Department of Environmental and Water Resources Engineering

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

School of Civil Engineering

The current work investigated the potential of Tetracycline (TC) removal from aqueous solutions using Fe/Pd nanoparticles coated over sand by in situ process (IS-Fe/Pd). The developed IS-Fe/Pd was then characterized using XRD, SEM, and EDAX. In batch studies, optimum TC removal (99.78 ± 0.05 %) was attained by initial TC concentration: 20 μg/mL; IS-Fe/Pd weight: 1000 mg; and interaction time: 180 min. The underlying TC removal mechanism was studied by performing a thorough characterization of IS-Fe/Pd and TC solution during the removal process. The structural modifications in IS-Fe/Pd were characterized using XRD, FTIR, SEM, and EDAX, while the chemical variations of the TC solution were studied through TOC, ORP, and LCMS measurements. A combination of degradation and adsorption by IS-Fe/Pd nanoparticle-coated sand was responsible for TC removal from aqueous medium. Also, the cell viability assessment using the bacteria, Bacillus and Pseudomonas, and algae Chlorella sp. revealed that the toxicity of TC has substantially reduced after treatment with IS-Fe/Pd nanoparticle-coated sand. Further, the column study evaluated the impacts of varying bed height, flow rate, and initial TC concentration. At the optimized condition (bed height: 10 cm; flow rate: 1 mL/min; initial TC concentration: 20 μg/mL), the removal capacity was 433 ± 13 μg/mg in column reactors. In the case of TC-spiked natural water systems, 350 ± 18 μg/mg and 395 ± 15 μg/mg capacity was noted for lake and tap water, respectively. © 2020 Elsevier Ltd

World University root node

Vellore Campus

Centre for Nanobiotechnology

Journal of Water Process Engineering

In-situ coating of Fe/Pd nanoparticles on sand and its application for removal of tetracycline from aqueous solution

Bond strength between embedded bar and concrete plays vital role in the design of various reinforced concrete structural elements. Use of metallic and synthetic fibres has been shown to be an effective method to enhance tensile strength, reduce shrinkage and improve durability properties of concrete. However, making of synthetic fibres will not only deplete the natural hydrocarbon resources, but also add greenhouse pollutants to the environment. Hence, sisal fibre was considered as a potential alternative to polypropylene fibre. An experimental study was conducted to evaluate the influence of sisal fibres as mono-fibre and in combination with steel as hybrid fibre on bond strength of concrete. The performance of steel polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete (SPFRC) is compared with that of steel sisal fibre reinforced concrete (SSiFRC). Bond strength was conducted onM30 grade concrete for curing periods of 7, 28 and 90 days. Fibre dosages of 0.50%, 1.00%, 1.25% and 1.50% by volume of concrete were used. Results indicated that increase in steel fibre dosage improved the bond strength slightly. However, increase in fibre dosage of either PP fibres or sisal fibres resulted decrease in bond strength. Furthermore, sisal fibre reinforced concrete (SiFRC) showed inferior performance in bond strength as compared to polypropylene fibre reinforced concrete (PFRC). A detailed statistical analysis revealed that although no strong correlation between the compressive strength and the bond strength was evident from the experimental study, means of bond strength of both the hybrid groups did not differ significantly. In addition, empirical equations were proposed to predict the bond strength of fibre reinforced concrete (FRC) based on compressive strength. © 2020, International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences.

Department of Structural and Geotechical Engineering

Fulltext

International Journal of Mathematical, Engineering and Management Sciences

Influence of hybrid fibres on bond strength of concrete

Accurate measurement of control delay and queue length is important for effective traffic management at signalized intersections and to assess its performance. The analytical methods which are commonly used to estimate delays are primarily developed for homogeneous lane-based traffic conditions and require lot of inputs for delay estimation. If cycle lengths are not the same for a signalized intersection operated by traffic police, then use of analytical methods is restricted. The present study tries to overcome these limitations by proposing an approach in which the individual delay components were directly measured using travel times from video as input and electric poles on median as reference points. Traffic captured through videographic survey at a busy intersection in Vellore, India, was used to illustrate the proposed approach. Instead of conventional stopped delay concept, a new delay called ‘Stop & Go’ delay which is more appropriate for heavily congested intersections has been proposed and used. This ‘Stop & Go’ delay concept captures the time lost due to movement of queue in addition to frequent stoppings which is rather not possible with stopped delay definition. It was found that the control delays experienced by different vehicle types are not the same and four-wheeler exhibits longer delays than two- and three-wheelers. One of the main advantages of the proposed approach is it does not require many parameters to calculate control delay and only travel times of sample vehicles are sufficient. Another advantage with the proposed approach is it can be applied to all types of signalized intersections irrespective of whether it has a fixed time signal or manually operated one. With the proposed approach, one can get vehicle class-wise individual delay components which may not be possible with the existing methods available in the literature. In addition to delay measurement, the present study also developed polynomial regression models to predict queue length at intersections using control delay as independent variable. The results are promising and can be used to predict the queue length at signalized intersections in India. © 2020, The Institution of Engineers (India).

