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There is a growing demand for decentralised systems that use renewable energy to extend the shelf life of agricultural commodities. Solar Air Heating systems (SAHs) are effective and environmentally friendly systems used to preserve agricultural produce by lowering the moisture content. Assistant Professor Dr Karthik Rajendran and his Post-Doctoral Scholar Dr VS Vigneswaran from the Department of Environmental Science have published their paper “Augmented v-corrugated absorber plate using shot-blasting for solar air heater – Energy, Exergy, Economic, and Environmental (4E) analysis” in the Q1 journal “Process Safety and Environmental Protection” having an Impact Factor of 7.9. The paper was published in collaboration with D. Sung Chul Kim, Shandong University, China.

South Asia is home to the majority of the world’s hungry people. Among 116 nations, India, the second-most populated nation in the world, is ranked 101st in the global hunger index. There is cause for concern given that India loses over 67 million tonnes of food annually, which is equivalent to about Rs. 92,000 crore. In 2016, the Indian Council of Agricultural Research estimated that during harvest, post-harvest, processing, and storage, about 4.3-6.1% of pulses, 3.9-6% of grains, 2.8-10.1% of oilseeds, 6.9-13% of vegetables, and 5.8-18.1% of fruits were lost. 16% of fruits and vegetables as well as 10% of oilseeds, pulses, and cereals were lost in India due to inadequate access to storage facilities.

Each year, these losses increase in India. In order to reduce food wastage after harvest and the amount of people going hungry in India, technologies must be developed to extend the shelf life of agricultural produce. The utilisation of land, water, energy, and the release of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere can all be decreased by reducing postharvest loss. It is necessary to develop a decentralised system that uses renewable energy to extend the shelf life of agricultural products. Given that the majority of India has abundant solar energy resources, solar crop dryers based on solar air heaters (SAH) are a practical choice for conserving agricultural output by lowering its moisture content. These technologies are appealing because they are affordable and sustainable.

The performance of SAH is determined by the absorber plate. Thus, the SAH was modified with a v-corrugated absorber plate with a shot-blasted surface, and the SAH performance was investigated experimentally. Performance parameters including the energy and exergy efficiency of the collector were determined and compared with those of the conventional SAH. The study inferred that SAH optimisation will make way for the maximisation of its efficiency.

Abstract of the Research

Need for increasing the shelf life of agricultural produce using renewable energy-based A decentralized system are significantly increasing. The solar air heating systems (SAHs) are efficient and environment friendly systems which are used for preserving agricultural produce through the reduction of moisture content. However, these systems had poor thermal efficiency and the way for increasing the efficiency are much need in the present era. This article presents the energy, exergy, and economic analysis of a modified solar air heater system (SAH). The proposed (modified) SAH has a V-corrugation absorber plate; the inner surface was modified using shot-blasting technology. This is the first study to experimentally investigate a modified SAH and compare the results with those of a conventional SAH. Additionally, an environmental and sustainability assessment of the SAH is presented. The SAH performance was tested at airflow rates ranging from 0.01 to 0.02 kg. sec.

Read the full paper here.

Dr Pankaj Pathak, Assistant Professor, Department of Environmental Science co-edited the book “Circular Economy in Municipal Solid Waste Landfilling: Biomining & Leachate Treatment: Sustainable Solid Waste Management: Waste to Wealth” in collaboration with Prof Sankar Ganesh Palani from BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. The book was released as part of the Springer publication series ‘Radionuclides and Heavy Metals in the Environment’ that covers issues pertaining to environmental pollution of air, water and soil, causative toxic agents, including radioactive materials, and remediation strategies.

The book is a ready reckoner of contemporary information regarding municipal solid waste landfill biomining, treatment of landfill leachate and heavy metals in a single platform. Construction of new landfills which requires huge monetary investments can be avoided if old landfills were bio-mined for resources and the space can be re-used as new landfills. Landfill leachate is a hazardous waste which needs proper treatment that could generate value-added products such as clean energy and biofertilizers. The book is a rich repository of information for academicians, researchers, and students at master’s and doctoral levels to understand the current trends in municipal solid waste landfill operations.

It also features the chapter, ”Valorization of Solid Waste from Landfill Activities” co-authored by Dr Pankaj Pathak and her PhD scholar MSSR Tejaswini along with Prof Sankar Ganesh Palani and Dr Prangya Ranjan Rout from Thapar Institute of Engineering and Technology. The article states that urban mining of various types of landfill wastes helps in the conservation of natural resources as well as increases the economic value of the disposed of wastes. It also ensures maximum recovery from the wastes that can be used as a secondary raw material for production purposes. Accordingly, they determine the environmental impacts associated with landfill wastes and identify different technologies that would help in the conversion of waste into resources through urban mining.

Essentially the book provides a circular economy approach to municipal solid waste (MSW) management. It also reviews the current technologies and future trends in MSW treatment by focusing on technological solutions for MSW treatment in developing countries in comparison with developed countries.

