Thermochemical Conversion of Algal Based Biorefinery for Biofuel

Algae being the photosynthetic organism, currently considered as underexplored species for biofuel production in the entire global region and yet need to be explored more. In presence of algal based theory regarding the thermochemical process, though many researchers have been proceeding with the experiment but have got to stretch it further. This process aims to produce energy and bioactive compounds using algal biomass as a raw material. The current study relates with the thermochemical conversion process and mainly reflects about the algal biomass conversion into biorefinery production, in a short time with easier and economically viable points, unlike other biochemical and chemical conversion processes. In thermochemical process, high temperatures used during the process produces different biofuels including solid, liquid, gaseous biofuels. This thermal decomposition process of algal biomass can be categorized into Gasification, Pyrolysis, Direct combustion, Hydrothermal process, and Torrefaction. Hence, in this study, it briefs on different type of processes for better production of biofuel as well as its significant merit and demerit comparisons of each process

Suitability of vetiver (Vetiveria zizanioides) for removal of Cr (III) from tannery effluent using floating bed and rhizofiltration systems

Various physico-chemical methods have been employed in remediating heavy metals from wastewater, but most of them are expensive. While phytoremediation, is one cost-effective and eco-friendly technology, proves to be an alternate amongst which Vetiver, a unique tropical plant, is recognized for its large biomass and dense root system and has been proven for various remediation studies. The current research was conducted to assess the potential for Vetiver rhizofiltration of chromium. A pilot study was conducted in rhizobox wherein Vetiver was grown using sand as a medium and samples were collected from rhizobox port 1 and rhizobox port 2. Subsequently, the study was upscaled to a floating bed experiment. In both studies, Vetiver were grown under 500 mg L-1 Cr (III) solution and tannery effluent had a chromium concentration of 379 mg L-1 and the results were compared to control. Between the samples collected from port 1 and 2, the removal of chromium in port 1 was recorded to be higher than that of port 2. Moreover, the removal of chromium ions from the tannery effluent was relatively higher than the spiked solution. In both the ports, the highest removal of chromium concentration was recorded in T5 (Sand + Vetiver + Cr (III) @ 500 mg kg-1) with a removal percent of 12.59 and 10.38% in port 1 and 2, respectively. Hence, Vetiver grass has a great potential in removing pollutants like chromium from the wastewater.

Anaerobic Digestion of Pre-treated Maize Cob for Enhanced Biogas Production

Maize cob is a ligno-cellulosic wastes available in India. In the present study, properties of maize cob were determined as per standard test methods. Based on the values, maize cob was pre-treated with potassium hydroxide, hydrogen peroxide, and phosphoric acid in 1, 2, 3%v/v concentrations for 24 h. Pre-treatment with 3%v/v potassium hydroxide was effective in enhancing the availability of cellulose (57%). Anaerobic digestion of the alkali pre-treated maize cob showed potential of enhanced methane generation (0.0202 m3.kg-1 of TS) by three times using the conventional cow dung slurry as inoculum source. The bio-digested slurry contained (nitrogen (0.04 – 0.07%), and phosphorus (0.012 – 0.02%) and , potassium (0.01 – 0.03%)) macro-nutrients, and proved to have potential of use as organic manure

Distribution of Microorganisms and Fractionation of Sulphur in Anthropogenic Wetlands under Long-term Elevated CO2 Soil

The fate of extra carbon accessing soil under elevated CO2 levels, as well as the repercussions for plant nutrition, is primarily determined by soil microbe activity. However, most increased CO2 research has reported changes usually increases in soil organic carbon and reduction in the pH of the soil which is merely the first step in understanding how soil processes are altered. We analyzed these variables by assessing enzyme activities and identifying the individual components impacted by high CO2 and those that reflect changes in soil organic matter pools. The majority of the microbial variables studied showed a significant increase under eCO2 conditions, The rise in dehydrogenase activity suggests that the increased biomass of bacteria coincided with an increase in their activity. The rise in phosphatase activities implies that organic matter breakdown is being stimulated overall. The sulphur fractions had a significantly increased number of substrates consumed by soil microorganisms under increasing CO2. Moreover, direct examination of data from these perspective steep shifts in soil biological activity points to possible areas of investigation