Journal of The Institution of Engineers (India): Series A

Measurement of Mode-Wise Individual Delay Components and Prediction of Queue Length at a Signalized Intersection Under Heterogeneous Traffic Conditions

Lecture Notes in Electrical Engineering Microgrid: Operation, Control, Monitoring and Protection

Modern Control Methods for Adaptive Droop Coefficients’ Design

VIT Unitversity

Lecture Notes on Multidisciplinary Industrial Engineering Emerging Technologies for Agriculture and Environment

A Study on Strength Properties and Cost Analysis of Industrial Byproduct-Based Ternary Blended Geopolymer Concrete

This study focuses on determining the possible interaction of organics like kadukkai (terminalia chebula) and jaggery (unrefined sugar) with an inorganic lime mortar using chemical analysis, organic analysis, and analytical techniques such as XRD, FT-IR, TGA, and SEM. It is due to the materials present in organics that various properties of lime mortar are enhanced. The results of kadukkai (LM-K), jaggery (LM-J), and jaggery-kadukkai hybrid (LM-JK) lime mortars were compared with the reference mortar (LM-R). Results show that the presence of carbohydrate in the organics boosts the carbonation process in the lime matrix. The thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) results illustrate that the total weight loss of organic modified lime mortar was higher for LM-K, LM-J, and LM-JK with 14.36%, 14.23%, and 15.58% whereas mortar without organic modification was 8.05%. The addition of kadukkai and jaggery in the lime mortar separately has enhanced the carbonation rate of lime mortar whereas the kadukkai-jaggery hybrid modified lime mortar increased the calcium oxalate minerals in the lime mortar, which helps to increase the durability of mortar. © 2020 American Society of Civil Engineers.

Journal of Architectural Engineering

Effect of Natural Herbs on Hydrated Phases of Lime Mortar

The enhancement in efficient wastewater treatment processes is one of the greatest significant problems mainly in textile dyeing units. Textile dyeing wastewater holds huge quantities of chemically diverse manmade dyes, surfactants, and other mineral substances, which are accountable for a severe toxicity on municipal wastewater treatment facilities. In this study, the colored wastewater contains mainly a Crystal violet dye from a local dyeing unit was treated by batch coagulation test using algal alginate as a coagulant extracted from Sargassum sp. marine brown algae. The raw algal alginate and dye loaded alginate was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy techniques. The effect of various parameters like alginate dose, calcium dose, and settling time was investigated. It was noted that the maximum color removal of 97.3% at optimum conditions of 50 mg/L of alginate dose, 6 g/L of calcium dose was achieved. The sludge volume index (SVI) was examined at the maximum dye removal condition and compared with alum. The preliminary kinetic study on dye removal process shows that, it follows a second-order kinetic equation. The present study reveals that the algal alginate, a biopolymeric compound extracted from brown algae Sargassum sp. can be an efficient coagulant for Crystal violet dye removal in the wastewater from the textile dyeing unit. © 2020 Desalination Publications. All rights reserved.

Desalination and Water Treatment

Removal of crystal violet dye in textile effluent by coagulation using algal alginate from brown algae sargassum sp.

Contamination from microplastics is a growing concern around the globe that materialized over the last few decades. Road dust is one of the main contributors of microplastics in an urban environment and presence of microplastics can be a major detriment to health of urban population. The present study focuses on the presence, quantification, and identification of microplastics in the ambient air. Coarse (PM10) and fine (PM2.5) particulates from urban and rural sites of Nagpur, India is collected using high volume air samplers for weekdays and weekends for a period of 24 h. Samples are collected in Polytetrafluoroethylene filter papers and are analyzed using a stereomicroscope, fluorescence microscopic study, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Fluorescence microscopy is conducted using Nile Red staining for analyzing the presence of microplastics and studying its shapes and colors. An average total abundance ranging from 50 to 120 particles/day is observed. Fibers are the dominant shape, and transparent/white is the dominant color observed in all four sites. FTIR analysis is conducted for identification of the chemical composition of particles in Attenuated Reflectance mode. The polymers identified in the region are low-density polyethylene, rayon, rubber fiber, polystyrene, polyaniline, polyolefin, and chlorinated polyvinyl chloride. This research identified significant contamination of the study region from microplastics and highlights the necessity of performing a comprehensive health risk analysis of the study region to examine the impact of microplastics on urban health. © 2020, University of Tehran.

International Journal of Environmental Research

Assessment of Microplastics in Roadside Suspended Dust from Urban and Rural Environment of Nagpur, India

The Effect of Alccofine on Blended Concrete Under Compression

Lecture Notes in Civil Engineering Proceedings of SECON'19

Study on Geo-polymer Concrete Under Acidic and Saline Conditions