Search results for: depletion

Authors: Chinumani Choudhury

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Heavy metal contamination is an alarming problem, which poses a serious risk to human health and the surrounding geology. Soils get contaminated with heavy metals due to the un-regularized industrial discharge of the toxic metal-rich effluents. Under such a condition, the remediation of the contaminated sites becomes imperative for a sustainable, safe, and healthy environment. Phytoextraction, which involves the removal of heavy metals from the soil through root absorption and uptake, is a viable remediation technique, which ensures extraction of the toxic inorganic compound available in the soil even at low concentrations. The soil present in the Silghat Region of Assam, India, is mostly contaminated with Zinc (Zn) and Lead (Pb), having concentrations as high as to cause a serious environmental problem if proper measures are not taken. In the present study, an extensive experimental study was carried out to understand the effectiveness of two commonly planted trees in Assam, namely, i) Indian Pennywort and ii) Fenugreek, in the removal of heavy metals from the contaminated soil. The basic characterization of the soil in the contaminated site of the Silghat region was performed and the field concentration of Zn and Pb was recorded. Various long-term laboratory pot tests were carried out by sowing the seeds of Indian Pennywort and Fenugreek in a soil, which was spiked, with a very high dosage of Zn and Pb. The tests were carried out for different concentration of a particular heavy metal and the individual effectiveness in the absorption of the heavy metal by the plants were studied. The concentration of the soil was monitored regularly to assess the rate of depletion and the simultaneous uptake of the heavy metal from the soil to the plant. The amount of heavy metal uptake by the plant was also quantified by analyzing the plant sample at the end of the testing period. Finally, the study throws light on the applicability of the studied plants in the field for effective remediation of the contaminated sites of Assam.

Keywords: phytoextraction, heavy-metals, Indian pennywort, fenugreek

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Authors: Shangqing Song, Bin Xu, Yajun Cheng, Zhong Wang

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miRNAs derived from exosomes exist in a body fluid such as urine were regarded as potential biomarkers for various human cancers diagnosis and prognosis, as mature miRNAs can be steadily preserved by exosomes. However, its potential value in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) diagnosis and prognosis remains unclear. In the present study, differentially expressed miRNAs from urinal exosomes were identified by next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. The 16 differentially expressed miRNAs were identified between ccRCC patients and healthy donors. To explore the specific diagnosis biomarker of ccRCC, we validated these urinary exosomes from 70 early-stage renal cancer patients, 30 healthy people and other urinary system cancers, including 30 early-stage prostate cancer patients and 30 early-stage bladder cancer patients by qRT-PCR. The results showed that urinary exosome miR-30c-5p could be stably amplified and meanwhile the expression of miR-30c-5p has no significant difference between other urinary system cancers and healthy control, however, expression level of miR-30c-5p in urinary exosomal of ccRCC patients was lower than healthy people and receiver operation characterization (ROC) curve showed that the area under the curve (AUC) values was 0.8192 (95% confidence interval was 0.7388-0.8996, P= 0.0000). In addition, up-regulating miR-30c-5p expression could inhibit renal cell carcinoma cells growth. Lastly, HSP5A was found as a direct target gene of miR-30c-5p. HSP5A depletion reversed the promoting effect of ccRCC growth casued by miR-30c-5p inhibitor, respectively. In conclusion, this study demonstrated that urinary exosomal miR-30c-5p is readily accessible as diagnosis biomarker of early-stage ccRCC, and miR-30c-5p might modulate the expression of HSPA5, which correlated with the progression of ccRCC.

Keywords: clear cell renal cell carcinoma, exosome, HSP5A, miR-30c-5p

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Authors: Zengda Li

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The tectonic evolution of the Beishan orogen, which forms part of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt, remains debated. This study reports the identification of three Triassic granitic plutons representing two distinct stages of magmatism in southern Beishan orogen. Zircon U–Pb dating constrains the early stage as 238–237 Ma and the late stage as 229–227 Ma. The granitoids belong to high-K calc-alkaline and shoshonitic series and exhibit alkalic-calcic and calc-alkalic features, and are weakly peraluminous rocks. Most of these granitoids are highly fractionated I-type and A-type granites. They have relatively high Isr values (0.7049–0.7086) and weak negative εNd(t) values of −1.5 to −2.1, with young Nd model ages of 1.04–0.91 Ga, indicating a crustal contribution. They also show markedly positive zircon εHf(t) values (+3.4 to +11.8) and two-stage Hf model ages of 1.06–0.69 Ga, indicating a mixture of mantle and crustal components. The lithospheric mantle beneath this region incorporating older subducted materials was metasomatized by fluids or melts. Partial melting of the metasomatized lithospheric mantle resulted in underplated magmas, which provided the heat and material input to generate the granitoids. The Middle Triassic granitic plutons show moderate negative Eu anomalies, enrichment of LILEs and depletion in Nb, Ta, and Ti suggesting partial melting of crustal components in response to the underplated mantle-derived magmas, probably linked to lithospheric delamination and asthenospheric upwelling. The Late Triassic granitic plutons show characteristics of post-orogenic granite with strong negative anomalies of Eu, Ba, Nb, Sr, P, and Ti, indicating fractional crystallization and crustal contamination during the emplacement process.

Keywords: Triassic, magmatism, geochronology, petrogenesis, Beishan orogen

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Authors: Asis Kumar Khan, Rajeev Kumar Goel

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Recent infrastructure growth all around the world lead to increase in demand for concrete day by day. Cement being binding material for concrete the usage of cement also gone up significantly. Cement manufacturing utilizes abundant natural resources and causes environment pollution by releasing a huge quantity of CO₂ into the atmosphere. So, it is high time to look for alternates to reduce the cement consumption in concrete. Geopolymer concrete is one such material which utilizes the industrial waste such as fly ash, ground granulated blast furnace slag and low-cost alkaline liquids such as sodium hydroxide and sodium silicate to produce the concrete. On the other side, river sand is becoming very expensive due to its large-scale depletion at source and the high cost of transportation. In this view, river sand is replaced by crushed sand in this study. In this work, an attempt has been made to understand the durability parameters of geopolymer concrete by partially replacing fly ash with cement. Fly ash is replaced by cement at various levels e.g., from 0 to 50%. Concrete cubes of 100x100x100mm were used for investigating different durability parameters. The various parameters studied includes compressive strength, split tensile strength, drying shrinkage, sodium sulphate attack resistance, sulphuric acid attack resistance and chloride permeability. Highest compressive strength & highest split tensile strength is observed in 30% replacement level. Least drying is observed with 30% replacement level. Very good resistance for sulphuric acid & sodium sulphate is found with 30% replacement. However, it was not possible to find out the chloride permeability due to the high conductivity of geopolymer samples of all replacement levels.

