Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) is a private university located in&nbsp;Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 1984, as Vellore Engineering College, the institution offers 20 undergraduate, 34 postgraduate, four integrated and four research programs. It has campuses in Vellore, Amravati, Bhopal and Chennai.

VIT is one of the top ranked private universities in India according to NIRF, THE and QS Rankings.&nbsp;Govt. of India has recognized&nbsp;VIT, Vellore as an&nbsp;Institution of Eminence. This has allowed VIT to take independent quality initiatives and move up in world ranking.

&nbsp;

&nbsp;

VIT University

This study describes the feasibility of anaerobic ammonia removal process in presence of organic matter. Different sources of biomass collected from diverse eco-systems containing ammonia and organic matter (OM) were screened for potential anaerobic ammonia removal. Sequential batch studies confirmed the possibility of anaerobic ammonia removal in presence of OM, but ammonia was oxidized anoxically to nitrate (at oxidation reduction potential; ORP = -248 ± 25 mV) by an unknown mechanism unlike in the reported anammox process. The oxygen required for oxidation of ammonia might have been generated through catalase enzymatic activity of facultative anaerobes in mixed culture. The oxygen generation possibility by catalase enzyme route was demonstrated. Among the inorganic electron acceptors (NO2-, NO3- and SO42-) studied, NO2- was found to be most effective in total nitrogen removal. Denitrification by the developed culture was much effective and faster compared to ammonia oxidation. The results of this study show that anaerobic ammonia removal is feasible in presence of OM. The novel nitrogen removal route is hypothesized as enzymatic anoxic oxidation of NH4+ to NO3-, followed by denitrification via autotrophic and/or heterotrophic routes. The results of batch study were confirmed in continuous reactor operation. © 2007 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

School of Civil Engineering

Chennai Campus

Journal of Hazardous Materials

Anaerobic ammonia removal in presence of organic matter: A novel route

This study examines the potential reuse of textile effluent treatment plant (ETP) sludge in building materials. The physico-chemical and engineering properties of a composite textile sludge sample from the southern part of India have been studied. The tests were conducted as per Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) specification codes to evaluate the suitability of the sludge for structural and non-structural application by partial replacement of up to 30% of cement. The cement-sludge samples failed to meet the required strength for structural applications. The strength and other properties met the Bureau of Indian Standards for non-structural materials such as flooring tiles, solid and pavement blocks, and bricks. Results generally meet most ASTM standards for non-structural materials, except that the sludge-amended bricks do not meet the Grade NW brick standard. It is concluded that the substitution of textile ETP sludge for cement, up to a maximum of 30%, may be possible in the manufacturing of non-structural building materials. Detailed leachability and economic feasibility studies need to be carried out as the next step of research. © 2005 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Department of Information Security

School of Computer Science and Engineering

Vellore Campus

World University root node

Waste Management

Reuse of textile effluent treatment plant sludge in building materials

Rapid industrialization for sustaining economic stability is leading to the pollution of environment due to disposal of untreated wastewater. Distillery is one of them which is agro based Industry generating huge quantity of wastewater or spent wash and it poses problems of disposal to acceptable standard due to its high BOD, COD, Color, Odor etc. Aerobic treatment alone is not feasible due to its energy intensive operation. So in this context anaerobic treatment of high BOD distillery wastewater seems to be an appropriate option of primary treatment, in the end of pipe treatment of distillery wastewater. This paper discusses about the operation and the result of Pilot Plant Studies on Upflow Anaerobic Fixed Bed Reactor in Biphasic Reactor System for Treatment of distillery spent wash. The Continuous Stirrer Tank Reactor (CSTR) was first phase and it serially connected to Upflow Anaerobic Fixed Film Reactor (UAFFR). This biphasic reactor system was operated for period of six months and several process parameters were monitored during this operational period. The UAFFR Reactor was started up with maximum Hydraulic Retention Time (HRT) of 99 days and minimum Organic Loading Rate (OLR) of 1.11 kg COD/M3/d and COD reduction was 65%. After 6 months treatment of spent wash in biphasic reactors it was found maximum OLR 5.38 kg COD/M3/d at HRT(Hydraulic retention time) of 18 days and given around 68% COD reduction in a stabilized phase. This study shows that there is further scope for increasing OLR and decreasing the HRT of the reactor. © Global Science Publications.

Asian Journal of Microbiology, Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences

Pilot plant studies on up flow anaerobic fixed bed reactor in biphasic reactor system for the treatment of distellery spent wash

VIT Unitversity

Department of Chemistry

School of Advanced Sciences

Acta Astronautica

An improved method of gravicraft propulsion

Fluoride is a naturally occurring toxic mineral present in drinking water and the root cause of many diseases and disorders. Present international drinking water standard set by World Health Organisation (WHO) for fluoride is 1.5 ppm. In order to find the wide spread concentration of fluoride in drinking water of fluoride contaminated aquifer, 30 bore well water samples have been collected from different villages of Natrampalli Union which comes under Tiruvannamalai Circle, Tamil Nadu, India. In the present work, an attempt to remove fluoride by the use of coagulant, Poly Aluminium Chloride (PAC) was made and is compared with the most common existing technique "Nalgonda Technique" where there was a reversible reaction. The coagulant used in Nalgonda technique is Alum [(Al2SO4)3]. Results of the present work show that Poly Aluminium Chloride (PAC) can be an effective coagulant for the removal of fluoride from water with a higher removal efficiency of about 75-85% in less detention time and also observed that the fluoride removal was dependent on initial fluoride concentration and dose of coagulants.

Indian Journal of Environmental Health

An improved method for defluoridation

An attempt was made at using the symbiotic relationship between the sulfate-reducing (SR) bacteria and sulfide-oxidizing (SO) bacteria for the degradation of organic matter present in wastewater. Major emphasis was on the development of the desired microbial system without any external seed and comparative evaluation of the two types of multistage reversing flow bioreactor systems. Two bench-scale models - one designed to achieve self-granulation of sludge (SGS), and one designed to promote growth of the symbiotic bacteria on additional nonreactive surface - were set up and operated over a period of 4 months. Several visual and microscopic observations confirmed the presence of a significant number of SR and SO bacteria in all the biological vessels. Results indicated that it is possible to develop SGS and a microbial population of SR and SO bacteria which could attach to the nonreactive surface without any external seeding.