Food nano-biotechnology roadmap for Sri Lanka

Nanotechnology is a major emerging technology, which can revolutionize food industry employing special nano scale properties of matter. It can be applied to food processing and packaging in order to improve the quality, safety, varieties and health effects of food products.Senate Research Committe

A Tool for sustainability : a case for biogas in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka at present oscillates between an energy crisis and an economic crisis now entwined as a result of costly private power purchase agreements based on thermal power aggravated by rising fuel prices. The country indeed can claim to be the only country in the region to provide uninterrupted power to the consumer but the situation at present had been realized at an enormous cost. The loss for the Ceylon Electricity Board (CEB) in the last year had been stated to be Rs. 53 billion, no small amount which could have been well used elsewhere. The power purchases are soft options and at the heart of operations lies the process of generation. On the agriculture front, the government is engaged in a costly subsidy operation with respect to the provision of fertilizer while the responsible scientists lament about the serious degradation in soil quality as provision of soil amendments etc. are not taking place. This is resulting in lower yields but with higher costs of production. There is a serious opportunity for organic matter to be used up in this area. The write up is to be courageous in thinking about bio gas based power generation in a big way while realizing additional benefits which will really give meaning to the statement sustainable processes in national economic management and development. The interest in renewable energy systems is continuing across the globe in all types of economies and Sri Lanka is no exception. However, in the context of Sri Lanka Biogas can said to be the ‘Cinderella’ among all renewable as yet the attention that it justly deserves due to its ‘beautiful potential’ has not materialized. The longer the country delays this the costlier it would be for any implementation. While many express the benefits and the potential of biogas, influential publications in Sri Lanka fails to allocate even up to a paragraph on this versatile technology option. As summarised in Figure 1 from Chanakya (2002) the versatility of biogas stems from its ability to address any emerging issue of the time. The biogas initially appeared in supporting public health in developing economies and quickly migrated to addressing energy security for the poor under the energy crisis of seventies. Today it appears to be a front line option in addressing the threat pose by climate change. Biogas as a combination of methane and carbon dioxide provide a natural gas mix in working to produce nanomaterials in the emerging nanotechnology revolution which in turn will lead to a new material platform (Vamathevan, 2011).Natural gas along with carbon dioxide had been experimented upon by many to realise ‘syngas’ from which various energy and material pathways can be derived and in biogas one realises both together from waste materials by biological action. The captivity by ‘Cinderella’ still eludes the planner and the policy maker

Bio-methane adsorption by activated carbon understanding the potential via characterization of Sri Lankan activated carbon

There is growing global interest on bio-methane as a vehicular fuel and Europe Union (EU) has stated that this as a best well-to-wheel fuel. Commercialization of bio-methane under atmospheric conditions is limited due to its requirement of higher storage capacity. Compressed bio-methane systems have been currently commercialized in Europe in order to increase its low energy density however the process requires higher capital and maintenance costs. Thus, adsorbed bio-methane is suggested as a better alternative to store methane under low pressure conditions & activated carbon (AC) has shown promise as a methane adsorbent. This study is based on identifying the potential absorptivity of bio-methane into commercially available AC in Sri Lanka. The paper presents the pathway envisage in this task. Two types of commercial AC samples as granular & pelletize forms have been used from supplier HAYCARB for the analysis. this paper, characterization data from the principals is used to investigate the methane uptake potential into commercial AC. Further, the study has been continued in evaluating several developed correlations in literature on linear behaviour of micropore volume of AC to methane uptake & concluded that the linear parameters of micropore volume to methane uptake would vary according to AC properties. Thus a correlation for local AC is important to be developed. Hence, an experimental setup is developed to carry out detailed studies on bio-methane adsorption on commercial AC available in Sri Lanka

Review -importance of ethanol as a fuel, advances in technology and reduction of production cost

Abstract: Renewable energy is a key component supporting our journey towards the sustainable development. About 80% of the liquid fuel refined is consumed in transportation and hence, the challenging question is, "what is the best substitute liquid fuel instead of gasoline and diesel?" The answer is bio-ethanol and bio-diesel, respectively where ethanol is more interested. Brazil and USA are the world leaders producing ethanol with a percentage share of approximately 40% and 60% of the world total of 20,000 million gallons respectively. Brazil has been keen on sugarcane having a production cost of 365 US$/m3 while USA has been practicing com with 430 US$/m3. However with the ethical question of using edible feedstock for fuel production, lignocellulose material has recently gained a growing interest. Forest residues, agricultural wastes such as com straw & rice straw and dedicated energy plants as Poplar, Miscanthus, Switchgrass & etc. are under consideration. Feedstock pre-treatment cost and high hydrolysis cost (enzyme synthesis & low hydrolysis rate) are the main barriers in commercializing cellulose ethanol. Development of microbiology has played a major role in cost reduction and improving plants to have high feedstock production with reduced lignin 1 percentage is also in interest

Biogas reactors as a resource recovery system in coffee pulp processing

Coffee is an important global product. In fact it ranks only second to oil in traded price volatile commodities of the world - a relatively unknown fact! In most countries where coffee is produced it is for external trade and India is also not an exception. Many developing countries produce coffee and the world's largest consumer is United States, which accounts for nearly 25% of the global consumption. The bulk of coffee produced is exported bringing in foreign exchange to these developing economies. However, environmental aspects of coffee production have by and large being ignored