Keywords: crushed sand, compressive strength, drying shrinkage, geopolymer concrete, split tensile strength, sodium sulphate attack resistance, sulphuric acid attack resistance

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Authors: Wicleffe Musingarimi

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Currently, the rising energy demand as a result of an increase in the world’s population and the sustainable use of abundant natural resources are key issues facing many developed and developing countries including South Africa. Most of the energy to meet this growing demand comes from fossil fuel. Use of fossil fuels has led to environmental problems such air pollution, climate change, and acid rain. In addition, fossil fuels are facing continual depletion, which has led to the rise in oil prices, leading to the global economies melt down. Hence development of alternative clean and renewable energy source is a global priority. Renewable biomass from forest products, agricultural crops, and residues, as well as animal and municipal waste are promising alternatives. South Africa is one of the leading wine producers in the world; leading to a lot of winery waste (ww) being produced which can be used in anaerobic digestion (AD) to produce biogas. Biogas was produced from batch anaerobic digestion of zebra manure (zm) and batch anaerobic co-digestion of winery waste (ww) and zebra manure through water displacement. The batch digester with slurry of winery waste and zebra manure in the weight ratio of 1:2 was operated in a 1L container at 37°C for 30days. Co-digestion of winery waste and zebra manure produced higher amount of biogas as compared to zebra manure alone and winery waste alone. No biogas was produced by batch anaerobic digestion of winery waste alone. Chemical analysis of C/N ratio and total solids (TS) of zebra manure was 21.89 and 25.2 respectively. These values of C/N ratio and TS were quite high compared to values of other studied manures. Zebra manure also revealed unusually high concentration of Fe reaching 3600pm compared to other studies of manure. PCR with communal DNA of the digestate gave a positive hit for the presence of archaea species using standard archea primers; suggesting the presence of methanogens. Methanogens are key microbes in the production of biogas. Therefore, this study demonstrated the potential of zebra manure as an inoculum in the production of biogas.

Keywords: anaerobic digestion, biogas, co-digestion, methanogens

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Authors: Magdy Danial Riad

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Introduction: The ability of our world to support the expanding population after 2050 is at risk due to the food system's global role in poor health, climate change, and resource depletion. Healthy, equitable, and sustainable food systems must be achieved from the point of production through consumption in order to meet several of the sustainable development goals (SDG) targets. There is evidence that changing the local food environment can effectively change dietary habits in a community. The purpose of this article is to outline the policy initiatives taken by local governments to support environmentally friendly eating habits. Methods: Five databases were searched for peer-reviewed articles that described local government authorities' implementation of environmentally sustainable eating habits, were located in cities that had signed the Milan Urban Food Policy Pact, were published after 2015, were available in English, and described policy interventions. Data extraction was a two-step approach that started with extracting information from the included study and ended with locating information unique to policies in the grey literature. Results: 45 papers that described a variety of policy initiatives from low-, middle-, and high-income countries met the inclusion criteria. A variety of desired dietary behaviors were the focus of policy action, including reducing food waste, procuring food locally and in season, boosting breastfeeding, avoiding overconsumption, and consuming more plant-based meals and fewer items derived from animals. Conclusions: In order to achieve SDG targets, local governments are under pressure to implement evidence-based interventions. This study can help direct local governments toward evidence-based policy measures to improve regional food systems and support ecologically friendly eating habits.

Keywords: meals, planet, poor health, eating habits

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Authors: Ranjit Kumar Sahu, Ramakar Jha

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Urban Water Management is the practice of managing freshwater, waste water, and storm water as components of a basin-wide management plan. It builds on existing water supply and sanitation considerations within an urban settlement by incorporating urban water management within the scope of the entire river basin. The pervasive problems generated by urban development have prompted, in the present work, to study the spatial extent of urbanization in Golden Triangle of Odisha connecting the cities Bhubaneswar (20.2700° N, 85.8400° E), Puri (19.8106° N, 85.8314° E) and Konark (19.9000° N, 86.1200° E)., and patterns of periodic changes in urban development (systematic/random) in order to develop future plans for (i) urbanization promotion areas, and (ii) urbanization control areas. Remote Sensing, using USGS (U.S. Geological Survey) Landsat8 maps, supervised classification of the Urban Sprawl has been done for during 1980 - 2014, specifically after 2000. This Work presents the following: (i) Time series analysis of Hydrological data (ground water and rainfall), (ii) Application of SWMM (Storm Water Management Model) and other soft computing techniques for Urban Water Management, and (iii) Uncertainty analysis of model parameters (Urban Sprawl and correlation analysis). The outcome of the study shows drastic growth results in urbanization and depletion of ground water levels in the area that has been discussed briefly. Other relative outcomes like declining trend of rainfall and rise of sand mining in local vicinity has been also discussed. Research on this kind of work will (i) improve water supply and consumption efficiency (ii) Upgrade drinking water quality and waste water treatment (iii) Increase economic efficiency of services to sustain operations and investments for water, waste water, and storm water management, and (iv) engage communities to reflect their needs and knowledge for water management.

Keywords: Storm Water Management Model (SWMM), uncertainty analysis, urban sprawl, land use change

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Authors: Yusuf E. Mustapha, Inioluwa A Akindoyeni, Oluwatoyin G. Ezekiel, Ifeoluwa O. Awogbindin, Ebenezer O. Farombi

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Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is the most prevalent motor disorder. Available therapies are palliative with no effect on disease progression. Kolaviron (KV), a natural anti-inflammatory and antioxidant agent, has been reported to possess neuroprotective effects in Parkinsonian flies and rats. Objective: The present study investigates the neuroprotective effect of KV, focusing on the DJ1/Nrf2 signaling pathway. Methodology: All-trans retinoic acid (ATRA, 10 mg/kg, i.p.) was used to inhibit Nrf2. Murine model of PD was established with four doses of MPTP (20 mg/kg i.p.) at 2 hours interval. MPTP mice were pre-treated with either KV (200 mg/kg/day p.o), ATRA, or both conditions for seven days before PD induction. Motor behaviour was evaluated, and markers of oxidative stress/damage and its regulators were assessed with immunofluorescence and ELISA techniques. Results: MPTP-treated mice covered less distance with reduced numbers of anticlockwise rotations, heightened freezing, and prolonged immobility when compared to control. However, KV significantly attenuated these deficits. Pretreatment of MPTP mice with KV upregulated Nrf2 expression beyond MPTP level with a remarkable reduction in Keap1 expression and marked elevation of DJ-1 level, whereas co-administration with ATRA abrogated these effects. KV treatment restored MPTP-mediated depletion of endogenous antioxidant, striatal oxidative stress, oxidative damage, and inhibition of acetylcholinesterase activity. However, ATRA treatment potentiated acetylcholinesterase inhibition and attenuated the protective effect of KV on the level of nitric oxide and activities of catalase and superoxide dismutase. Conclusion: Kolaviron protects Parkinsonian mice by stabilizing and activating the Nrf2 signaling pathway. Thus, kolaviron can be explored as a pharmacological lead in PD management.

