Vasanthi Sethu

University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus | nottingham · Department of Chemical and Environmental Engineering

Increasing palm oil production in the country has led to a large amount of palm oil mill effluent (POME) generated in the mill. Treatment of POME using plant-based materials like fenugreek seeds and aloe vera gel seems to be a good option to treat POME. Fenugreek seeds and aloe vera gel were utilized as a natural coagulant and flocculant, respectiv...

Palm oil extraction is one of the important industries in Malaysia. The extraction of palm oil will not only result in the production of palm oil for human consumption but also generate palm oil mill effluent (POME), which contains highly polluting properties. Synthetic coagulants such as aluminum sulfate (alum), aluminum chloride, and sodium alumi...

POME is regarded as the largest pollution contributor to the nation’s rivers. Plant based coagulant and flocculant can be utilised to treat POME. In this study, fenugreek seeds and aloe vera gel were utilized as a natural coagulant and flocculant respectively for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). Jar tests were carried out to study th...

In the present study, fenugreek and aloe vera were investigated for the removal of turbidity (TUR), total suspended solids (TSS) and chemical oxygen demand (COD) from POME by using a central composite design (CCD) in the Design Expert software. The effects of three factors such as pH, coagulant dosage and flocculant dosage were analysed using jar t...

Malaysia is experiencing rapid urbanisation leading to an increase in the demand of energy. The use of renewable energy can satisfy energy demands and mitigate environmental issues such as greenhouse gas (GHG) emission. Biogas produced from anaerobic digestion from different feedstock such as food waste (FW), palm oil mill effluent (POME), garden w...

The present study reports the effectiveness of natural plant materials - fenugreek as a coagulant, with okra and Aloe vera as flocculants, to treat palm oil mill effluent (POME). The treatment process was modelled using Central Composite Design (CCD) of the Design Expert software. Standard jar tests were used to determine the important treatment pa...

As the population increases, energy demands continue to rise rapidly. In order to satisfy this increasing energy demand, biogas offers a potential alternative. Biogas is economically viable to be produced through anaerobic digestion (AD) from various biomass feedstocks that are readily available in Malaysia, such as food waste (FW), palm oil mill e...

Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus) were utilised as natural coagulants and flocculants respectively for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). Optimisation and modeling of the coagulant and flocculant dosages, pH and rapid mixing speed were carried out using Response Surface Methodology (RSM) method by...

Synthetic coagulants and flocculants used industrially in palm oil mill effluent (POME) treatment poses environmental and health risks, resulting in greater demand for natural coagulants and flocculants. This study reports the efficiency of Trigonella foenum-graecum (fenugreek) and Hibiscus esculentusas (okra) as a coagulant and flocculant respecti...

This research reports the development and characterisation of three types of natural polysaccharide-based Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) for application in sanitary napkins, namely chia seeds (Salvia hispanica L.), chia flour and Mimosa pudica hydrogel (MPH). Physical properties and performances of the materials were tested to determine the absorbi...

Presence of copper within water bodies deteriorates human health and degrades natural environment. This heavy metal in water is treated using a promising biochar derived from rambutan (Nephelium lappaceum) peel through slow pyrolysis. This research compares the efficacies of artificial neural network (ANN), adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (AN...

Raw palm oil mill effluent (POME) is classified as a highly polluting effluent, which needs to be treated to an acceptable level before being discharged into water bodies. Currently, chemical coagulants are widely used in treating POME, but their hazardous nature has caused several health and environmental problems. Therefore, this research present...

In the present research, local rambutan seed extract was used as a bio-coagulant for the treatment of palm oil mill effluent (POME). Jar test experiments were conducted to find the optimal operating conditions for the removal of turbidity and total suspended solids from POME. At an optimal pH of 3, bio-coagulant dosage of 600 mg/L and room temperat...

Green synthesis of silver nanoparticles (PAgNPs) was achieved by bio-reduction of silver nitrate using Parkia speciosa leaf aqueous extract. The PAgNPs formation was confirmed by UV–Vis spectroscopy. The synthesized silver nanoparticles in solution have shown maximum absorption at 410.5 nm, spectrophotometrically. The different parameters like temp...

