Smita S Kumar | Guru Jambheshwar University of Science & Tech (original) (raw)

Papers by Smita S Kumar

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbo... more The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbon source as well as in combination with glycerol as a complex carbon substrate in BG-11 media, to produce microalgal biomass (gL), lipid (dcw%) and biochemical components, such as total soluble carbohydrates (mgmL) and proteins (mgmL) by Chlorella pyrenoidosa, over a cultivation period of 12 days. The present study revealed that using glucose as sole carbon source at various concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 (gL), total lipid, total biomass, total protein and total carbohydrates increased. In comparison to control showed increased biomass gL (0.29±0.021 to 0.53±0.012), while Lipid content (DCW %) enhanced from (4.87± 0.021 to 14.09±0.016). But it has no stimulatory effects found on photosynthetic pigment i.e. total chlorophyll (μgmL) In another batch experiment, results showed that Chlorella species can utilize glycerol as a source of sole carbon source, showed less biomass lipid and c...

Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 2021

Abstract This study provides a detailed scientific data on the quality of groundwater in Oleh. It... more Abstract This study provides a detailed scientific data on the quality of groundwater in Oleh. It aimed at helping to facilitate the planning of potable water supply scheme for the community. Water samples from boreholes (BHs) and hand-dug wells (HDWs) in the community were obtained for the determination of biological and physicochemical parameters, from December 10, 2016 to March 10, 2017 for dry season and May 01, 2017 to August 01, 2017 for wet season. Structured interviews were also organized for households for the estimation of degree of access to safe drinking water, quality perception and awareness of domestic treatment techniques. But for pH being lower in some locations, results arrived at reveal that the physicochemical parameters were within the World Health Organization (WHO) and Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON) limits. Cd and Pb in the BHs and HDWs were generally, slightly higher than the maximum limits of the WHO and SON. Though total coliform (TC) bacteria and Escherichia coli were found in the samples, HDWs had higher values. The small elevated values of Pb and Cd could be linked to crude oil exploration and processing activities in the sub-region. While most of the HDW samples (>72%) were found to be in the category of “low risk (FC, >11-100 cfu/100 mL), result of the survey showed that over

Fuel, 2019

Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology is a promising sustainable energy alternative to combat issu... more Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) technology is a promising sustainable energy alternative to combat issues pertaining to non-renewable energy consumption, climate change, and environmental pollution. MFC technology employs anaerobic microorganisms, which convert biodegradable substances into simpler substances and produce bioelectricity. MFCs show promise for low-cost energy yielding wastewater treatment. Recent research efforts have shown that the technological know-how of MFC technology has evolved beyond the primary applications of wastewater treatment and energy generation. Hence, research attention has shifted towards other specific valueadded applications of MFCs such as small implantable health devices, robotics, and environmental quality monitoring sensors, etc. This article concisely addresses the potential applications of MFC technology past power production and wastewater treatment for biofuels such as biogas, and hydrogen production, and in the fields of medical implantable devices, robotics, and as biosensors for heavy metals and detection of toxic chemicals among others.

Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, De... more Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, Delhi). Results of the experiments revealed that at the provided conditions i. e. at pH 8, aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate reduced COD by 66, 56 and 73.3%, respectively. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be said that high removal capacities were obtained for ferrous sulphate as coagulant for the treatment of raw leachate sample. Optimum COD removal was 73.3% with a dose of 2 g/l. Ferrous sulphate was found to be an efficient coagulant for landfill leachate without any adjustment in pH and can be efficiently integrated with biological treatment processes.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbo... more The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbon source as well as in combination with glycerol as a complex carbon substrate in BG-11 media, to produce microalgal biomass (gL-1), lipid (dcw%) and biochemical components, such as total soluble carbohydrates (mgmL-1) and proteins (mgmL-1) by Chlorella pyrenoidosa, over a cultivation period of 12 days. The present study revealed that using glucose as sole carbon source at various concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 (gL-1), total lipid, total biomass, total protein and total carbohydrates increased. In comparison to control showed increased biomass gL-1 (0.29±0.021 to 0.53±0.012), while Lipid content (DCW %) enhanced from (4.87± 0.021 to 14.09±0.016). But it has no stimulatory effects found on photosynthetic pigment i.e. total chlorophyll (µgmL-1) In another batch experiment, results showed that Chlorella species can utilize glycerol as a source of sole carbon source, showed less biomass lipid and carbohydrates but its effect are more promising when cultured in mixture of glucose and glycerol over a cultivation period of 15 days. It was found that biomass and total lipid content enhanced with mixed concentration of glycerol and glucose whereas decreased when chlorella used glycerol as sole carbon source. But it has also stimulatory effects on total carbohydrates.