Keywords: Garcinia kola, Kolaviron, Parkinson Disease, Nrf2, behavioral incompetence, neurodegeneration

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Authors: Adel Alblihy, Reem Ali, Mashael Algethami, Ahmed Shoqafi, Michael S. Toss, Juliette Brownlie, Natalie J. Tatum, Ian Hickson, Paloma Ordonez Moran, Anna Grabowska, Jennie N. Jeyapalan, Nigel P. Mongan, Emad A. Rakha, Srinivasan Madhusudan

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Platinum resistance is a clinical challenge in ovarian cancer. Platinating agents induce DNA damage which activate Mre11 nuclease directed DNA damage signalling and response (DDR). Upregulation of DDR may promote chemotherapy resistance. Here we have comprehensively evaluated Mre11 in epithelial ovarian cancers. In clinical cohort that received platinum- based chemotherapy (n=331), Mre11 protein overexpression was associated with aggressive phenotype and poor progression free survival (PFS) (p=0.002). In the ovarian cancer genome atlas (TCGA) cohort (n=498), Mre11 gene amplification was observed in a subset of serous tumours (5%) which correlated highly with Mre11 mRNA levels (p<0.0001). Altered Mre11 levels was linked with genome wide alterations that can influence platinum sensitivity. At the transcriptomic level (n=1259), Mre11 overexpression was associated with poor PFS (p=0.003). ROC analysis showed an area under the curve (AUC) of 0.642 for response to platinum-based chemotherapy. Pre-clinically, Mre11 depletion by gene knock down or blockade by small molecule inhibitor (Mirin) reversed platinum resistance in ovarian cancer cells and in 3D spheroid models. Importantly, Mre11 inhibition was synthetically lethal in platinum sensitive XRCC1 deficient ovarian cancer cells and 3D-spheroids. Selective cytotoxicity was associated with DNA double strand break (DSB) accumulation, S-phase cell cycle arrest and increased apoptosis. We conclude that pharmaceutical development of Mre11 inhibitors is a viable clinical strategy for platinum sensitization and synthetic lethality in ovarian cancer.

Keywords: MRE11; XRCC1, ovarian cancer, platinum sensitization, synthetic lethality

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Authors: B. Dehghan, T. Toppi, M. Aprile, M. Motta

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The environmental concerns related to global warming and ozone layer depletion along with the growing worldwide demand for heating and cooling have brought an increasing attention toward ecological and efficient Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems. Furthermore, since space heating accounts for a considerable part of the European primary/final energy use, it has been identified as one of the sectors with the most challenging targets in energy use reduction. Heat pumps are commonly considered as a technology able to contribute to the achievement of the targets. Current research focuses on the full load operation and seasonal performance assessment of three gas-driven absorption heat pump cycles. To do this, investigations of the gas-driven air-source ammonia-water absorption heat pump systems for small-scale space heating applications are presented. For each of the presented cycles, both full-load under various temperature conditions and seasonal performances are predicted by means of numerical simulations. It has been considered that small capacity appliances are usually equipped with fixed geometry restrictors, meaning that the solution mass flow rate is driven by the pressure difference across the associated restrictor valve. Results show that gas utilization efficiency (GUE) of the cycles varies between 1.2 and 1.7 for both full and partial loads and vapor exchange (VX) cycle is found to achieve the highest efficiency. It is noticed that, for typical space heating applications, heat pumps operate over a wide range of capacities and thermal lifts. Thus, partially, the novelty introduced in the paper is the investigation based on a seasonal performance approach, following the method prescribed in a recent European standard (EN 12309). The overall result is a modest variation in the seasonal performance for analyzed cycles, from 1.427 (single-effect) to 1.493 (vapor-exchange).

Keywords: absorption cycles, gas utilization efficiency, heat pump, seasonal performance, vapor exchange cycle

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Authors: Vaibhav Baliyan, Shweta Mehrotra, S. S. Parihar

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The agricultural productivity is challenged by climate change and depletion in natural resources, including water and land, which significantly affects the crop yield. Wheat is a thermo-sensitive crop and is prone to heat stress. High temperature decreases crop duration, yield attributes, and, subsequently, grain yield and biomass production. Terminal heat stress affects grain filling duration, grain yield, and yield attributes, thus causing a reduction in wheat yield. A field experiment was conducted at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi, for two consecutive rabi seasons (2017-18 and 2018-19) on six varieties of wheat (early sown - HD 2967, HD 3086, HD 2894 and late sown - WR 544, HD 3059, HD 3117 ) with three moisture regimes (100%, 80%, and 60% ETc, and no irrigation) and six sowing dates in three replications to investigate the effect of different moisture regimes and sowing dates on growth, yield and water use efficiency of wheat for development of best management practices for mitigation of terminal heat stress. HD3086 and HD3059 gave higher grain yield than others under early sown and late sown conditions, respectively. Maximum soil moisture extraction was recorded from 0-30 cm soil depth across the sowing dates, irrigation regimes, and varieties. Delayed sowing resulted in reducing crop growth period and forced maturity, in turn, led to significant deterioration in all the yield attributing characters and, there by, reduction in yield, suggesting that terminal heat stress had greater impact on yield. Early sowing and irrigation at 80% ETc resulted in improved growth and yield attributes and water use efficiency in both the seasons and helped to some extent in reducing the risk of terminal heat stress of wheat grown on sandy loam soils of semi-arid regions of India.

Keywords: sowing, irrigation, yield, heat stress

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Authors: Mohan H., C. Elajchet Senni

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In the present of high energy consumption in every sphere of life, renewable energy sources are emerging as alternative to conventional fuels for energy security, mitigating green house gas emission and climate change. There has been a world wide interest in searching for alternatives to petroleum derived fuels due to their depletion as well as due to the concern for the environment. Vegetable oils have capability to solve this problem because they are renewable and lead to reduction in environmental pollution. But high smoke emission and lower thermal efficiency are the main problems associated with the use of neat vegetable oils in diesel engines. In the present work, performance, combustion and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with 20% by vol. methyl esters mixed with Karanja seed Oil, and Fuel injection pressures of 200 bar and 240 bar, injection timings (21°,23° and 25° BTDC) and Proportion B20 diesel respectively. Vegetable oils have capability to solve this problem because they are renewable and lead to reduction in environmental pollution. But, high smoke emission and lower thermal efficiency are the main problems associated with the use of neat vegetable oils in diesel engines. In the present work, performance, combustion and emission characteristics of CI engine fuelled with 20% by vol. methyl esters mixed with Karanja seed Oil, and Fuel injection pressures of 200 bar and 240 bar ,Injection timings (21°,23° and 25° BTDC) and Proportion B20 diesel respectively. Various performance, combustion and emission characteristics such as thermal efficiency, and brake specific fuel consumption, maximum cylinder pressure, instantaneous heat release, cumulative heat release with respect to crank angle, ignition lag, combustion duration, HC, NOx, CO, exhaust temperature and smoke intensity were measured.

