NIT-Andhra Pradesh team develops technology for removal of textile effluent from water
A team of researchers from the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Andhra Pradesh has developed technology that would assist in treatment of textile industrial effluent from water bodies.
The researchers, led by assistant professor at the Department of Biotechnology, NIT Andhra Pradesh VC Padmanaban, hac ome up with a continuous reactor for the treatment of textile industrial effluent by nano-coupled advanced oxidation process. The team has initiated the research towards the mission of Clean Water by recycling the pollutants from Tirupur, Tamil Nadu.
“The key challenge towards the treatment of textile dye effluent is the presence of salts and high concentration of dyes which interferes the process of degradation. It is beneficial if a technology is developed by using the salts which are innately present in the effluent. By keeping this as the strategical point, the team has developed an advanced oxidation process which works well in the high saline conditions towards the complete removal of textile dyes”, said Padmanaban.
The thermal activation of salts results in the generation of reactive radicals. The process focuses on the simultaneous generation of hydroxyl and sulphate radicals which catalyses the removal of dye pollutants, NIT Andhra Pradesh stated in an official statement.
The rate of removal was almost doubled by the addition of ferrous tagged biochar nanocomposite which acts as a heterogeneous catalyst. Based on the developed process, an integrated reactor was designed for the continuous removal of textile dyes.
A scaled-up version of this work can provide a sustainable solution for the removal of pollutants from water systems and provide clean water.
“I suggest integrating the process towards the sustainable and circular economy-based approach. I also encourage the team to proceed the research towards the transfer of technology for the benefit of the society and insist the importance of interdisciplinary research for the development of indigenous technologies towards the mission of Atmanirbhar Bharat”, said NIT-Andhra Pradesh Director CSP Rao.
