Kolkata: The Indian Institute of Technology-Kharagpur (IIT-Kharagpur) and Cardiff University, UK, researchers have jointly got the Global Challenges Research Fund —Impact Acceleration Account (GCRF-IAA) Project 2020 towards the development of a photo-electro-catalytic (PEC) reactor for wastewater treatment, reported ABP Education.
More in developing countries, wastewater is increasingly becoming a “health and livelihood challenge” globally. Around 80 per cent wastewater re-enters the ecosystem without any treatment and thus affecting the health and livelihood of around 1.8 billion people globally. This wastewater can play a significant role in addressing urban water challenges, production of bioenergy, and even serve as a resource in sustainable agriculture and industries, as per UN-Water.
The IIT Kharagpur researchers over the years developed innovative solutions to recycle and reuse wastewater and wet waste. “A key issue in wastewater treatment is the removal of recalcitrant organic pollutants. Photo-electro-catalysis is an effective and sustainable mechanism that employs photocatalysts to degrade the polluting particles. At IIT Kharagpur, we will initiate catalytic development, characterisation, design of the PEC plant and optimising the technology to make a proof of concept for end-users/industries,” IIT Kharagpur’s chemistry department member A Rajakumar was quoted as saying by the website.
Cardiff University’s School of Chemistry scientists in the UK will use technical tools and high-end computational calculations to conduct sophisticated studies on the catalytic materials.
“We are planning to test the pilot-plant operation in the field after initial lab-based experiments and demonstrate the outcome for the benefit of industries by offering a reliable solution of water treatment technology,” the institute’s Bio Energy professor-in-charge, MM Ghangrekar told the website.