Keywords: karanja oil, injection pressure, injection timing, karanja oil methyl ester

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Authors: Tarek Duzan

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Fractures are a fundamental property of most reservoirs. Despite their abundance, they remain difficult to detect and quantify. The most effective characterization of fractured reservoirs is accomplished by integrating geological, geophysical, and engineering data. Detection of fractures and defines their relative contribution is crucial in the early stages of exploration and later in the production of any field. Because fractures could completely change our thoughts, efforts, and planning to produce a specific field properly. From the structural point of view, all reservoirs are fractured to some point of extent. North Gialo field is thought to be a naturally fractured reservoir to some extent. Historically, natural fractured reservoirs are more complicated in terms of their exploration and production efforts, and most geologists tend to deny the presence of fractures as an effective variable. Our aim in this paper is to determine the degree of fracturing, and consequently, our evaluation and planning can be done properly and efficiently from day one. The challenging part in this field is that there is no enough data and straightforward well testing that can let us completely comfortable with the idea of fracturing; however, we cannot ignore the fractures completely. Logging images, available well testing, and limited core studies are our tools in this stage to evaluate, model, and predict possible fracture effects in this reservoir. The aims of this study are both fundamental and practical—to improve the prediction and diagnosis of natural-fracture attributes in N. Gialo hydrocarbon reservoirs and accurately simulate their influence on production. Moreover, the production of this field comes from 2-phase plan; a self depletion of oil and then gas injection period for pressure maintenance and increasing ultimate recovery factor. Therefore, well understanding of fracturing network is essential before proceeding with the targeted plan. New analytical methods will lead to more realistic characterization of fractured and faulted reservoir rocks. These methods will produce data that can enhance well test and seismic interpretations, and that can readily be used in reservoir simulators.

Keywords: natural fracture, sandstone reservoir, geological, geophysical, and engineering data

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Authors: Alessandro Suardi, Rodolfo Picchio, Domenico Coaloa, Maria Bonaventura Forleo, Nadia Palmieri, Luigi Pari

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The reconversion process of the Italian sugar supply chain to bio-energy supply chains, as a result of the 2006 Sugar CMO reform, have involved research to define the best logistics, the most adapted energy crops for the Italian territory and their sustainability. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), Giant reed (Arundo donax L.) and Poplar (Poplar ssp.) are energy crops considered strategic for the development of Italian energy supply-chains. This study analyzed the environmental and the economic impacts on the farm level of these three energy crops. The environmental assessment included six farming units, two per crop, which were extracted from a sample of 251 rapeseed farm units (2751 ha), 7 giant reed farm units (7.8 ha), and 91 poplar farm units (440 ha) using a statistical multivariate analysis. Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) research method has been used to evaluate and compare the sustainability of the agricultural phases of the crops studied. The impact analyses have been performed at mid-point and end-point levels. The results of the analysis shown that the fertilization, is the major source of environmental impact of the agricultural phase due to the production of the fertilizers and the soil emissions of GHG following the treatment. The perennial energy crops studied (Arundo donax L., Poplar ssp.) were environmentally more sustainable if compared with the annual crop (Brassica napus L.) for all the impact categories at mid-point and end-point levels analyzed. The most relevant impact category influenced by the agricultural process result the fossil depletion, mainly due to the fossil fuels consumed during the mineral fertilizers production (urea). Human health was the most affected damage category at the end point level. Poplar result the energy crop with the best environmental performance for the Italian territory, in the distribution areas most suitable for its cultivation.

Keywords: LCA, energy crops, rapeseed, giant reed, poplar

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Authors: Snehal D. Ganjave, Hardik Dodia, Avinash V. Sunder, Swati Madhu, Pramod P. Wangikar

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Batch cultivation of recombinant bacteria in shake flasks results in low cell density due to nutrient depletion. Previous protocols on high cell density cultivation in shake flasks have relied mainly on controlled release mechanisms and extended cultivation protocols. In the present work, we report an optimized fed-batch process for high cell density cultivation of recombinant E. coli BL21(DE3) for protein production. A cybernetic model-based, multi-objective optimization strategy was implemented to obtain the optimum operating variables to achieve maximum biomass and minimized substrate feed rate. A syringe pump was used to feed a mixture of glycerol and yeast extract into the shake flask. Preliminary experiments were conducted with online monitoring of dissolved oxygen (DO) and offline measurements of biomass and glycerol to estimate the model parameters. Multi-objective optimization was performed to obtain the pareto front surface. The selected optimized recipe was tested for a range of proteins that show different extent soluble expression in E. coli. These included eYFP and LkADH, which are largely expressed in soluble fractions, CbFDH and GcanADH , which are partially soluble, and human PDGF, which forms inclusion bodies. The biomass concentrations achieved in 24 h were in the range 19.9-21.5 g/L, while the model predicted value was 19.44 g/L. The process was successfully reproduced in a standard laboratory shake flask without online monitoring of DO and pH. The optimized fed-batch process showed significant improvement in both the biomass and protein production of the tested recombinant proteins compared to batch cultivation. The proposed process will have significant implications in the routine cultivation of E. coli for various applications.

Keywords: cybernetic model, E. coli, high cell density cultivation, multi-objective optimization

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Authors: Sharvari Parikh

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Climate change has always been looked upon as a threat. Increased use of fossil fuels, depletion of bio diversity, certain human activities, rising levels of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions are the factors that have caused climate change. Climate change is creating new risks and aggravating the existing ones. The paper focuses on breaking the stereotypical perception of climate change and draws attention towards the constructive side of it. Researches around the world have concluded that climate change has provided us with many untapped opportunities. The next 15 years will be crucial, as it is in our hands whether we are able to grab these opportunities or just let the situation get worse. The world stands at a stage where we cannot think of making a choice between averting climate change and promoting growth and development. In fact, the solution to climate change itself has got economic opportunities. The data evidences from the paper show how we can create the opportunity to improve the lives of the world’s population at large through structural change which will promote environment friendly investments. Rising Investment in green energy and increased demand of climate friendly products has got ample of employment opportunities. Old technologies and machinery which are employed today lack efficiency and demand huge maintenance because of which we face high production cost. This can be drastically brought down by adaptation of Green technologies which are more accessible and affordable. Overall GDP of the world has been heavily affected in aggravating the problems arising out of increasing weather problems. Shifting to green economy can not only eliminate these costs but also build a sound economy. Accelerating the economy in direction of low-carbon future can lessen the burdens such as subsidies for fossil fuels, several public debts, unemployment, poverty, reduce healthcare expenses etc. It is clear that the world will be dragged into the ‘Darker phase’ if the current trends of fossil fuels and carbon are being consumed. Switching to Green economy is the only way in which we can lift the world from darker phase. Climate change has opened the gates for ‘Green and Clean economy’. It will also bring countries of the world together in achieving the common goal of Green Economy.

