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.

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VIT University

Department of Chemical Engineering

In this paper, advanced oxidation process (AOP) combining ultrasound (US) and Fenton's process was proposed for the treatment of total petroleum hydrocarbons present in oil spill sludge. The effect of several parameters like pH, ultrasonic power, weight ratio of hydrogen peroxide to iron [H2O2/Fe2+], Fenton reagent dosage, addition of salts and contact time were analyzed for the reduction of Petroleum Hydrocarbons (PHCs) in terms of hydrocarbon fractions (nC7–C10, nC11-C20). Chemical characterization of oil spill sludge was analysed by gas chromatography- mass spectrum (GC–MS) Elemental analyser, Fourier Transform Infra Red (FT-IR) Analyser and particle size analyser. Experiments were conducted for identifying the wide range of hydrocarbons fractions (nC7–C10, nC11–C20 and nC21–C30). Results shown that maximum solubilisation and PHC removal rate of up to 84.25% could be achieved at a pH of 3.0, sludge/water ratio of 1:100, ultrasonic power of 100 W with 40–50% ultrasonic amplitude, a H2O2/Fe2+ weight ratio of 10:1, and an ultrasonic treatment time of 10 min. The lower and medium fractions (nC7–C10, nC11–C20) were amenable to degradation due to ultrasound treatment compared to the heavier carbon fraction (nC21–C30). The study concludes that the combined sono-Fenton (SF) process significantly enhanced the degradation of oil spill sludge as compared to ultrasound treatment and Fenton oxidation alone. The enhanced solubilisation achieved by US alone is highly beneficial when we couple this with biodegradation which will be greatly facilitated by the enhanced solubility. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

School of Chemical Engineering

Vellore Campus

World University root node

Fulltext

Ultrasonics Sonochemistry

Treatment of petroleum oil spill sludge using the combined ultrasound and Fenton oxidation process

IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

Decontamination of benzene from aqueous solution by green functionalization of activated carbon

This article aims at preparation of novel copper oxide nanofluid using waste palm oil as a base solvent without using any surfactants/stabilizers for its suitability in heat transfer applications. Copper oxide nanoparticles were synthesized using co-precipitation technique and were subjected to structural and morphological studies using X-ray diffraction and Transmission Electron Microscope. UV-vis and FTIR studies were conducted to confirm the formation CuO nanoparticles and adsorption of oleic acid groups on the surface of CuO nanoparticles. These nanoparticles were dispersed in waste palm oil at different concentrations (0.1% – 0.9% wt.) using ultrasonication, resulting in stable solution. CuO nanofluids were observed to be stable for at least 6 months without any sign of aggregation. The synthesized CuO nanofluid was found to exhibit enhanced thermal properties as compared to base fluid. The thermal conductivity of nanofluid (0.7% by wt. of nanoparticle) shows maximum enhancement (upto 190%) as compared to pure palm oil. Thus, it can be considered as a suitable candidate for many heat transfer applications. © 2018, Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Heat and Mass Transfer

Synthesis of stable waste palm oil based CuO nanofluid for heat transfer applications

Objective: To investigate the impact of sarcasm in analyzing the sentiments from tweets. Design: 1. The Tweets related to five different domains are collected from the Twitter by creating Twitter developer account. 2. The Tweets are preprocessed in order to extract the features (Term Frequency, Entropy, Gain Ra-tio) from the Tweets. 3. Proposed an Iterative algorithm in updating the dictionary with Negative Phrases and sentiment words. 4. Assigned a polarity to each tweet using the Dictionary based approach. 5. Tweets with Zero scores are detected as Sarcasm tweets. 6. Analysis on Variance (AOV) Test is performed on the scores obtained. 7. Perform prediction on the scores using Machine Learning Algorithms. 8. Estimated the Mean Square Prediction Error (MSPE) using Cross Validation Outcome: The impact of sarcasm on sentiment analysis is measured in terms of Precision, Recall and F-score. Results: 1. Scores of Tweets based on sentiment words and Negative Phrases 2. Summary of Analysis on variance on Scores obtained. 3. Performance of Machine Learning Algorithms in Detecting the sarcasm from tweets. Conclusion: This paper has been presented to put forth the hypothesis that changes sentiment polarity (positive to negative) of sentences can be used as a feature for detecting sarcasm within product review length bodies of text. With the level of accuracy achieved, this scoring technique can be implemented as software for social networks. Also, these efforts may be a useful tool for learning about patterns in sarcasm or making better dictionaries of offensive words. © 2018 Bentham Science Publishers.

VIT Unitversity

Recent Patents on Computer Science

Parsing Based Sarcasm Detection from Literal Language in Tweets

Sanitation systems based on source separation and valorisation of human urine can improve the environmental sustainability of wastewater management. Yet, the social acceptability of such new, resource-oriented sanitation practices have not been assessed systematically. We attempt to address this research gap by reporting the findings of a survey conducted at a South Indian university that evaluated support for urine recycling among 1252 Indian consumers. We place our findings in the context of the Theory of Planned Behaviour, quantify consumer attitude to urine recycling through an exploratory numerical approach, and identify explanatory factors that shape consumer beliefs and perceptions. Overall, a moderately positive attitude was observed: 68% stated human urine should not be disposed but recycled, 55% considered it as fertiliser, but only 44% would consume food grown using it. While 65% believed using urine as crop fertiliser could pose a health risk, majority (80%) believed it could be treated so as to not pose a risk. The respondents’ ‘willingness to consume’ urine-fertilised food was found to be strongly influenced by their willingness to pay. Consumer environmental attitudes, as evaluated using the New Ecological Paradigm scale, did not influence their attitude towards urine recycling behaviour. We thus believe that simply appealing to people's environmental sensitivities is not enough for introducing environmentally-friendly technologies like urine recycling, but that more targeted marketing messages are needed. We find sufficient support among our surveyed consumers for urine recycling but highlight that further research is needed to identify what information and agency will help translate positive attitudes into action and behaviour. © 2018 The Authors

