| Sanction Date: | 30.08.2024 | |||
| Project Category | MG | |||
| Year | 2024-2025 | |||
| Project Duration | 3 Year | |||
| BTA : | Handling of Waste | |||
| Project Site/ State/ Districts/ Villages Covered: |
Sardar Patel University Mandi, Himachal Pradesh |
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| Organization/ Implementation Agency: | Sardar Patel University Mandi, Himachal Pradesh | |||
| Project Partners: | S.No. | Name | ||
| 1 | Fisheries Department, Government of Himachal Pradesh | |||
| 2 | Hillthrill Agro Processor Private Limited, Tehsil Chachiot, Distt. Mandi HP 175045 | |||
| Lead Proponent: | Dr. Lakhveer Singh
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| Project Brief Description: | The Himalayan region is one of the most pristine ecosystems in the world. Maintaining and safeguarding the natural resources in these regions and embedding the principles of sustainability are the major requirements in the region. Wastewater generated due to industrial processes such as beverage or food processing, and wastewater from domestic systems can be treated indigenously through technically feasible cost-effective technologies. However, the cost of managing with organic-rich wastewater (presently, brewery wastewater), is emerging as an important challenge in the Himalayan region. At the same time, technological deliverables that meet the requirement to support the local livelihood in the Himalayan region is scant. Furthermore, the production of biofuel/bioproductis accompanied by the release of CO2, into the atmosphere. Currently, it is very difficult to design, and develop technologies that have no net emissions for these Himalayan regions and that can effectively convert the organics in wastewater and the CO2 emitted from bioprocesses to valuable products as the single cell protein (SCP). To address this challenge the proposed research will develop novel microbial electrolysis cells (MECs) that can be integrated with brewery wastewater and sewage to produce energy and co-generate single-cell protein from waste streams and CO2 while simultaneously accomplishing water reclamation. To achieve this, organics in agro-processing-based wastewater are first converted to protons and electrons by exoelectrogens on the anode of an MEC. These protons and electrons combine with the CO2 in the presence of methanogens in the cathode chamber, generating single-cell protein and high-purity methane. The removal of organic carbon and nutrients (Nitrogen, Phosphorus) from the wastewater, allows it to be reclaimed and reused. The envisioned project is laid upon our recent development of a MEC system that has demonstrated the following: 1) Exoelectrogens that effectively convert various biomass components to valuable products; 2) Methanogens that have displayed a fast growth rate similar to methanotrophs, well-known for producing single cell protein (SCP) and utilize CO2 to generate high purity methane. This proposed project is poised to address the effect of key environmental and operational parameters on methanogenic biomass production, CO2 utilization, and bioenergy production using low-cost and highly efficient double-chamber MECs. Besides, this assessment of the integrity of the microbial consortia, characteristics of the methanogenic biomass, and nutritional efficiency for SCP is crucial. Understanding the interplay between the biotic and abiotic factors and their cumulative influence on the MEC's will help in the optimization of the proposed bioreactor setup. A detailed techno-economic analysis of the MC outputs in terms of mass and energy balance would provide us with the road map for scale-up and implementation of thesis technologies in the Himalayan region and future commercialization. This research will increase the sustainability of waste management together with bioenergy and nutritious SCP production and has the potential to significantly decrease their wastewater treatment cost. Implementation of these technologies in the Himalayan region can protect the environment, strengthen the livelihood and local economy, and therefore, promote sustainability in the Himalayan region. | |||
| Beneficiaries/ Stakeholders: | Local communities of the Upper and Middle Himalayan region. |
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| Activity Chart (For 3 years) | ||||
| Total Grants (in Rs.) | Rs. 1,19,94,000/- (Rupees: One crore nineteen lakh ninety four thousand only) | |||
| 1st Installment (in Rs.) : | Rs. 29,98,500/- (Rupees: Twenty nine lakh ninety eight five hundred only) [25% of Total Project Cost] | |||
| Project Objectives | Quantifiable Deliverables | Monitoring Indicators |
| • To evaluate the effect of key environmental and operational parameters on the methanogenic biomass production, CO2 utilization, and methane production using low cost and highly efficient double chamber MECs; • To characterize the methanogenic biomass and determine the nutritional efficacy for simultaneous single cell protein and biomethane production; •To develop and optimize the double chamber MEC 20.0 L performance with real high strength organic rich wastewater streams; • To conduct a techno-economic evaluation of the MEC reactor, its SCP production and prioritize the development for its NMHS applications in the Himalayan region. |
• Technology development for sustainable SCP production. • Development of prototypes for MEC's bioreactor that targets 4-6 kg SCP from wastewater and bioenergy production. • A report on Techno-economic Analysis. • I.P' for technology development and publications in bench-marked peer reviewed journals. |
•Development of Optimized Double Chamber MEC (capacity min. 20 L); • No. of Evaluation/ Feasibility Assessment Report (Nos.); • Simultaneous production of Single Cell Protein and Biomethane qualitatively and qualitatively; • An Assessment Report on Techno-economic evaluation of MEC reactor, its SCP production (4-6 kg) and scope of replication (Nos.); • No. of Knowledge Products: Research articles, Book Chapters, Popular articles, etc. (Nos.). • Scope of Patent(s) and/ or Technological/ Industrial Transfer. |
| S.No. | Name (Sanctioned) | Salary (Sanctioned) |
| 1. | 2 JRF | @ 37000/month | 2. | 01 Field Assistant | @ 22000/month |
| S.No. | Name of Equipment (Sanctioned) | Cost (in INR) |
| 1. | Gas chromatograph (GC) (1)@ 25,00,000/-, Amperometric/voltammetry devices (1) @2,00,000/-, A digital multimeter (1) @ 40,000/-,Gas flow meter (1) @ 400000, Peristaltic pumps (4) @ 90000, Matlab/Simulink@ software (1) @ 200000, DC Power Supply (4)@ 25000, Minor laboratory tester as pH, Conductivity (2)@ 100000. | 39,00,000/- |
