Food waste a potential fuel for future
A large amount of food waste is being generated from hotels, restaurants, canteens, companies, vegetable markets, super markets and residential blocks. These waste ultimately ends up rotting in landfills. Anaerobic digestion (AD) is the route that can transform this food waste into a renewable energy source by producing ‘biogas’, a renewable energy source as electricity, heat and vehicle fuel.
Synthetic soils built from industrial wastes may soon replace natural soils for vegetation
Are you fed up of seeing waste being dumped on lands and causing all sorts of pollution? We too! However, for our researchers, this is not just ‘waste’ but ‘wealth of resource’. Yes, you read it right. Our researchers in collaboration with industry have taken up the challenge to covert wastes into soil. Soon you may start seeing these wastes turning waste barren lands into green lands – which are safe and sustainable.
Innovative technologies in water treatment
Our group specialises in water and wastewater treatment. We have developed cheap and effective pollutant removal technologies which includes community scale hand-pump attachable arsenic removal filter using indigenous materials to achieve international drinking water standard. This filter is the most economical amongst the available technologies for arsenic removal and more than fifty units are installed and functioning across India.
A reactor for removal of persistent pollutants present in potable water
water is no longer a safe and free commodity because most perennial Indian rivers are polluted with persistent organic pollutants. Thus provision of clean and safe potable water to all sections of society is the key challenge faced by our nation today. Clean water is also the key to enable Indian industries to produce goods of environmentally acceptable quality.
The excitement of watching paint dry
We all want our painted walls to have uniform colour and be free of surface cracks or warps. This is achieved by formulating paints that dry homogeneously and do not crack or de-bond from the surface during drying.
Detection of mercury/cyanide poisoning
Due to wide spread industrialisation, the environment is always challenged with the discharge of large number of chemical species, some of which are dangerous and toxic to human health. Among these, mercury and cyanide are two important ions having deleterious effect on human health. For example, cyanide compounds (like HCN, CNCl, NaCN, and KCN) are discharged into the environment due to the increased utility of these in many chemical processes (such as electroplating, plastics manufacturing, tanning, and metallurgy) to an extent of 900-1000 tons/year.
Materials for CO 2 capture
Increasing level of CO 2 in the environment owing to anthropogenic activities is one of the pressing global issues that needs immediate resolution. Ever increasing development of industries and human population will produce more and more CO 2 emission by continuous consumption of fossil fuels. The immediate challenge is to improve the current technologies which can capture CO 2 efficiently and convert it into useful sustainable fuels (i.e. methane and methanol) in presence of natural resources such as water and sun light.
Fog watch: Using satellite remote sensing to monitor the widespread winter fog over South Asia
Each year during the winter season (December-January), dense fog engulfs the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP) in South Asia, extending over a stretch of 1500 km, for more than a month disrupting day-to-day life of millions of people living in the IGP. Increasing air pollution combined with sufficient moisture available due to the passage of frequent north-westerlies favor fog formation in this region. Trends in poor visibility suggest a significant increase in worsening air quality and foggy days over the IGP.
Cloud darkening: Impact of smoke from fires and pollution on the fate of clouds
Aerosols are tiny suspended particles released in the atmosphere from natural and anthropogenic emissions/processes such as dust storms, volcanic eruptions, forest fires, vehicular and industrial emissions, etc. Aerosol particles are a significant part of our weather and climate system, and due to their complex interactions with clouds and rainfall processes, these tiny particles (although emitted in large concentrations in the air), they pose a large uncertainty in our in depth understanding of clouds, rainfall, and the overall climate system.
Optimising on waste sand
Disposal of waste foundry sand (WFS) remains one of the major challenges faced by the foundry industry today. India’s annual casting production is around 9.3 million tons which is the third highest in the world.WFS contains toxic heavy metals and particulate matter which makes dumping of waste sand an environmental and health hazard. More than 80% of Indian foundries (i.e. more than 3600) are medium and small scale foundries which cannot afford costs associated with the dumping and treatment of waste foundry sand.
Making molehills out of mountains
Mountain belts like the Himalaya have both sustained and destroyed humans and closely affect our lives. Mountain building processes result in earthquakes and landslides which are major hazards to the human civilisation. Major earthquakes that activate the main frontal thrust (MFT) are particularly devastating.My research group is involved in understanding the kinematics of the Himalaya that result in the these earthquakes by undertaking a detailed study of the main frontal fault zone that results in extreme pulverisation of the rocks (Fig. 1) and building of Himalayan topography (Fig. 2).
