the present study, the influence of process parameters and pretreatment on biogas production, volatile solid degradation and COD degradation during anaerobic digestion of food waste were experimentally investigated. Using Taguchi based Grey relational analysis, the optimum condition for anaerobic digestion was found. Taguchi technique was couple...

Sargassum swartzii, marine macro brown alga, showed a high malachite green (MG) biosorption capacity in batch mode of operation. The analytical evidence from Fourier transform infrared spectra confirmed the involvement of amine group in the biosorption of MG and electrostatic interaction type of mechanism was proposed to occur between the amine gro...

Sargassum swartzii, a marine alga was used as precursor for the synthesis of novel nano zerovalent iron S. swartzii (nZVI-SS) biocomposite for the removal of malachite green (MG) from simulated wastewater in a fixed-bed column. The performance of the biocomposite was evaluated in the fixed-bed column at various operating conditions such as bed heig...

Crude oil is the significant contributor to the world's power supply now a day. The analysis of crude properties and optimization of crude oil separation process is an important aspect in the refineries due to the high energy cost and requirement for quality oil products. Simulation software is one of the best tools for a crude oil refinery. This c...

Pharmaceutical industries generate large quantities of liquid and solid wastes. Considering their impacts on the environment, wastes should be properly treated. Among the many available methods of pharmaceutical effluent treatment, the most recognised and approved method is the anaerobic digestion process. Treatment of high-strength wastewater is f...

Biosorption of nickel (II) ions from aqueous solution onto Sargassum swartzii in continuous mode of operation has been studied. The involvement of various functional groups was elucidated using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The surface morphology of the biosorbent was visualized by means of Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The...

Environmental Sustainability Using Green Technologies explains the role of green engineering and social responsibility in the development of chemicals, processes, products, and systems. Examining the relationship between economy, ecology, and equality—key factors in developing a sustainable society—this book covers several aspects of environmental...

A novel nanoscale zero-valent iron Sargassum swartzii (nZVI-SS) biocomposite was synthesized and evaluated its ability to adsorb Crystal violet (CV) from aqueous solutions. Involvement of various functional groups of the biosorbent in preferential adsorption of cationic dye were observed using FTIR spectroscopy. Morphological changes occurring on t...

In the present study, the effect of various pretreatments (autoclave, microwave and ultrasonication) on the biogas yield from food waste was experimentally analyzed in laboratory-scale batch reactors of 2 liter volume each with a working volume of 1.6 liter. The solid concentration, pH, temperature and C/N ratio values taken in all the reactors wer...

Batch biosorption experiments were carried out for the removal of malachite green (MG) from its aqueous solution using raw Sargassum swartzii biomass (RSSB) as biosorbent. The effect of various operating parameters was optimized for enhancing biosorption capacity. The biosorption capacity was found to increase with contact time and initial malachit...

Statistical analysis of product yield for biodiesel preparation by transesterification process was performed using the Minitab software. A standard RSM Design tool known as CCD was applied to study the transesterification reaction variables. The obtained parameters were verified experimentally for the transesterification reaction of rubber seed oil...

Enhancement of biogas production by adding external substrates as a co-digestion material is one of the solution to increase energy self-sufficiency of the anaerobic digestion process. The aim of this work is to analyze the impact of anaerobic co-digestion of poultry manure with food waste on the biogas production. Experiments were conducted on a r...

In the present study, biogas production from food waste through anaerobic digestion was carried out in a 2 l laboratory-scale batch reactor operating at different temperatures with a hydraulic retention time of 30 days. The reactors were operated with a solid concentration of 7.5% of total solids and pH 7. The food wastes used in this experiment we...

This paper presents the results of laboratory experiments carried out on an anaerobic digestion of food waste with respect to the effect of solid concentration and pH. Total solid (TS) content ranging from 5.0% to 15.0% and pH value ranging from 5 to 9 were analyzed. Laboratory scale experiments using 2 l bioreactors were performed in batch mode op...

The performance of chitosan as an adsorbent in the removal of chromium ion (Cr(VI)) from wastewater in batch and continuous modes has been investigated. The column performance of Cr(VI) adsorption onto chitosan has been studied at different bed height (3-9 cm) and flow rate (50-200 mL/min). The column has been designed based on the break through cu...

During the last two decades, several methods have been applied for the treatment of metal bearing wastewater; none of the method was suitable for the industrial purposes due to various drawbacks. Biosorption has introduced a new dimension for the sequestration of heavy metals in the wastewater. The eco –friendliness and cost effectiveness are the a...

Today, distillation of crude oil is an important process in almost all the refineries. Crude distillation is the process of separating the hydrocarbons in crude oil based on their boiling point. The crude oil fractioning is very intensive process. The complexity due to large number of products, side stripper, and pump around made the task of improv...