Keywords: climate change, economic opportunities, green economy, green technology

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Authors: Simona Lucakova, Irena Branyikova

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Eutrophication, a condition when water becomes over-enriched with nutrients (P, N), can lead to undesirable excessive growth of phytoplankton, so-called algal bloom. This process results in the accumulation of toxin-producing cyanobacteria and oxygen depletion, both possibly leading to the collapse of the whole ecosystem. In real conditions, the limiting nutrient, which determines the possible growth of harmful algal bloom, is usually phosphorus. Algicides or flocculants have been applied in the eutrophicated waterbody in order to reduce the phytoplankton growth, which leads to the introduction of toxic chemicals into the water. In our laboratory, the idea of the prevention of harmful phytoplankton growth by the intentional cultivation of non-toxic cyanobacteria Tolypothrix tenuis in semi-open floating photobioreactors directly on the surface of phosphorus-rich waterbody is examined. During the process of cultivation, redundant phosphorus is incorporated into cyanobacterial biomass, which can be subsequently used for the production of biofuels, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, or biostimulants for agricultural use. To determine the ability of phosphorus incorporation, batch-cultivation of Tolypothrix biomass in media simulating eutrophic water (10% BG medium) and in effluent from municipal wastewater treatment plant, both with the initial phosphorus concentration in the range 0.5-1.0 mgP/L was performed in laboratory-scale models of floating photobioreactors. After few hours of cultivation, the phosphorus content was decreased below the target limit of 0.035 mgP/L, which was given as a borderline for the algal bloom formation. Under laboratory conditions, the effect of several parameters on the rate of phosphorus decrease was tested (illumination, temperature, stirring speed/aeration gas flow, biomass to medium ratio). Based on the obtained results, a bench-scale floating photobioreactor was designed and will be tested for Tolypothrix growth in real conditions. It was proved that intentional cultivation of cyanobacteria Tolypothrix could be a suitable approach for extracting redundant phosphorus from eutrophic waters as prevention of algal bloom formation.

Keywords: cyanobacteria, eutrophication, floating photobioreactor, Tolypothrix

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Authors: Supriya Gupta, Paresh Chokshi

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Polymer-particle interactions can be effectively utilized to produce composites that possess physicochemical properties superior to that of neat polymer. The incorporation of fillers with dimensions comparable to polymer chain size produces composites with extra-ordinary properties owing to very high surface to volume ratio. The dispersion of nanoparticles is achieved by inducing steric repulsion realized by grafting particles with polymeric chains. A comprehensive understanding of the interparticle interaction between these functionalized nanoparticles plays an important role in the synthesis of a stable polymer nanocomposite. With the focus on incorporation of clay sheets in a polymer matrix, we theoretically construct the polymer mediated interparticle potential for two nanosheets grafted with polymeric chains. The self-consistent field theory (SCFT) is employed to obtain the inhomogeneous composition field under equilibrium. Unlike the continuum models, SCFT is built from the microscopic description taking in to account the molecular interactions contributed by both intra- and inter-chain potentials. We present the results of SCFT calculations of the interaction potential curve for two grafted nanosheets immersed in the matrix of polymeric chains of dissimilar chemistry to that of the grafted chains. The interaction potential is repulsive at short separation and shows depletion attraction for moderate separations induced by high grafting density. It is found that the strength of attraction well can be tuned by altering the compatibility between the grafted and the mobile chains. Further, we construct the interaction potential between two nanosheets grafted with diblock copolymers with one of the blocks being chemically identical to the free polymeric chains. The interplay between the enthalpic interaction between the dissimilar species and the entropy of the free chains gives rise to a rich behavior in interaction potential curve obtained for two separate cases of free chains being chemically similar to either the grafted block or the free block of the grafted diblock chains.

Keywords: clay nanosheets, polymer brush, polymer nanocomposites, self-consistent field theory

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Authors: Amir Sina Fouladi, Arul Arulrajah, Jian Chu, Suksun Horpibulsuk

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Waste generation is a growing concern in many countries across the world, particularly in urban areas with high rates of population growth and industrialization. The increasing amount of waste generated from human activities has led to environmental, economic, and health issues. Improper disposal of waste can result in air and water pollution, land degradation, and the spread of diseases. Waste generation also consumes large amounts of natural resources and energy, leading to the depletion of valuable resources and contributing to greenhouse gas emissions. To address these concerns, there is a need for sustainable waste management practices that reduce waste generation and promote resource recovery and recycling. Amongst these, developing innovative technologies such as Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) in construction materials is an effective approach to transforming waste into valuable and sustainable applications. MICP is an environmentally friendly microbial-chemical technology that applies microorganisms and chemical reagents to biological processes to produce carbonate mineral. This substance can be an energy-efficient, cost-effective, sustainable solution to environmental and engineering challenges. Recent research has shown that waste streams can replace several MICP-chemical components in the cultivation media of microorganisms and cementation reagents (calcium sources and urea). In addition to its effectiveness in treating hazardous waste streams, MICP has been found to be cost-effective and sustainable solution applicable to various waste media. This comprehensive review paper aims to provide a thorough understanding of the environmental advantages and engineering applications of MICP technology, with a focus on the contribution of waste streams. It also provides researchers with guidance on how to identify and overcome the challenges that may arise applying the MICP technology using waste streams.

Keywords: waste stream, microbially induced calcite precipitation, construction materials, sustainability

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Authors: John Lamb, Robert Epstein, Vasundhara L. Bhupathi, Sanjeev Kumar Marimekala

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As we enter the new era of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Cloud Computing, we mostly rely on the Machine and Natural Language Processing capabilities of AI, and Energy Efficient Hardware and Software Devices in almost every industry sector. In these industry sectors, much emphasis is on developing new and innovative methods for producing and conserving energy and sustaining the depletion of natural resources. The core pillars of sustainability are economic, environmental, and social, which is also informally referred to as the 3 P's (People, Planet and Profits). The 3 P's play a vital role in creating a core Sustainability Model in the Enterprise. Natural resources are continually being depleted, so there is more focus and growing demand for renewable energy. With this growing demand, there is also a growing concern in many industries on how to reduce carbon emissions and conserve natural resources while adopting sustainability in corporate business models and policies. In our paper, we would like to discuss the driving forces such as Climate changes, Natural Disasters, Pandemic, Disruptive Technologies, Corporate Policies, Scaled Business Models and Emerging social media and AI platforms that influence the 3 main pillars of Sustainability (3P’s). Through this paper, we would like to bring an overall perspective on enterprise strategies and the primary focus on bringing cultural shifts in adapting energy-efficient operational models. Overall, many industries across the globe are incorporating core sustainability principles such as reducing energy costs, reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, reducing waste and increasing recycling, adopting advanced monitoring and metering infrastructure, reducing server footprint and compute resources (Shared IT services, Cloud computing, and Application Modernization) with the vision for a sustainable environment.

