Retrospective analysis of endoscopic retrograde cholangio pancreatography (ERCP) procedures in a tertiary care centre in coastal Odisha

Background: ERCP is commonly performed for radiologic visualisation and therapeutic procedure for treating various pancreatico-biliary disorders. There is no comprehensive data available till date about ERCP procedures from Odisha. The aim of this study was to review the indications and complications of endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) procedures in a tertiary care centre in Odisha.Methods: From July 2013 to December 2016, consecutive patients undergoing ERCP procedure were included in the study. Patients with any previous papillary intervention like papillotomy, sphincterotomy or stent placement were excluded from the study. Patients’ demographic characters, ERCP indications and post-ERCP complications were reviewed.Results: Three hundred and fourteen patients were included in the study. Among them male patients were 161 and females were 153. Mean age was 50.75 years and the age range was 18 to 82 years. Most common indications for ERCP was malignant obstructive jaundice (N = 171, 54%) and choledocholithiasis (N = 137, 43.6%). Post ERCP complications developed in 25 patients (8%). Pancreatitis was the most common post-ERCP complication.Conclusions: ERCP is a safe procedure. ERCP complications in our centre are similar to those reported from other centres

Assessment of the fate of organic micropollutants in novel wastewater treatment plant configurations through an empirical mechanistic model

Novel wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) are expected to be less energetically demanding than conventional ones. However, scarce information is available about the fate of organic micropollutants (OMPs) in these novel configurations. Therefore, the objective of this work is to assess the fate of OMPs in three novel WWTP configurations by using a plant-wide simulation that integrates multiple units. The difference among the three configurations is the organic carbon preconcentration technology: chemically enhanced primary treatment (CEPT), high-rate activated sludge (HRAS) combined or not with a rotating belt filter (RBF); followed by a partial-nitritation (PN-AMX) unit. The simulation results show that the three selected novel configurations lead mainly to comparable OMPs removal efficiencies from wastewater, which were similar or lower, depending on the OMP, than those obtained in conventional WWTPs. However, the presence of hydrophobic OMPs in the digested sludge noticeably differs among the three configurations. Whereas the configuration based on sole HRAS to recover organic carbon leads to a lower presence of OMPs in digested sludge than the conventional WWTP, in the other two novel configurations this presence is noticeable higher. In conclusion, novel WWTP configurations do not improve the OMPs elimination from wastewater achieved in conventional ones, but the HRAS-based WWTP configuration leads to the lowest presence in digested sludge so it becomes the most efficient alternativeThe authors would like to thank the EU (ID199) and AEI (PCIN-2015-22) for funding, in the frame of the collaborative international Consortium Pioneer_STP financed under Water Joint Programming Initiative. The authors from Universidade de Santiago de Compostela belong to the Galician Competitive Research Group ED431C 2017/029 and the CRETUS Strategic Partnership (AGRUP2017/01). These programmers are co-funded by FEDER (EU)S

Model Predictive Control Strategy for Optimizing Biological Nitrogen Removal (BNR) Processes Accounting for Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Biological Nitrogen Removal (BNR) process comprises sequential oxidation of ammonia to nitrate and subsequent reduction of nitrate to nitrogen gas under a sequence of aerobic and anoxic conditions. Ammonia oxidizing bacteria (AOB) which are used for nitrification are the main contributors of Nitrous Oxide (N2O), a powerful greenhouse gas having a potential of 300 times greater than Carbon Dioxide (CO2) [1] and Nitric Oxide (NO), which is a toxic gas. Due to unavailability of unified model for capturing the dynamics of N2O it is difficult to control its emission from waste water plants. In this study, a model is chosen that captures the dynamics of N2O during recovery to aerobic condition after a period of anoxia (which is a common practice in waste water treatment plant) that is used for control purposes. Further, many of the states (like cell concentration, nitrous oxide and nitric oxides) used in the model cannot be or are expensive to measure (unknown states) in a real BNR process. In order to mitigate the emission of N2O its concentration is first estimated with a soft sensor (Extended Kalman Filter) and then a nonlinear model predictive control is implemented. Finally, a control algorithm is provided to address a multi objective problem such as mitigation of liquid N2O ( 0:001(mg=L)), maintaining DO (2(mg=L)) and NH+ 4 concentration (1(mg=L)) [2] in effluent water.by Chitta Ranjan BeheraM.Tech

Simulation and experimental studies to enhance water reuse and reclamation in India's largest dairy industry

The stringent norms laid down by Pollution Control Boards in India are forcing dairy industries to have efficient waste water treatment processes and zero discharge treatment units. However, there are no standard protocols available to reduce waste water and encourage water reclamation and sustainability. To address this issue, a framework for water reclamation and reuse is developed for India's largest dairy industry called Amul Dairy. In this work, the sources of waste water are identified and a unique scheme is suggested to improve water reclamation and reuse. Results show that on an average, more than 5% water used per day can be reclaimed. Simulation of the effluent treatment plant at Amul Diary is performed to provide suggestions to enhance water quality that could aid reclamation. Modifications based on these simulations could result in 10% increase of biogas production. Further, 85% of the energy consumed by aerobic bioreactors in the Effluent Treatment Plant (ETP) could be reduced resulting in energy savings. The proposed methodology can be extended to all cooperative dairy industries in India that are developed based on recommendation from Amul.by Sarojini Tiwari, Chitta Ranjan Behera and Babji Srinivasa

Model based predictive control for energy efficient biological nitrification process with minimal nitrous oxide production

Recent studies reveal that Ammonium Oxidizing Bacteria (AOB) in the Biological Nitrification Removal (BNR) process is one of the main contributors for Nitrous Oxide (N2ON2O) emissions, a powerful greenhouse gas having a potential of 300 times that of Carbon Dioxide (CO2CO2) [1] and [2]. Though a few models have been proposed to understand the behaviour of N2ON2O production by AOB under various conditions, there exists hardly any work that aim towards development of a control strategy that utilizes these kind of models to mitigate N2ON2O production. In this work, a model is developed based on the experimental studies [3] that capture the dynamics of N2ON2O during recovery to aerobic conditions, after a period of anoxia, a common practice in nitrogen removal process. Subsequently, this model is employed in soft sensing using Extended Kalman Filter (EKF) to estimate N2ON2O concentration and develop an advanced model based control strategy for energy efficient BNR process with minimal N2ON2O production. This control strategy provides an aeration profile that minimizes N2ON2O production and energy consumption (less pumping cost) apart from meeting the desired ammonium level at the output. The key features of the proposed model based control strategy are: (i) only continuous measurements of DO is required and, (ii) fairly insensitive to fluctuations in the influent ammonium loading and changes in the model parameters.by Chitta Ranjan Behera, Babji Srinivasan, Kartik Chandran and Venkat Venkatasubramania

Towards development of eco-friendly and energy efficient biological nitrogen removal process with minimal green house gas emissions

by Chitta Ranjan Behera, Babji Srinivasan, Karthik Chandrand and Venkat Venkatasubramania