Aims: To study Cadmium removal from simulated waste water using water hyacinth biomass immobilize... more Aims: To study Cadmium removal from simulated waste water using water hyacinth biomass immobilized with Emericella nidulans. Place and Duration of Study: Methodology: The spent biomass left after enzyme production was immobilized with Emericella nidulans and dried at 50°C. Furthermore, the dried biomass was utilized for the removal of heavy metals i.e. cadmium, chromium, copper and nickel. Response surface methodology (RSM) was applied for screening and optimization of process parameters for heavy metal removal. Results: Previously, production of enzyme from cellulosic biomass was done with the help of Original Research Article Manju et al.; JALSI, 8(3): 1-10, 2016; Article no.JALSI.27845 2 fungus Emericella nidulans using solid state fermentation method. In the present study, the leftover water hyacinth biomass was further assessed to be used as biosorbent for the removal of heavy metals. To accomplish the same, four heavy metals viz. cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni), chromium (Cr) and copper (Cu) were screened out. It was revealed that the removal efficiency was maximum for Cd, followed by Cu, Ni and Cr, respectively. Percent removal was 97.2, 96.3, 95 and 94.6 for Cd, Cu, Ni and Cr, respectively. Furthermore, different process parameters were optimized using one factor at a time and box behnken design (BBD) of RSM. From the optimization studies it was concluded that removal efficiency was maximum at 40°C and pH 6. Optimum values of initial metal concentration, adsorbent dose and contact time were found to be 118 mg/L, 1% and 142 min. Conclusion: The spent biomass immobilized with Emericella nidulans left after enzyme production effectively removes cadmium from simulated waste water.

In the present study, two novel dominant genera i.e., Advenella kashmirensis and Desulfovibrio am... more In the present study, two novel dominant genera i.e., Advenella kashmirensis and Desulfovibrio aminophilus in consortium, as confirmed by IlluminaMiSeq has been used in the anode side of a microbial fuel cell reactor to find out the influence of cathode environment on cell performance. A model terminal electron acceptor (TEA), KMnO 4 at different pHs has been used in the cathode side. An oxidation peak obtained at −0.478 vs Ag/AgCl (−0.281 V vs SHE) corresponding to S 0 /H 2 S (−0.280 V vs SHE) in cyclic voltammogram confirms the complete mineralization of sulphate to biogenic elemental sulphur in accordance with the microbial community. Higher cathodic pH 10 has a detrimental effect on the cell performance as the power density is reduced to half to that for aqKMnO 4 (pH = 6.86) catholyte. Solution resistance is found to be low for aqKMnO 4 (60 ohm) and high i.e. 124.5 ohm for aqKMnO 4 with pH = 10, which corroborates to highest power density obtained for aqKMnO 4. Buffering of the catholyte provided stability to the system with lowest internal resistance of 40 ohm and comparable performance. The highest current density (25 A/m 3) and power density (7.8 W/m 3) is obtained with aqueous KMnO 4 at pH 6.86. The developed consortium can be successfully utilized in microbial fuel cells for simultaneous electricity generation and wastewater treatment.

Electrochemical behaviour of buffered ferric chloride (FC) was studied as terminal electron accep... more Electrochemical behaviour of buffered ferric chloride (FC) was studied as terminal electron acceptor (TEA) in a dual chamber microbial fuel cell (DCMFC). The DCMFC was operated in batch mode using lactate as substrate and enriched consortium of sulphate reducing and sulphur oxidising bacteria as anodic biocatalysts. To characterise the TEA in terms of open circuit voltage and power density, four DCMFCs were operated individually under similar anodic operating conditions with phosphate buffer (PB), potassium hexacyanoferrate (PF), potassium dichromate (PD) and FC. Results showed that voltage and power generation with FC were highest among the four TEAs. Performance of the four tested buffered catholytes was found to be in the following order: ferric chloride (857 mV; 308.7 mW/m 2) > potassium hexacyanoferrate (571 mV; 222 mW/m 2) > potassium dichromate (517 mV; 168.6 mW/m 2) > phosphate buffer solution (250 mV; 16.87 mW/m 2). With the addition of potassium dichromate, potassium hexacyanoferrate and ferric chloride to phosphate buffer, charge transfer resistance (R ct) declined by 67%, 52.2% and 51.8%, respectively. Ohmic resistance decreased by 36%, 41.6% and 37.6%, respectively. Electrical conductivity of the leachate after coagulation with ferric chloride increased from an initial of 2.54– 7.96 mS thus further supporting the decreased resistance. Further, with no optimization, 50 mM/L of ferric chloride could remove 68.3% of COD having initial value of 9600 mg/L in the cathode chamber.