Keywords: climate change, pandemic, disruptive technology, government policies, business model, machine learning and natural language processing, AI, social media platform, cloud computing, advanced monitoring, metering infrastructure

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Authors: Vijaya Subramaniam, Loh Soh Kheang, Astimar Abdul Aziz

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Water footprint (WFP) has gained importance due to the increase in water scarcity in the world. This study analyses the WFP for an agriculture sector, i.e., the oil palm supply chain, which produces oil palm fresh fruit bunch (FFB), crude palm oil, palm kernel, and crude palm kernel oil. The water accounting and vulnerability evaluation (WAVE) method was used. This method analyses the water depletion index (WDI) based on the local blue water scarcity. The main contribution towards the WFP at the plantation was the production of FFB from the crop itself at 0.23m³/tonne FFB. At the mill, the burden shifts to the water added during the process, which consists of the boiler and process water, which accounted for 6.91m³/tonne crude palm oil. There was a 33% reduction in the WFP when there was no dilution or water addition after the screw press at the mill. When allocation was performed, the WFP reduced by 42% as the burden was shared with the palm kernel and palm kernel shell. At the kernel crushing plant (KCP), the main contributor towards the WFP 4.96 m³/tonne crude palm kernel oil which came from the palm kernel which carried the burden from upstream followed by electricity, 0.33 m³/tonne crude palm kernel oil used for the process and 0.08 m³/tonne crude palm kernel oil for transportation of the palm kernel. A comparison was carried out for mills with biogas capture versus no biogas capture, and the WFP had no difference for both scenarios. The comparison when the KCPs operate in the proximity of mills as compared to those operating in the proximity of ports only gave a reduction of 6% for the WFP. Both these scenarios showed no difference and insignificant difference, which differed from previous life cycle assessment studies on the carbon footprint, which showed significant differences. This shows that findings change when only certain impact categories are focused on. It can be concluded that the impact from the water used by the oil palm tree is low due to the practice of no irrigation at the plantations and the high availability of water from rainfall in Malaysia. This reiterates the importance of planting oil palm trees in regions with high rainfall all year long, like the tropics. The milling stage had the most significant impact on the WFP. Mills should avoid dilution to reduce this impact.

Keywords: life cycle assessment, water footprint, crude palm oil, crude palm kernel oil, WAVE method

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Authors: Arojojoye Oluwatosin Adetola, Nwaechefu Olajumoke Olufunlayo, Ademola Adetokunbo Oyagbemi, Jeremiah Moyinoluwalogo Afolabi, Asaolu Racheal Oluwabukola

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The effects of man’s activities on the environment include depletion of natural resources alongside pollution of water bodies. Petroleum exploration in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria has compromised the aquatic environment with grave consequences on the entire ecosystem. In this study, we assessed the environmental safety of Araromi River, located in an oil-producing area in Ondo State, in the Niger Delta region of Nigeria by determining the levels of heavy metals (copper, cadmium, chromium, nickel, lead) and some biomarkers of oxidative stress (malondialdehyde, glutathione-S-transferase, glutathione peroxidase, catalase, superoxide dismutase, myeloperoxidase and reduced glutathione) in Clarias gariepinus (350-400g) from the river using standard methods. Clarias gariepinus from a clean fish farm in the same geographical location as the reference site (Ilesannmi fishery) was used as a control. Water samples from both sites were also analysed for some physicochemical parameters, heavy metals, and bacterial contamination. Our findings show a significant increase in malondialdehyde level (index of lipid peroxidation) as well as alterations in antioxidant status in the organs of Clarias gariepinus from Araromi River compared with control. A significant increase in bacterial contaminants, heavy metal pollutants, and particulate matter deposits were also observed in the water sample from Araromi River compared with control. In conclusion, high levels of indicators of environmental pollution observed in the water sample from Araromi River coupled with induction of oxidative stress in Clarias gariepinus from the river show that Araromi River is polluted; therefore, consumption of fishes and other aquatic organisms from the river may be unsafe for the people in that community.

Keywords: Araromi River, Clarias gariepinus, environmental pollution, heavy metals, oxidative stress

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Authors: Rajendra Kumar Pandey

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Forest genetic resources not only represent regional biodiversity but also have immense value as the wealth for securing livelihood of poor people. These are vulnerable to ecological due to depletion/deforestation and /or impact of climate change. These resources of various plant categories are vulnerable on the floor of natural tropical forests, and leading to the threat on the growth and development of future forests. More than 170 species, including NTFPs, are in critical condition for their survival in natural tropical forests of Central India. Forest degradation, commensurate with biodiversity loss, is now pervasive, disproportionately affecting the rural poor who directly depend on forests for their subsistence. Looking ahead the interaction between forest and water, soil, precipitation, climate change, etc. and its impact on biodiversity of tropical forests, it is inevitable to develop co-operation policies and programmes to address new emerging realities. Forests ecosystem also known as the 'wealth of poor' providing goods and ecosystem services on a sustainable basis, are now recognized as a stepping stone to move poor people beyond subsistence. Poverty alleviation is the prime objective of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). However, environmental sustainability including other MDGs, is essential to ensure successful elimination of poverty and well being of human society. Loss and degradation of ecosystem are the most serious threats to achieving development goals worldwide. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MEA, 2005) was an attempt to identify provisioning and regulating cultural and supporting ecosystem services to provide livelihood security of human beings. Climate change may have a substantial impact on ecological structure and function of forests, provisioning, regulations and management of resources which can affect sustainable flow of ecosystem services. To overcome these limitations, policy guidelines with respect to planning and consistent research strategy need to be framed for conservation and sustainable development of forest genetic resources.

Keywords: climate change, forest ecosystem services, sustainable forest management, biodiversity conservation

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Authors: Christin Koch, Andreas Winkel, Martin Kahlmeyer, Stefan Böhm

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Due to environmental regulations on greenhouse gas emissions and the depletion of fossil fuels, there is an increasing interest in electric vehicles.To maximize their driving range, batteries with high storage capacities are needed. In most electric cars, rechargeable lithium-ion batteries are used because of their high energy density. However, it has to be taken into account that these batteries generate a large amount of heat during the charge and discharge processes. This leads to a decrease in a lifetime and damage to the battery cells when the temperature exceeds the defined operating range. To ensure an efficient performance of the battery cells, reliable thermal management is required. Currently, the cooling is achieved by heat sinks (e.g., cooling plates) bonded to the battery cells with a thermally conductive adhesive (TCA) that directs the heat away from the components. Especially when large amounts of heat have to be dissipated spontaneously due to peak loads, the principle of heat conduction is not sufficient, so attention must be paid to the mechanism of heat storage. An efficient method to store thermal energy is the use of phase change materials (PCM). Through an isothermal phase change, PCM can briefly absorb or release thermal energy at a constant temperature. If the phase change takes place in the transition from solid to liquid, heat is stored during melting and is released to the ambient during the freezing process upon cooling. The presented work displays the great potential of thermally conductive adhesives filled with microencapsulated PCM to limit peak temperatures in battery systems. The encapsulation of the PCM avoids the effects of aging (e.g., migration) and chemical reactions between the PCM and the adhesive matrix components. In this study, microencapsulation has been carried out by in situ polymerization. The microencapsulated PCM was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, and the thermal properties were measured by DSC and laser flash method. The mechanical properties, electrical and thermal conductivity, and adhesive toughness of the TCA/PCM composite were also investigated.