Understanding microbe-sediment interaction of the past from present day findings
Microbes play an important role in modifying depositional dynamics of sedimentation systems. Microbes dominated the Precambrian biosphere and were limited to stressful depositional conditions in Phanerozoic. Microbially mediated sedimentation is well known in Precambrian. However, microbe- sediment interaction is less studied in Precambrian siliciclastics.Microbes play an important role in modifying depositional dynamics of sedimentation systems. Microbes dominated the Precambrian biosphere and were limited to stressful depositional conditions in Phanerozoic.
Why do we not mitigate urban flood risk even though we have a scientific understanding and technological capability to do so?
Floods in cities are an increasingly frequent phenomenon across the world, especially in coastal urban areas. However even well governed, well-equipped, well-financed urban governance institutions, disaster management agencies, and municipal bodies are unable to either reduce flood related disaster risk, or mitigate the risk of flooding. Despite the availability of high-tech equipment, simulation and prediction models, and research inputs from scientists and social scientists, this continues to be the situation whether in Asia, Europe or North America.
Fate of marine oil spills along Mumbai coastline
Oil spill, due to collisions or grounding of ships, is one of the most devastating forms of pollution in the marine environment. The impact of an accidental oil spill could be tremendous on marine ecosystem, coastal economy and other activities. Heavy vessel traffic in and out of the major commercial ports, such as Jawaharlal Nehru Port and Mumbai port has made the coastline of Mumbai vulnerable for oil spill incidents.
Comprehensive analysis of siltation dynamics of Thane creek
The Thane creek which houses two major commercial ports; Mumbai & Jawaharlal Nehru Ports faces periodic siltation problems. The maintenance dredging, carried out to keep navigational channel navigable, incurs high annual cost. A detailed understanding of the dominant processes causing morphological changes is required in tackling the problem of siltation.An attempt has been made to simulate the annual morphological change soccurring within Mumbai port limits, using a process-based hydrodynamic and morphological numerical model.
Nearshore dynamics: A unique five institute joint field measurement exercise along Pondicherry coastline
A team of scientists from five different institutions: National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management Project Directorate (ICMAM PD), Chennai; National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), Goa; and National Central University (NCU), Taiwan led by IIT Bombay has successfully demonstrated the joint capabilities through a one-day field measurement campaign to estimate the nearshore dynamics along Pondicherry coast, located about 150 kms south of Chennai.
Tidal energy: Assessment of resources along Indian Gulfs
Tidal energy is one of the most promising resources of marine renewable energy. In India, Gulf of Khambhat, Gulf of Kutchh in Gujarat state and delta of Ganga in Sunderbans, West Bengal state are potential sites for generating tidal power. The aim of the research study is to estimate the tidal power potential along the Gulfs of Khambhat and Kutch. Two independent hydrodynamic models have been developed to estimate the spatial and temporal distributions of tidal energies in these Gulfs.
Regionalised design rainfall estimation: An appraisal of inundation mapping for flood management under data scarce situations
Hydrological studies in regions with sparse rain gauge networks are limited by the availability of rainfall data. Hence, a regionalisation approach becomes critical in modeling extreme events such as floods. A comprehensive framework is put forward for generating regionalised design rainfall time series, which can serve as a vital tool for data-scarce catchments prone to flood disasters. To demonstrate the framework, Jagatsinghpur district, a highly flood prone region in Odisha (India) is selected.
Non-stationarity in Indian summer monsoon
Indian summer monsoon rainfall (ISMR) is the major component of the Asian summer monsoon, which provides an 80% of the total annual rainfall in India, from June to September, which is critically important for agricultural productivity and GDP. However, global and local environmental changes are likely to introduce non-stationarity in the characteristics of ISMR extremes.
Circular economy and eco-efficiency for urban areas in India
Urban populations (and the associated resource consumption) are one of the largest contributors to the global energy consumption and environmental impact. In India, there is continuous increase in urbanisation and almost 1/3 rd of the population is already staying in urbanised areas. With the challenges of global warming and other diverse environmental pressures on earth, it has become essential to decouple the growth from resource consumption such that there will be less pressure on the environment due to human activities.