Ph.D Work

Organic pollutants, such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), and their derivatives, are one of the major pollutants that are frequently detected in wastewater. They are highly lipophilic, semi-volatile, and accumulative in water, capable of being transported into various water compartments due to their non-biodegradable and persistent nature.

 

Various research conducted in different parts of the world has shown considerable increase in PAH concentrations in the receiving water bodies from such industrial effluents. The presence of PAHs in the environment has a serious impact on human health (such as haemolysis, Liver & kidney damage, skin irritation and carcinogenic effect) and therefore, efficient removal of PAHs is a concern.

Hence, remediation of these pollutants has been an active area of research in the field of environmental science and engineering.

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Adsorption is one of the efficient and economical techniques for removing PAHs. A significant amount of PAHs can be scavenged from wastewater using appropriate adsorbents. The PhD work includes the preparation of activated biochar and investigating the viability of the usage of the residue for PAH removal. PAHs removal efficiency or adsorption/absorption capacity largely depends on several parameters such as particle size of the adsorbent, pH, temperature, solubility, salinity including the production process of adsorbents.

 

Therefore, I would like to understand various parameters of the adsorption process that affect PAH removal and focus on increasing the removal efficiency of the biochar produced.