The Save Soil movement was launched by the yogi, mystic, and the visionary, Sadhguru, around three decades ago as a small step that would contribute towards his lifetime vision of raising Human Consciousness. Over time, it snowballed into a global movement garnering support from international and national agencies and uniting people worldwide to affirm their commitment to restore the planet by advocating for the health and future of our soil.

This effort will reap rewards when ecological challenges are taken seriously by corporations, organisations, individuals, and governments and when public support allows them to embrace long-term policy changes to protect the soil. SRM University-AP in collaboration with Isha Foundations is conducting a workshop to create awareness about soil conservation among the student community.

Date: September 05, 06 & 09, 2022

Venue: ALC, Level 4 – Admin Block

The time calls for a conscientious approach towards the environment from all sections of the society from local communities, organisations, farmers, schools, and governments. Join the #SaveSoilMovement and lend your hands to make a greener future possible.

SRM University-AP has been an innovator in higher education, reaching out to promising students, embracing the novelties of learning processes, and promoting a global vision since its inception. The institution leaves no stone unturned in accelerating students’ enthusiasm to approach their higher education with determination and perseverance. The Office of International Relations and Higher Studies will host an Open House session every Tuesday and Friday to converse with students who aspire to take their higher education to the next level.

Date: Every week- Tuesday and Friday

Time: 03.00 pm to 5.00 pm

Venue: IR&HS Office

The session will focus on areas such as favoured destination, course selection, preferred universities, SOP review, etc. Students still indecisive about their higher studies will hugely benefit from the essence of this Open House session.

Join the session and get a step ahead in your higher education venture!

Research at the Department of Physics has effectively produced and characterised BP nanosheets on a large scale by a simple solvothermal approach, and the formation mechanisms are discussed. The paper, 2D-Black Phosphorus/Polyaniline Hybrids for Efficient Supercapacitor and Hydrogen Evolution Reaction Applications Check for updates, has been published by Prof Ranjit Thapa, Associate Dean of Sciences, as a corresponding author, and his PhD student, Mr Samadhan Kapse in Sustainable Energy & Fuels having an Impact Factor of 6.367.

Abstract

Black phosphorous (BP) is an emerging 2D material with exciting physicochemical properties with broad applicability in electronics. Stability in the ambient environment, large-scale synthesis, and volume expansion during the charge/discharge process hinder its application in energy storage. Here, we report a facile gram-scale synthesis of BP in a mild reaction condition by a simple and cost-effective wet chemical method. To overcome its degradation and sluggish electrochemical performance, an organic hybrid with polyaniline is also prepared. Further, we fabricated a flexible supercapacitor device which results in an exceptional specific capacitance of 969 mFcm-2 at a current density of 0.4 Acm-2, which displayed a high energy density of 21.5 mWhkg-1 at a power density of 231 mWkg-1 with good cycling stability of 91% after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. Similarly, the cyclic voltammetry studies of the flexible devices at various bending angles display a similar CV profile for all the bending angles, which confirms the device’s reliability for flexible applications.

Explanation of the research

BP-PANI hybrid materials were prepared by the in-situ chemical oxidation method. By this approach, the researchers got highly stable BP by an inorganic-organic linkage, and its energy storage performance was also investigated. The fabricated symmetric flexible supercapacitor device based on BP/PANI heterostructure exhibited an extraordinary specific capacitance of 969 mFcm-2 at a current density of 0.4 Acm-2. Moreover, the fabricated device showed a high energy density of 21.5 mWhkg-1 and a power density of 231 mWkg-1 with impressive cycle stability of 91% after 4000 charge-discharge cycles. This study paves the way for future research into gram-scale BP synthesis, stability via an inorganic-organic coupling, and its potential application in electrochemical energy storage devices.

Social implications of the research

With the rapid growth of portable/flexible electronics and the high demand for clean energy, supercapacitors have sparked interest due to their advantages of fast charge/discharge rates, long cycle life, and high-power density compared to conventional energy-storage devices such as dielectric capacitors and Li-ion batteries. Likewise, developing new functional materials with outstanding properties could shed light on many issues, including pollution, energy, synthesis, and cost. In recent years few graphene analogues materials have been explored, and because of their tuneable physicochemical properties, they were used in energy storage applications. Generally, black phosphorus was synthesised from polymorphs of phosphorus under vigorous reaction conditions. However, these high temperature/pressure conditions suffer from safety, toxicity, controllability, and gram-scale production.

Quantum capacitance is an efficient tool for rapidly screening materials for supercapacitor applications and therefore is the future of this research. The researchers have collaborated with Mr Namsheer K, Mr Mridula Manoj, Mr Aditya Sharma, and Dr Chandra Sekhar Rout from the Functional Materials & Devices Laboratory, Centre for Nano Material Sciences, Jain University, Bangalore, India, in this work.