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbo... more The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbon source as well as in combination with glycerol as a complex carbon substrate in BG-11 media, to produce microalgal biomass (gL-1), lipid (dcw%) and biochemical components, such as total soluble carbohydrates (mgmL-1) and proteins (mgmL-1) by Chlorella pyrenoidosa, over a cultivation period of 12 days. The present study revealed that using glucose as sole carbon source at various concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 (gL-1), total lipid, total biomass, total protein and total carbohydrates increased. In comparison to control showed increased biomass gL-1 (0.29±0.021 to 0.53±0.012), while Lipid content (DCW %) enhanced from (4.87± 0.021 to 14.09±0.016). But it has no stimulatory effects found on photosynthetic pigment i.e. total chlorophyll (µgmL-1) In another batch experiment, results showed that Chlorella species can utilize glycerol as a source of sole carbon source, showed less biomass lipid and carbohydrates but its effect are more promising when cultured in mixture of glucose and glycerol over a cultivation period of 15 days. It was found that biomass and total lipid content enhanced with mixed concentration of glycerol and glucose whereas decreased when chlorella used glycerol as sole carbon source. But it has also stimulatory effects on total carbohydrates.

Rice fields are significant contributors of greenhouse gases mainly methane and nitrous oxide to ... more Rice fields are significant contributors of greenhouse gases mainly methane and nitrous oxide to the atmosphere. Increasing concentrations of these greenhouse gases play significant role in changing atmospheric chemistry such as mean air temperature, rainfall pattern, drought, and flood frequency. Mitigation of greenhouse gases for achieving sustainable agriculture without affecting economical production is one the biggest challenge of twenty first century at national and global scale. On the basis of published scientific studies, we hereby assess the use of nitrification inhibitors for greenhouse gas mitigation from rice soil. Biologically oxidation of ammonium to nitrate is termed as nitrification and materials which suppress this process are known as nitrification inhibitors. Soil amendment by addition of certain nitrification inhibitors such as neem oil coated urea, nimin-coated urea; dicyandiamide, encapsulated calcium carbide, and hydroquinone reduce cumulative methane and nitrous oxide emission from rice. Firstly, these inhibitors reduce nitrous oxide emissions both directly by nitrification (by reducing NH4+ to NO3-) as well as indirectly by de-nitrification (by reducing NO3- availability in soil). Secondly, methane emission from rice soil can be reduced by enhancing methane oxidation and suppressing methane production and further by reducing the aerenchymal transportation through rice plant. Application of some of the nitrification inhibitors such as calcium carbide and encapsulated calcium carbide reduce methane production by releasing acetylene gas which helps in reducing the population of methanogenic microbes in the soil. Application of nitrification inhibitors also helps to maintain soil redox potential at higher level subsequently reducing cumulative methane emission from soil. Plant derived organic nitrification inhibitors (neem oil, neem cake, karanja seed extract) are eco-friendly and possess substantial greenhouse gas mitigation potential from rice. In the current scenario of global warming and environmental pollution, application of organic plant derived nitrification inhibitors is much needed for sustainable agriculture.

Methane is one of the critical greenhouse gases,which absorb long wavelength radiation, affects t... more Methane is one of the critical greenhouse gases,which absorb long wavelength radiation, affects the chemistry of atmosphere and contributes to global climate change. Rice ecosystem is one of the major anthropogenic sources of methane. The anaerobic waterlogged soil in rice field provides an ideal environment to methanogens for
methanogenesis. However, the rate of methanogenesis differs according to rice cultivation regions due to a number
of biological, environmental and physical factors like carbon sources, pH, Eh, temperature etc. The interplay
between the different conditions and factors may also convert the rice fields into sink from source temporarily. Mechanistic understanding and comprehensive evaluation of these variations and responsible factors are urgently required for designing new mitigation options and evaluation of reported option in different climatic conditions.
The objective of this review paper is to develop conclusive understanding on the methane production, oxidation, and emission and methane measurement techniques from rice field along with its mitigation/abatement mechanism to explore the possible reduction techniques from rice ecosystem.

Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, De... more Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, Delhi). Results of the experiments revealed that at the provided conditions i. e. at pH 8, aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate reduced COD by 66, 56 and 73.3%, respectively. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be said that high removal capacities were obtained for ferrous sulphate as coagulant for the treatment of raw leachate sample. Optimum COD removal was 73.3%
with a dose of 2 g/l. Ferrous sulphate was found to be an efficient coagulant for landfill leachate without any adjustment in pH and can be efficiently integrated with biological treatment processes.

Landfill leachate is one of the major concerns of the present society from environmental point of... more Landfill leachate is one of the major concerns of the present society from environmental point of view. Fenton " s reagent serves as an effective treatment method for the removal of pollution load from landfill leachate. In the present study, the efficacy of response surface models was analysed to optimize experimental conditions for maximum removal of chemical oxygen demand, colour, phosphate and sulphate. The optimum conditions obtained by overlaying the responses were found to be initial pH 5, [H 2 O 2 ]/ [Fe 2+ ] ratio 4 and [H 2 O 2 ] 80 mM. After Fenton " s oxidation, overall reduction in chemical oxygen demand, phosphate, sulphate and colour removal of 84.2%, 93.7%, 97.5% and 82.47% respectively, was achieved. The chemical oxygen demand removal was significantly affected by H 2 O 2 concentration and H 2 O 2 /FeSO 4 molar ratio. H 2 O 2 concentration and pH had noteworthy influence on phosphate and colour removal. The sulphate removal was significantly affected by H 2 O 2 /FeSO 4 ratio and pH. The estimated overall optimum conditions by overlaying the responses of Box-Behnken design of response surface methodology were found to be initial pH 5, [H 2 O 2 ]/ [Fe 2+ ] ratio 4 and [H 2 O 2 ] 80 mM.

FeCl 3 coagulation was used to achieve maximum reduction of COD, phosphate, sulfate and color and... more FeCl 3 coagulation was used to achieve maximum reduction of COD, phosphate, sulfate and color and process optimization (FeCl 3 dosage, pH, reaction time) was done by BBD-RSM. Responses were recorded in terms of EC, COD, phosphate, color and sulfate removal. Variables A (pH) and B (reaction time) were negatively related to removal of COD and phosphate, whereas, C (FeCl 3 dosage) was positive in case of COD removal and negative for phosphate removal. pH and coagulant dosage had negative relationship with color removal; however, reaction time showed positive relationship. In case of percent sulfate removal, variable A (pH) demonstrated negative relationship whereas B (reaction time) and C (FeCl 3 dosage) were found to be positively related. Numerical optimization of the model revealed a maximum reduction of 71, 93, 86 and 99.6 % COD, phosphate, color and sulfate at optimal FeCl 3 dosage = 3 g/l, pH 8, and reaction time = 95 min.

Groundwater for Sustainable Development, 2021

Fuel, 2019

The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbo... more The objective of the current study was to investigate the effect of using glucose as a sole carbon source as well as in combination with glycerol as a complex carbon substrate in BG-11 media, to produce microalgal biomass (gL-1), lipid (dcw%) and biochemical components, such as total soluble carbohydrates (mgmL-1) and proteins (mgmL-1) by Chlorella pyrenoidosa, over a cultivation period of 12 days. The present study revealed that using glucose as sole carbon source at various concentrations ranging from 1 to 20 (gL-1), total lipid, total biomass, total protein and total carbohydrates increased. In comparison to control showed increased biomass gL-1 (0.29±0.021 to 0.53±0.012), while Lipid content (DCW %) enhanced from (4.87± 0.021 to 14.09±0.016). But it has no stimulatory effects found on photosynthetic pigment i.e. total chlorophyll (µgmL-1) In another batch experiment, results showed that Chlorella species can utilize glycerol as a source of sole carbon source, showed less biomass lipid and carbohydrates but its effect are more promising when cultured in mixture of glucose and glycerol over a cultivation period of 15 days. It was found that biomass and total lipid content enhanced with mixed concentration of glycerol and glucose whereas decreased when chlorella used glycerol as sole carbon source. But it has also stimulatory effects on total carbohydrates.

Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, De... more Coagulation process was used to treat landfill leachate collected from landfill site (Gajipur, Delhi). Results of the experiments revealed that at the provided conditions i. e. at pH 8, aluminium sulphate, ferric chloride and ferrous sulphate reduced COD by 66, 56 and 73.3%, respectively. On the basis of the obtained results, it can be said that high removal capacities were obtained for ferrous sulphate as coagulant for the treatment of raw leachate sample. Optimum COD removal was 73.3%
with a dose of 2 g/l. Ferrous sulphate was found to be an efficient coagulant for landfill leachate without any adjustment in pH and can be efficiently integrated with biological treatment processes.