Venkata Krishna K Upadhyayula

Umeå University | UMU · Department of Chemistry

The scarcity of water resources and environmental pollution have highlighted the need for sustainable wastewater treatment. Existing conventional treatment systems are energy-intensive and not always able to meet stringent disposal standards. Recently, algal-bacterial systems have emerged as environmentally friendly sustainable processes for wastew...

Municipal wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) could become valuable contributors to a circular economy by implementing the 3R principles (reduce, reuse, and recycle). While reducing the pollution load of sewage is the primary objective of a WWTP, this process generates several potentially valuable byproducts including treated effluent, biogas, and...

International shipping in the Arctic region is one of the key contributors to changes in the region due to the generated air emissions from marine fuels combustion, usage of forest-based biofuels as an alternative to conventional fossil fuels in marine shipping seem as an attractive alternative. However, a system analysis perspective is needed to e...

The increasing use of engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) in consumer products has led to their increased presence in natural water systems. Here, we present a critical overview of the studies that analyzed the fate and transport behavior of ENPs using real environmental samples. We focused on cerium dioxide, titanium dioxide, silver, carbon nanotubes,...

Increasing demand for biofuel production and global competition for the use of natural resources are key factors in finding new and environmentally safe routes for methanol production. In the present study, life cycle assessment was used to analyse the potential environmental impact and environmental cost of a novel methanol production process from...

Over 640 million people in Africa are expected to rely on solid-fuels for cooking by 2040. In Western Kenya, cooking inefficiently persists as a major cause of burden of disease due to household air pollution. Efficient biomass cooking is a local-based renewable energy solution to address this issue. The Life-Cycle Assessment tool Simapro 8.5 is ap...

Renewable energy production from biomass sources and related bio-based economy is gaining more and more attention nowadays. Research related to biomass and bio-based fuels is an important part of the strategic agenda of many countries in Europe and Asia. Furthermore, upscaling investigation in the area is undergoing in many other countries around t...

In today’s world several major concerns are related to energy and environmental, such as the increasing population, high levels of living standards, and increasing industrialization. These issues require a constant consumption of energy and generate large amounts of wastes. Given the present circumstances and future projections, it is vital to iden...

The current practice of landfilling fly ash generated by waste incineration is non-sustainable, so alternative ways of using this material are needed. Silanization effectively immobilizes the heavy metal contaminants incineration fly ash and enables its circular utilization because silanized fly ash (SFA) has market value as a low-cost filler for p...

A modern way for communicating scientific research and outreaching method was implemented by the system analysis team at the department of chemistry, Umea University. The team developed a webinar series entitled "Sustainable cities and circular bioeconomy", aiming to:-Emphasize importance of systems level thinking in research projects related to su...

Cities in developing nations have to deal with two significant sustainability challenges amidst rampant urbanization. First, consumer-generated food waste is increasing monumentally since open dumping is still followed as a predominant practice, the negative environmental externalities associated with food waste disposal are growing beyond manageab...

Bio4Energy and Green Technology Webinar Series: A Modern Way of Doing Outreach – Dalia Abdelfattah and Krishna Upadhyayula, Bio4Energy System Analysis and Bioeconomy

Vehicle lightweighting strategies must deliver sustainable returns to customers and society. This work evaluates the sustainable return on investment (SROI) of lightweighted advanced high strength steel (AHSS) and carbon fiber reinforced polymer (CFRP)-intensive multimaterial bodies in white (BIWs) for automobiles. The SROI depends on the lightweig...

Abstract: The Indian automotive industry is faced with an unenviable challenge of achieving a sustainable growth in one of the largest markets. Adapting to increasingly strict environmental norms by the government committed to reducing the national greenhouse gas emissions, growing concerns amongst the citizens over the deteriorating air quality i...

Many Game Changing Innovations (GCIs) from the academic institutions struggle in the Technology Valley of Death (TVD) and they fail to reach commercialization. The academic researchers often lack motivation to seek entrepreneurial opportunities for their GCIs. They are often discouraged after considering the burden required to convince private inve...

We report the use of a single layer of two-dimensional hexagonal boron nitride (SL-hBN) as the thinnest insulating barrier to microbial corrosion induced by the sulfate-reducing bacteria Desulfovibrio alaskensis G20. We used electrochemical methods to assess the corrosion resistance of SL-hBN on copper against the effects of both the planktonic and...

The environmental performance of Liquefied Biomethane (LBM) and Diesel operated Tractor Trailer (TT) is compared using the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study. In this study we consider, raw biogas produced from an anaerobic digestion process of a Wastewater Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Umea, Sweden, which is then upgraded and liquefied to LBM and used...

A major concern for exposed steel in structural applications is susceptibility to atmospheric corrosion. The International Organization for Standardization classifies atmospheric environments into six zones, C1-C5 and CX, based on factors such as humidity, airborne salinity, and acidic pollutants. The C5 and CX zones are characterized by aggressive...

In this article, we estimate the potential energy benefits of lightweighting the light-duty vehicle fleet from both vehicle manufacturing and use perspectives using plausible lightweight vehicle designs involving several alternative lightweight materials, low- and high-end estimates of vehicle manufacturing energy, conventional and alternative powe...

