The Signs & the Science
How IIT-Delhi is
coming up with eco-friendly technologies to boost a sustainable environment
Anasal filter that can ease breathing problems, a three wheeler
running on hydrogen, and cement that has a lower polluting effect, all have a
common target: pro tect our precarious environment from further degrada tion.
Scientists at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi are experimenting with
new technologies, eco sensitive devices and mapping pollutants to make our
environment and ecological habitats sustainable. The experiments, besides
weaving a multi-disciplinary ap paratus, have also boosted the industry-academic
col laborations.
“We have seen a drastic change in the environment in the last
few years and, if not checked, this can be detri mental. While policy
formulation will be done at the government level, there is an urgent need for
academic institutions to scientifically analyse the data emanating from the
atmosphere and provide the right unbiased inputs to the government,“ IIT-Delhi
director V Ramgo pal Rao says. “IIT Delhi is at the forefront of such re
search.“
On the eve of World Environment Day, here's a peek into some of
the eco-friendly experiments underway in the labs of the institute:
Nasal Filter
for Pollution-free Respiration
When Prateek Sharma graduated from IIT-Delhi in 2015, he had a
dream -to make a device that could ward off pollutants. The civil engineering
graduate had seen his mother suffer from asthma and wanted to build a prototype
for resisting the pollut ants in the environment.
Sharma, together with a bunch of IIT-Delhi graduates and faculty
members of the textiles department, formed a company Nanoclean Global to commer
cialise the. The team used nanotechnology to build Nasofilters that sticks on
the nasal orifice. The technology involved assembling millions of small-sized
pores to create a thin flexible membrane, which could capture minute particles
with high efficiency. If you're wondering how does one breathe with the
nostrils closed, Nasofilters contains a porous substrate, which does surface
filtration; it can auto clean itself as one exhales, so there is no breathing
resistance.
The device was recently awarded the Startups National Award 2017
by the Technology Development Board. With a price tag of a mere `10, the filter
is set to be available in the market by August. The team is also targeting a
global market for the filters.
Sustainable
Vehicle 3D Textiles
Replacing the steel structure of automobiles with a 3D fabric
made from glass, carbon and natural fibers can reduce fuel con sumption by near
ly 25%. That's the target a team of researchers from IIT-Delhi's textiles
department are aiming at. Togeth er with the collab oration with com panies
like Toyo ta, Maruti and Mahindra, the project was sanctioned funding of `10
crore from the textiles ministry in March.“By replacing the stainless steel in
automobile with this fabric, there will be a nearly 40% reduction in
weight.This will result in a saving at least 25% in fuel consumption,“ head of
textiles department BK Behera said.
Hydrogen-powered
Vehicles
Researchers at the Center for Energy Studies (CES) have been
working on alternate fuels, mainly hydrogen-powered vehicles for
transportation. “Hydrogen fuel has near zero emission and is capable of solving
the twin problems of energy crisis and energy degradation. Application of
hydrogen as transport fuel can improve the air quality in our cities,“ says LM
Das, one of the principal investigators of the project. The 15 hydrogen-operat
ed three wheelers, devel oped in collaboration with Mahindra & Mahindra,
were used at Pragati Maidan, Delhi from 2012 till May 2017. The research team
also devel oped two hydrogen mini bus es as part of the project, which are
currently undergo ing field trials.
Converting
Biomass
For the residents of Delhi, the thick envelop of smog just after
last year's Diwali was debilitating. When the smog refused to budge, analysts
reasoned that it was because of the burning of agro-residues in the field of
Punjab and Haryana. Burning of paddy straw releases greenhouse gas which
disturbs the chemistry of the atmosphere. The researchers at Centre for Rural
Development and Technology have evolved a technology to convert the
agricultural residue into biomethane, thus generating energy and silica-rich
bio manure, evolving an ecofriendly platform for reducing the pollution. The team
has provided technical support to Asia's first biogas-based power plant based
on paddy straw at Fazilka, P u n j a b. T h e y have also collabo rated with
the Indian Oil Corporation for setting up a plant in Punjab to convert paddy
straw to bio-methane, which can be used as fuel and electricity generation.
Eco-friendly
Cement
Researchers from the civil engineering department have
collaborated with JK Lakshmi Cement and carried out the first full-scale trial
production of a new cement known as Limestone Calcined Clay Cement (LC3) and
developed an environment-friendly additive for concrete that makes it easier to
produce high quality cement.Trial applications have shown that it can reduce as
much as 30% CO2 emissions and 20% energy consumption in cement production.
Shashank Bishnoi, who is coordinating the collaboration at IIT-Delhi, says,
“Direct interaction with the industry will also ensure a more practical and
hands-on training for the students and researchers, instead of rote learning.“
India-centric
Climate Model
The Centre of Excellence in Climate Modeling, funded by the
Department of Science and Technology, will develop an India-centric climate
model to address the pressing issues of climate change. The researchers aim to
develop an India-Centric Climate Model (ICCM) through process improvements and
region-specific customization that can simulate the regional climate of India
and can be used for future climate projections at district level to assess the
impacts of climate change on agriculture, health, water resources, and the
energy sectors. The ICCM output will be downscaled at ultra-high resolutions
for various applications.
Ganga Health
Check
Dolphin-count can be used as a parameter to check the health of
river Ganga. Over the years the number of dolphins has become precarious. But
the process of counting the dolphin is arduous and is normally done manually on
a boat and the process is not reliable.
The Integrated Visual and Acoustic System (IVAS), for mulated by
the researchers from the Center of Applied Research in Electronics, tracks the
dolphins as they emit sonar clicks while underwater and corroborated when they
surface and are captured in cameras. The IVAS consists of an array of
hydrophones that are deployed from a boat at 1 meter under the water's surface
and a set of HD video cameras at about 2 meters above the water's surface. The
underwater sounds and camera images are recorded simultaneously and then
analysed for counting.
Vanita Srivastava Jun 04 2017 : The Economic Times (Mumbai)
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