Mathematics

School of Advanced Sciences

Chennai Campus

Water Research

What do consumers think about recycling human urine as fertiliser? Perceptions and attitudes of a university community in South India

Climate change issues and acid rain episodes have triggered new research directions and the conceptualization of new preventive approaches to reduce toxic gases from entering the environment. The reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) levels in the indoor environment are also one of the challenging human safety issues during emergency incidents and rescues; for instance, a building fire. The use of an activated carbon fiber (ACF) based mask is not only effective to filter CO2 but it is also practically easy to use during such demanding situations. Such modified adsorbents will have high adsorption volume, fast adsorption rates and good thermal, acid and alkaline resistance properties. For the emergency mode considering fires, the major task is atmospheric recovery. Thus, CO2 concentration in the post-fire smoke could be high. The smoke in the room causes suffocations and unconsciousness leading to fatal injuries. In this study, ACF was modified using copper nitrate trihydrate [Cu (NO3)2 .3H2O] by impregnation and carbonization (450 °C), followed by its characterization. The modified ACF (Cu-ACF-12) showed large surface area (1147 m2 g−1), high micropore volume (0.45 cm3 g−1) and an average pore size of 1.57 nm. CO2 removal tests were carried out in a lab scale fixed bed adsorption column using the modified ACF. The process parameters were optimized based on a Box-Behnken Design (BBD) and tested in the following ranges: gas flow rate – 150–250 ml min−1, moisture content – 0–40% and modification of the ACF impregnated with copper (Cu) – 4–12 wt.%. The experimental results were statistically interpreted to elucidate the main and interaction effects. The modification of ACF showed positive effects on CO2 removal, while gas flow rate and moisture content decreased the CO2 removal. Under the optimal conditions, (gas flow rate – 150 ml min−1, moisture content – 0% and modification of the ACF – 8%), CO2 removal capacity of 2.31 mmol of CO2 g−1 Cu-ACF was obtained. © 2018 Institution of Chemical Engineers

Process Safety and Environmental Protection

Effect of process parameters influencing the chemical modification of activated carbon fiber for carbon dioxide removal

This work aims at synthesis and phase transfer of highly stable oxidation resistant copper nanostructures (large nanoparticles, nanorods and nanosheets) using simple reduction of Cu(OH)4 2− with hydrazine hydrate in the presence of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as a surfactant. Different copper nanostructures were synthesized by varying the concentration of copper salt (CuCl2·2H2O), surfactant (CTAB) and reducing agent (hydrazine hydrate). The morphology of copper nanostructures is found to be dependent on the concentration of Cu(OH)4 2−. The synthesized copper nanostructures are stable against aggregation for at least 6 months. These copper nanostructures were also successfully transferred to organic solvents like toluene and hexane from aqueous surfactant solution using a protocol used for transferring gold nanorods. In this protocol, mercaptosuccinic acid (MSA) was successfully used to replace the existing CTAB molecules with negatively charge MSA molecules. It has been confirmed that an optimum concentration of MSA (30 mM) is very essential to promote the phase transfer from aqueous phase to toluene/hexane phase containing tetraoctylammonium bromide (TOAB). The morphology of copper nanostructures is also preserved even after phase transfer. Other simpler phase transfer techniques have also been tried but it has been observed that such methods failed to transfer these nanostructures to organic solvents. © 2018 Elsevier B.V.

Colloids and Surfaces A: Physicochemical and Engineering Aspects

Preparation of stable copper nanostructures and their direct phase transfer using mercaptosuccinic acid

Department of Chemistry

Desalination and Water Treatment

Lithium perchlorate modified nanoporous polyethersulfone membranes for improved dye rejection

Poly(ether sulfone) blended membranes were synthesized with various percentages of manganese carbonate as a surface modifier and poly(ethylene glycol) using a phase inversion technique. Surface characterization was made using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and contact angle. The membrane equilibrium water content, porosity and average pore size were measured to evaluate the physical properties of the membrane. Performance of the blended membranes was evaluated in terms of water permeability, antifouling property and dye rejection efficiency. The membrane showed a significant change in surface morphology and hydrophilicity when 3 wt % MnCO3 was used. Water uptake tests confirmed the enhanced porous nature of the PES/PEG/MnCO3 blended membranes over the pristine PES membrane. Fouling studies showed that the 3 wt% MnCO3 blended membrane possesses an impressive 98% flux recovery ratio. © 2017, © 2017 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor &amp; Francis Group.

International Journal of Environmental Studies

Improved hydrophilic property of PES/PEG/MnCO3 blended membranes for synthetic dye separation

Abstract In this article, ZnO thin-film deposition on a glass substrate was done using microwave induced oxygen plasma based CVD system. The prepared thin-films were tested in terms of crystallinity and optical properties by varying the microwave power. The effect of power variation on the morphology and size of final products was carefully investigated. The crystal structure, chemical composition and morphology of the final products were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), UV-Vis spectroscopy, Raman spectroscopy and photoluminescence (PL). This technique confirmed the presence of hexagonal ZnO nanocrystals in all the thin-films. The minimum crystallite grain size as obtained from the XRD measurements was ~9.7 nm and the average diameter was ~18 nm.