Keywords: phase change material, microencapsulation, adhesive bonding, thermal management

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Authors: Ayhan Varol, Aysenur Ugurlu

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Due to the depletion of fossil fuels and climate change, there is a rising interest in renewable energy sources. In this concept, a wide range of biomass (energy crops, animal manure, solid wastes, etc.) are used for energy production. There has been a growing interest in biomethane production from biomass. Biomethane production from organic wastes is a promising alternative for waste management by providing organic matter stabilization. Anaerobic digestion of organic material produces biogas, and organic substrate is degraded into a more stable material. Therefore, anaerobic digestion technology helps reduction of carbon emissions and produces renewable energy. The hydraulic retention time (HRT) and organic loading rate (OLR), as well as TS (VS) loadings, influences the anaerobic digestion of organic wastes significantly. The optimum range for HRT varies between 15 days to 30 days, whereas OLR differs between 0.5 to 5 g/L.d depending on the substrate type and its lipid, protein and carbohydrate contents. The organic wastes have biogas production potential through anaerobic digestion. In this study, biomethane production potential of wastes like sugar beet bagasse, agricultural residues, food wastes, olive mill pulp, and dairy manure having different characteristics was investigated in mesophilic CSTR reactor, and their performances were compared. The reactor was mixed in order to provide homogenized content at a rate of 80 rpm. The organic matter content of these wastes was between 85 to 94 % with 61% (olive pulp) to 22 % (food waste) dry matter content. The hydraulic retention time changed between 20-30 days. High biogas productions, 13.45 to 5.70 mL/day, were achieved from the wastes studied when operated at 9 to 10.5% TS loadings where OLR varied between 2.92 and 3.95 gVS/L.day. The results showed that food wastes have higher specific methane production rate and volumetric methane production potential than the other wastes studied, under the similar OLR values. The SBP was 680, 585, 540, 390 and 295 mL/g VS for food waste, agricultural residues, sugar beet bagasse, olive pulp and dairy manure respectively. The methane content of the biogas varied between 72 and 60 %. The volatile solids conversion rate for food waste was 62%.

Keywords: biogas production, organic wastes, biomethane, anaerobic digestion

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Authors: Z. Mazrouei-Sebdani, A. Khoddami, H. Hadadzadeh, M. Zarrebini

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Silica aerogels are well-known meso-porous materials with high specific surface area (500–1000 m2/g), high porosity (80–99.8%), and low density (0.003–0.8 g/cm3). However, the silica aerogels generally are highly brittle due to their nanoporous nature. Physical and mechanical properties of the silica aerogels can be enhanced by compounding with the fibers. Although some reports presented incorporation of the fibers into the sol, followed by further modification and drying stages, no information regarding the aerogel powders as filler in the polymeric fibers is available. In this research, waterglass based aerogel powder was prepared in the following steps: sol–gel process to prepare a gel, followed by subsequent washing with propan-2-ol, n-Hexane, and TMCS, then ambient pressure drying, and ball milling. Inspired by limited dust releasing, aerogel powder was introduced to the PET electrospinning solution in an attempt to create required bulk and surface structure for the nano fibers to improve their hydrophobic and insulation properties. The samples evaluation was carried out by measuring density, porosity, contact angle, sliding angle, heat transfer, FTIR, BET and SEM. According to the results, porous silica aerogel powder was fabricated with mean pore diameter of 24 nm and contact angle of 145.9º. The results indicated the usefulness of the aerogel powder confined into nano fibers to control surface roughness for manipulating superhydrophobic nanowebs with sliding angle of 5˚ and water contact angle of 147º. It can be due to a multi-scale surface roughness which was created by nanowebs structure itself and nano fibers surface irregularity in presence of the aerogels while a laye of fluorocarbon created low surface energy. The wettability of a solid substrate is an important property that is controlled by both the chemical composition and geometry of the surface. Also, a decreasing trend in the heat transfer was observed from 22% for the nano fibers without any aerogel powder to 8% for the nano fibers with 4% aerogel powder. The development of thermal insulating materials has become increasingly more important than ever in view of the fossil energy depletion and global warming that call for more demanding energy-saving practices.

Keywords: Superhydrophobicity, Insulation, Sol-gel, Surface energy, Roughness.

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Authors: Bartlomiej S. Witkowski, Lukasz Wachnicki, Sylwia Gieraltowska, Rafal Pietruszka, Marek Godlewski

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Zinc oxide is extensively studied II-VI semiconductor with a direct energy gap of about 3.37 eV at room temperature and high transparency in visible light spectral region. Due to these properties, ZnO is an attractive material for applications in photovoltaic, electronic and optoelectronic devices. ZnO nanorods, due to a well-developed surface, have potential of applications in sensor technology and photovoltaics. In this work we present a new inexpensive method of the ultra-fast growth of ZnO nanorods from the aqueous solution. This environment friendly and fully reproducible method allows growth of nanorods in few minutes time on various substrates, without any catalyst or complexing agent. Growth temperature does not exceed 50ºC and growth can be performed at atmospheric pressure. The method is characterized by simplicity and allows regulation of size of the ZnO nanorods in a large extent. Moreover the method is also very safe, it requires organic, non-toxic and low-price precursors. The growth can be performed on almost any type of substrate through the homo-nucleation as well as hetero-nucleation. Moreover, received nanorods are characterized by a very high quality - they are monocrystalline as confirmed by XRD and transmission electron microscopy. Importantly oxygen vacancies are not found in the photoluminescence measurements. First results for obtained by us ZnO nanorods in sensor applications are very promising. Resistance UV sensor, based on ZnO nanorods grown on a quartz substrates shows high sensitivity of 20 mW/m2 (2 μW/cm2) for point contacts, especially that the results are obtained for the nanorods array, not for a single nanorod. UV light (below 400 nm of wavelength) generates electron-hole pairs, which results in a removal from the surfaces of the water vapor and hydroxyl groups. This reduces the depletion layer in nanorods, and thus lowers the resistance of the structure. The so-obtained sensor works at room temperature and does not need the annealing to reset to initial state. Details of the technology and the first sensors results will be presented. The obtained ZnO nanorods are also applied in simple-architecture photovoltaic cells (efficiency over 12%) in conjunction with low-price Si substrates and high-sensitive photoresistors. Details informations about technology and applications will be presented.