Biodiesel is a widely used fuel that meets the renewable fuel standards developed under the Energy Policy Act of 2005. However, biodiesel is known to pose a series of abiotic and biotic corrosion risks to storage tanks. A typical practice (incumbent system) used to protect the tanks from these risks include (i) coating the interior surface of the t...

Silicon carbide and gallium nitride, two leading wide band gap semiconductors with significant potential in electric vehicle power electronics, are examined from a life cycle energy perspective and compared with incumbent silicon in U.S. light-duty electric vehicle fleet. Cradle-to-gate, silicon carbide is estimated to require more than twice the e...

Carbon nanotube (CNT) field emission displays (FEDs) are currently in the product development stage and are expected to be commercialized in the near future because they offer image quality and viewing angles comparable to a cathode ray tube (CRT) while using a thinner structure, similar to a liquid crystal display (LCD), and enable more efficient...

Chemical feedstocks (mainly Ethylene, Methanol and NH3) are conventionally produced from crude oil but deriving the same from natural gas is an option under active perusal by chemical and petrochemical industries today. Since natural gas is an abundantly available and a much cleaner source than crude oil, chemical feedstock production routes using...

Nanotechnology is a broad-impact technology with applications ranging from materials and electronics to analytical methods and metrology. The many benefits that can be realized through the utilization of nanotechnology are intended to lead to an improved quality of life. However, numerous concerns have been expressed regarding the unchecked growth...

The importance of evaluating the environmental performance of emerging carbon nanotube (CNT) products from a life cycle perspective is emphasized in this work. Design, development and deployment of CNT products offer many potential benefits to society, but not without negative impacts on public health and the environment. Cradle-to-grave life cycle...

There is a great necessity for development of novel sensory concepts supportive of smart sensing capabilities in defense and homeland security applications for detection of chemical and biological threat agents. A smart sensor is a detection device that can exhibit important features such as speed, sensitivity, selectivity, portability, and more im...

Commercialization of carbon nanotube field emission displays (CNT-FEDs) is highly encouraged because of their conceptually proven features that offer multiple benefits to consumers. However, considering they are nanomaterial-enabled (CNT) products, large-scale deployment of CNT-FEDs must be approached cautiously because of their potential to advers...

Introduction to Changing Water Treatment Needs Types of Contaminants Present in Influent Waters Carbon Nanotubes as Adsorbent Media in Water Treatment Adsorption of Contaminants from Water Systems on Carbon Nanotubes Challenges Associated with the Use of CNT Technology in Water Treatment Plants Conclusions

Products that incorporate materials manufactured at the nano scale (i.e., nanoproducts) offer many potential benefits to society; however, these benefits must be weighed against potential “costs” to the environment and public health. This document was developed to provide a broad guidance for assessing the sustainability of nanoproducts and is inte...

The ability of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to undergo surface modification allows them to form nanocomposites (NCs) with materials such as polymers, metal nanoparticles, biomolecules, and metal oxides. The biocidal nature, protein fouling resistance, and fouling release properties of CNT-NCs render them the perfect material for biofouling prevention. A...

Carbon nanotube (CNT) adsorption technology has the potential to support point of use (POU) based treatment approach for removal of bacterial pathogens, natural organic matter (NOM), and cyanobacterial toxins from water systems. Unlike many microporous adsorbents, CNTs possess fibrous shape with high aspect ratio, large accessible external surface...

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of Bacillus subtilis spores on single-walled carbon nanotube aggregates were investigated to explore the possibility of using single-walled carbon nanotubes for concentration, detection and removal of pathogens from contaminated water sources. Batch adsorption experiments were conducted to determine adsorption ki...

Adsorption equilibrium and kinetics of pure and mixed cultures of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on single-walled carbon nanotubes (CNT) aggregates were studied in an effort to develop CNT-based biosensors for quick detection of these bacteria in water. Batch experiments were carried out to measure the adsorption kinetics and equilibriu...

Batch adsorption studies to determine adsorption kinetics of Escherichia coli (E.coli) K12 and Staphylococcus aureus (S.aureus) SH 1000 bacterial cells on single-walled carbon nanotube aggregates were performed at two different initial concentrations. The diffusivity of E. coli cells in single-walled carbon nanotube aggregates obtained was 6.54 x 1...

Waterborne outbreaks resulting from contamination of drinking water systems with biothreat pathogens are a cause of major public health concern in many countries today. State of the art technologies, which are primarily designed to treat sewage based contaminations, are not very effective against biothreat agents. Most of the biothreat agents are c...

The possibility of using single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) aggregates as fluorescence sensors for pathogen recognition in drinking water treatment applications has been studied. Batch adsorption study is conducted to adsorb large concentrations of Staphylococcus aureus aureus SH 1000 and Escherichia coli pKV-11 on single-walled carbon nanotub...

Domestic sewage and industrial wastes, dissolved or suspended in water, are conveniently disposed of by running them, either untreated or after partial treatment, directly into coastal embayments and estuaries or into open coastal waters. Because of the increase in population density, causing a shift from individual septic systems to local collecti...