The Nanotechnology and its contributions to economic development

When you control atoms, you control just about everything," said Richard Smalley, the 1996 Nobel Laureate, who discovered buckyballs, referring to the possibilities of nanotechnology". The guiding vision of nanotechnology is atomic precision. In reality, nanotechnology is an enabling technology providing tools for the fabrication, manipulation and control of materials at the atomic level. At the heart of nanotechnology, it brings into collaboration ideas in chemistry, physics and biology mixed and blended with engineering and medicin e". Scientists and engineers have shown an active interest in nanotechnologies because at sizes below 100 nm, the fundamental chemical or electrical properties of materials can change. For example, silver metal used in jewellary is typically inert, however, at the nanoscale, it becomes chemically more active possessing antibacterial properties. Such useful changes in property have become the catalyst for predictions of a range of fundamental new advances in chemistry and physics over the next 10 - 50 years, mostly in the domains of new materials, the environment, in medicine and information technology. Although the top and bottom of the nanoscale (ideally ranging from 1 to 100 nm) does not have sharp demarcations - especially the upper value, it excludes individual atoms on the lower end, and matter that can be seen with a very good optical microscope on the upper end. This harnessing of properties of matter at the nano scale was predicted by Richard Feynman's famous prophesy in 1959:" there is plenty of room at the bottom." Nanotechnology is estimated to make a great impact on the global economy, and as such an appropriate indicator of its significance can be market volumes. However, nanotechnology as an industry cannot be easily quantified although its contribution to improvements in the existing products and even to produce brand new products. Most global market forecasts of nanotechnology spans between the period between 2000 and 2015. According to the United State National Science Foundation estimate of 2001, the world market for nanotechnological products by 2015 will be around 1 trillion US Dollars". On the other hand, the Lux Research Corporation estimated in 2004 that the same Globally, nanotechnology is market to be 2.6 trillion US Dollars projected to be an all pervasive by 20144. The latter which gives a EconomicReview:Dec.2010/Jan.2011 - Applications of nanotechnology are enabled by nanomaterials, which have novel optical, electric or magnetic properties. The building blocks of nanotechnology are semiconductors, metals, metal oxides, carbon materials and organics. The emerging commercial growth areas in nanotechnology are nanomaterials and nanomaterials processing, nanobiotechnology, nanophotonics, nanoelectronics and nanoinstrumentation. Nanomaterials and nanomaterials processing companies develop the materials and methods to manipulate and manufacture products based on nano materials. Nanophotonics involves the development of highly integrated optical- communication s components using nano-optic and nano-manufacturing technologies leading to rapid prototyping, highperformance advantages, smaller forms and lower costs. Nanobiotechnology IS multidisciplinary combining areas such as biology and nanoelectronics to fabricate arrays of tiny diagnostic sensors that can detect specific biological molecules or individual strands of DNA. These devices will provide faster, cheaper and more comprehensive diagnoses of complex diseases. Nanoelectronics includes electronic and optoelectronic devices in which individual assemblies of nanometer-scale components function as active device elements. Potential nanoelectronics products include integrated memory logic, passive optical components, field emission devices, and flat-panel display and light-emitting diodes

Understanding the Potential via Characterization of Sri Lankan Activated Carbon

There is growing global interest on bio-methane as a vehicular fuel and Europe Union (EU) has stated that this as a best well-to-wheel fuel. Commercialization of bio-methane under atmospheric conditions is limited due to its requirement of higher storage capacity. Compressed bio-methane systems have been currently commercialized in Europe in order to increase its low energy density however the process requires higher capital and maintenance costs. Thus, adsorbed bio-methane is suggested as a better alternative to store methane under low pressure conditions & activated carbon (AC) has shown promise as a methane adsorbent. This study is based on identifying the potential absorptivity of bio-methane into commercially available AC in Sri Lanka. The paper presents the pathway envisage in this task. Two types of commercial AC samples as granular & pelletize forms have been used from supplier HAYCARB for the analysis. In this paper, characterization data from the principals is used to investigate the methane uptake potential into commercial AC. Further, the study has been continued in evaluating several developed correlations in literature on linear behaviour of micropore volume of AC to methane uptake & concluded that the linear parameters of micropore volume to methane uptake would vary according to AC properties. Thus a correlation for local AC is important to be developed. Hence, an experimental setup is developed to carry out detailed studies on bio-methane adsorption on commercial AC available in Sri Lanka.IEEE IEEE Sri Lanka Section Robotics and Automation Section Chapter, IEEE Sri Lanka Sectio

Environmental issues and management in primary coffee processing

The paper examines the broader environmental issues and environmental management aspects of primary coffee processing in general and more specifically how it is addressed in India. Primary processing, the production of green beans from the coffee fruits, is practised to bring out more flavour. Coffee is an important global commodity, yet seen from a systemic view the producers and consumers of such an important commercial commodity are far apart. Primary coffee processing, with all its attendant environment impact, takes place at the producer end. The consumers in general are unaware of these impacts. The various methods of processing, the processing steps and the waste discharge associated with them are reviewed. A review of pollution and associated management methods is presented. An anaerobic bioreactor design developed and tested in a few Indian coffee plantations as a simple solution is also described

Environmental Issues and Management in Primary Coffee Processing

The paper examines the broader environmental issues and environmental management aspects of primary coffee processing in general and more specifically how it is addressed in India. Primary processing, the production of green beans from the coffee fruits, is practised to bring out more flavour. Coffee is an important global commodity, yet seen from a systemic view the producers and consumers of such all important commercial commodity are far apart. Primary coffee processing, with all its attendant environment impact, takes place at the producer end. The consumers in general are unaware of these impacts. The various methods of processing, the processing steps and the waste discharge associated with them are reviewed. A review of pollution and associated management methods is presented. An anaerobic bioreactor design developed and tested in a few Indian coffee plantations as a simple solution is also described