Versatile Medium for the Isolation of Sulfur-Reducing Bacteria from Natural Ecotypes

Sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are a diverse group of microorganisms that are commonly isolated from anoxygenic environments (lake depths, soil, or swamps) and are also found in the intestines of humans and animals. They are well known for outcompeting methanogens for common substrates thereby helping in the decrease of methane emissions and also playing a major role in sulfur cycling. Therefore, determining the cultivable methods for their isolation is important. Various media has been used for the cultivation and purification of SRB from natural wetlands. The luxuriant growth of SRB was observed in all the media tested, out of which the best suitable media to recover a maximum of colonies from the natural soil/sediment samples was discovered as a modified postage medium. The enumeration of the isolated SRB was done by the most probable number (MPN) technique. A total of twenty pure isolates of SRB were isolated from different ecotypes

Influence of Microplastics on Seedling Growth of Blackgram under Different Soil Types

The prevalence of microplastics in soil has recently attracted substantial interest as they pose a major threat to agricultural system. A pot experiment was conducted to evaluate the effect of polyethylene microplastics (PE-MPs) on seedling development of blackgram (Vigna mungo L.) in two different types of soil during April, 2022 under controlled conditions in the Department of Environmental Sciences, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, India. The treatments included four different concentrations of PE-MPs (0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1.00%) along with a control which had no microplastics. All the treatments were replicated thrice. In loamy soil type, germination rate declined from 87.1±0.57 (control) to 73.1±0.33 (1.00% PE-MPs) and in clay loam soil, from 83.3±3.08 (control) to 79.8±0.03 (1.00% PE-MPs). Similarly root and shoot characteristics also showed distinct reduction along with increasing microplastics concentrations. Hence, the results of the study reveal that soil type has influence over the magnitude of variations in blackgram growth parameters in the presence of polyethylene microplastics

Assessing the yield and nutrient potential of horse gram mutants (Macrotyloma uniflorum Lam. Verdc.) an underutilized legume through a multi-environment-based experiment

Abstract The agronomic stability and nutritional importance of 30 (Test genotypes: 29 + Check: 1 = 30) promising horse gram mutants were evaluated in this multi-environment-based experiment (MEE). Attempts were made to (i) identify stable mutants for agronomic traits through AMMI and GGE biplot models, (ii) quantify nutritional traits, (iii) understand the linkage between yield and nutritional traits, and (iv) estimate physical (PP) and cooking properties (CP) of selected genotypes to fix their food-chain usability. The ANOVA of the pooled data exhibited significant differences among environments (E), genotypes (G), and GxE interaction. The combined AMMI and GGE results helped to identify a few good-yielding and stable genotypes (GYSM) (G1, G25, G3, and G27). The yield advantages of these GYSMs over the parent PAIYUR 2 are 42.99%, 34.63%, 28.68%, and 30.59% respectively. The nutrient profiling of mutants revealed (i) a significant coefficient of variation for macronutrients (fat: 29.98%; fibre: 20.72%, and protein: 5.01%), (ii) a good range of variation for micronutrients, and (iii) helped to identify macro (MaNSM) and micro nutrient-specific mutants (MiNSM). The relationship analysis between yield and nutrient traits ascertained that yield had (i) positivity with protein (r2 = 0.69) and negativity for micronutrients except for Mn (r2 = 0.63), Cu (r2 = 0.46), and B (r2 = 0.01) in GYSM, (ii) positivity with protein and fibre in MaNSM, and (iii) negativity with micronutrients in MiNSM. Of the GYSM, G1 and G25 offer scope for commercial exploitation, and their PP and CP analyses revealed that G1 can be used for pastry and baked product preparation while G25 for weaning foods. Cooking time exhibited positivity with seed size parameters and negativity with water absorption capacity (r2 = − 0.53). An LC–MS–MS-based amino acid (AA) fractionation study showed the effect of induced mutagenesis on the contents of amino acids and also revealed the significance of horse gram for its lysine and methionine contents