Keywords: hydrothermal method, photoresistor, photovoltaic cells, ZnO nanorods

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Authors: Ayanda Ndokwana, Stanley Fore

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Industrial prosperity and rapid expansion of human population in South Africa over the past two decades, have increased the use of conventional fossil fuels such as crude oil, coal and natural gas to meet the country’s energy demands. However, the inevitable depletion of fossil fuel reserves, global volatile oil price and large carbon footprint are some of the crucial reasons the South African Government needs to make a considerable investment in the development of the biofuel industry. In South Africa, this industry is still at the introductory stage with no large scale manufacturing plant that has been commissioned yet. Bioethanol is a potential replacement of gasoline which is a fossil fuel that is used in motor vehicles. Using bioethanol for the transport sector as a source of fuel will help Government to save heavy foreign exchange incurred during importation of oil and create many job opportunities in rural farming. In 2007, the South African Government developed the National Biofuels Industrial Strategy in an effort to make provision for support and attract investment in bioethanol production. However, capital investment in the production of bioethanol on a large scale, depends on the sound economic assessment of the available manufacturing technologies. The aim of this study is to evaluate the profitability of an advanced bioethanol manufacturing technology which uses maize as a feedstock in South Africa. The impact of fiber or bran fractionation in this technology causes it to possess a number of merits such as energy efficiency, low capital expenditure, and profitability compared to a conventional dry-mill bioethanol technology. Quantitative techniques will be used to collect and analyze numerical data from suitable organisations in South Africa. The dependence of three profitability indicators such as the Discounted Payback Period (DPP), Net Present Value (NPV) and Return On Investment (ROI) on plant capacity will be evaluated. Profitability analysis will be done on the following plant capacities: 100 000 ton/year, 150 000 ton/year and 200 000 ton/year. The plant capacity with the shortest Discounted Payback Period, positive Net Present Value and highest Return On Investment implies that a further consideration in terms of capital investment is warranted.

Keywords: bioethanol, economic evaluation, maize, profitability indicators

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Authors: Bitan Kumar Sarkar, Akashdeep Agarwal, Rajib Dey, Gopes Chandra Das

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The rapid depletion of high-grade iron ore (Fe₂O₃) has gained attention on the use of other sources of iron ore. Titaniferous magnetite ore (TMO) is a special type of magnetite ore having high titania content (23.23% TiO₂ present in this case). Due to high TiO₂ content and high density, TMO cannot be treated by the conventional smelting reduction. In this present work, the TMO has been collected from high-grade metamorphic terrain of the Precambrian Chotanagpur gneissic complex situated in the eastern part of India (Shaltora area, Bankura district, West Bengal) and the hematite ore has been collected from Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), Visakhapatnam. At VSP, iron ore is received from Bailadila mines, Chattisgarh of M/s. National Mineral Development Corporation. The preliminary characterization of TMO and hematite ore (HMO) has been investigated by WDXRF, XRD and FESEM analyses. Similarly, good quality of coal (mainly coking coal) is also getting depleted fast. The basic purpose of this work is to find how lean grade coal can be utilised along with TMO for smelting to produce pig iron. Lean grade coal has been characterised by using TG/DTA, proximate and ultimate analyses. The boiler grade coal has been found to contain 28.08% of fixed carbon and 28.31% of volatile matter. TMO fines (below 75 μm) and HMO fines (below 75 μm) have been separately agglomerated with lean grade coal fines (below 75 μm) in the form of briquettes using binders like bentonite and molasses. These green briquettes are dried first in oven at 423 K for 30 min and then reduced isothermally in tube furnace over the temperature range of 1323 K, 1373 K and 1423 K for 30 min & 60 min. After reduction, the reduced briquettes are characterized by XRD and FESEM analyses. The best reduced TMO and HMO samples are taken and blended in three different weight percentage ratios of 1:4, 1:8 and 1:12 of TMO:HMO. The chemical analysis of three blended samples is carried out and degree of metallisation of iron is found to contain 89.38%, 92.12% and 93.12%, respectively. These three blended samples are briquetted using binder like bentonite and lime. Thereafter these blended briquettes are separately smelted in raising hearth furnace at 1773 K for 30 min. The pig iron formed is characterized using XRD, microscopic analysis. It can be concluded that 90% yield of pig iron can be achieved when the blend ratio of TMO:HMO is 1:4.5. This means for 90% yield, the maximum TMO that could be used in the blend is about 18%.

Keywords: briquetting reduction, lean grade coal, smelting reduction, TMO

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Authors: Girija Jha

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This paper investigates the need of cotton to integrate sustainability. The methodology used in the paper is to do secondary research to find out the various environmental implications of cotton as textile material across its life cycle and try to look at ways and possibilities of minimizing its ecological footprint. Cotton is called ‘The Fabric of Our Lives’. History is replete with examples where this fabric used to be more than a fabric of lives. It used to be a miracle fabric, a symbol India’s pride and social Movement of Swaraj, Gandhijee’s clarion call to self reliance. Cotton is grown in more than 90 countries across the globe on 2.5 percent of the world's arable land in countries like China, India, United States, etc. accounting for almost three fourth of global production. But cotton as a raw material has come under the scanner of sustainability experts because of myriad reasons a few have been discussed here. It may take more than 20,000 liters of water to produce 1kg of cotton. Cotton harvest is primarily done from irrigated land which leads to Salinization and depletion of local water reservoirs, e.g., Drying up of Aral Sea. Cotton is cultivated on 2.4% of total world’s crop land but accounts for 24% usage of insecticide and shares the blame of 11% usage of pesticides leading to health hazards and having an alarmingly dangerous impact on the ecosystem. One of the possible solutions to these problems as proposed was GM, Genetically Modified cotton crop. However, use of GM cotton is still debatable and has many ethical issues. The practice of mass production and increasing consumerism and especially fast fashion has been major culprits to disrupt this delicate balance. Disposable fashion or fast fashion is on the rise and cotton being one of the major choices adds on to the problem. Denims – made of cotton and have a strong fashion statement and the washes being an integral part of their creation they share a lot of blame. These are just a few problems listed. Today Sustainability is the need of the hour and it is inevitable to incorporate have major changes in the way we cultivate and process cotton to make it a sustainable choice. The answer lies in adopting minimalism and boycotting fast fashion, in using Khadi, in saying no to washed denims and using selvedge denims or using better methods of finishing the washed out fabric so that the environment does not bleed blue. Truly, the answer lies in integrating state of art technology with age old sustainable practices so that the synergy of the two may help us come out of the vicious circle.

Keywords: cotton, sustainability, denim, Khadi

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