In the present study, Opuntia cactus, an environmentally friendly bio-coagulant that is locally available, was used for the first time for the treatment of Palm oil mill effluent (POME). The optimum conditions for applying Opuntia in the POME treatment process were identified by performing jar test experiments. Parameters tested were chemical oxyge...

Perfluorooctanesulfonic acid (PFOS) and Perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the most investigated persistent organic pollutants due to their adverse health concerns and inertness in elimination. The wastewater treatment of PFOX (PFOS and PFOA) has been investigated by sonochemical method while implementing a 20-kHz probe-type sonicator with ultrasoun...

In the present study, we have developed a green approach for the synthesis of silver nanoparticles (DSAgNPs) using aqueous extract of Durio zibethinus seed and determined its antibacterial, photocatalytic and cytotoxic effects. Surface plasmon resonance confirmed the formation of DSAgNPs with a maximum absorbance (λmax) of 420 nm. SEM and TEM image...

Coagulation–flocculation has been proven as one of the effective processes in treating palm oil mill effluent (POME), which is a highly polluted wastewater generated from palm oil milling process. Two pairs of natural coagulant–flocculant were studied and evaluated: peanut–okra and wheat germ–okra. This research aims to optimize the operating param...

A novel biosorbent, derived from dried peels of lime (Citrus aurantifolia ) was used for the removal of Cu (II) ions from aqueous solutions. The effects of pH, biosorbent dosage and temperature on the biosorption of Cu (II) ions were investigated in batch mode. At optimal conditions, with pH 5, 0.4 g/L of biosorbent dosage, 100 mg/L of initial Cu (...

Biochars, derived from rambutan (Nepheliumlappaceum) peel through slow pyrolysis, were characterised and investigated as potential adsorbent for the removal of copper ion, Cu(II) from aqueous solution. Characteristics of five biochars of rambutan peel with different pyrolytic temperatures ranging from 300 to 700 °C (B300, B400, B500, B600, B700) we...

Biological entity is gaining significant prominence in green synthesis of silver nanoparticles as a result of their potential applications in nanomedicine and material engineering. Herein, we have reported the green synthesis of Artocarpus altilis silver nanoparticles (BAgNPs) using aqueous leaf extract of Artocarpus altilis. Synthesized colloidal...

This study investigates the potential use of neem (Azadirachta indica) leaves for the removal of Cu (II) ions from wastewater. Batch adsorption experiments were performed with varying process parameters such as pH and adsorbent dosage. The neem leaves were dried and ground to neem leaf powder (NLP) of size 80 to 100 μm. Known dosages of NLP (0.5, 1...

The present study uses biosorption technology to remove copper(II) ions from aqueous solutions. Mature leaves of neem (Azadirachta indica) were developed into powder form of size 32–45 lm and used as the biosorbent, while copper(II) ion solutions were prepared to be used as adsorbates. Parameters varied include copper(II) ion concentration and adso...

Adsorption of Cu(II) ions onto a non-conventional plant biosorbent, Neem (Azadirachta indica) Leaf Powder (NLP), was investigated in batch adsorption experiments. Process parameters which include initial metal ion concentration and temperature of solution were varied in order to evaluate their influence on the adsorption process. The pH and NLP dos...

Sludges generated from electroplating wastewaters contain high concentrations of metals. Studies have confirmed that the concentrations of several metals in the sludge exceed that of those found in natural ores. A very good example is in the case of copper. The natural copper ore contains less than 1% of copper, whereas copper precipitate sludges f...

In this work, bubble size distribution generated by six-bladed curve blade impeller (6CB) was compared with Rushton Turbine (6RT) in a 40 em diameter cylindrical tank for gas-liquid and gas-liquid-solid systems. Bubbles were drawn out from the tank using a suction pump and captured by digital camera when the bubbles passed through a specially built...

In this study, sludge from an electroplating wastewater treatment facility was treated with acids to extract heavy and precious metals. Metals of interest in the study were Aluminium and Silver, which were relatively high in concentration in the sludge sample. Acids used in the study were Hydrochloric and Nitric acid. Experiments were conducted at...