@article {48913, title = {Enhanced degradation of metformin using surface-coated vortex diodes}, journal = {Chemical engineering and processing-process intensification }, volume = {193}, year = {2023}, month = {NOV}, type = {Article}, abstract = {

The present work successfully demonstrates, for the first time, complete degradation of metformin using newer surface-coated vortex diode (SCVD) with copper and nickel coating to provide catalytic activity in the conventional hydrodynamic cavitation (HC) for significantly enhanced degradation efficiency. The SCVDs have dual functionality and the efficacy of catalytic cavitation reactors get enhanced using process intensifications of the type H2O2 addition, pH modification, and combined approach of HC+ pH+ H2O2 apart from the advantage of low pressure drop for the vortex flow based cavitation in vortex diode (Delta P of 1 bar). Complete, 100\%, degradation of metformin (MTF) was achieved within 5 min with integration of optimized H2O2 dose and exceptionally high synergistic index value over 300, indicating extraordinary synergy for both Cu and Ni-SCVD. Acidic condition promote degradation and a complete degradation with a high 43-48\% mineralization was observed using HC+ pH 4+ (1:200) H2O2 with less intermediates formation. The SCVDs reveal remarkable enhancement of similar to 9800\% in per-pass degradation and 1400-3400\% in cavitational yield as compared to conventional cavitation process under similar conditions. The newer SCVDs with catalytic activity can provide more cost-effective solutions for industrial and real-life applications.

}, keywords = {Cavitation, Oxidation, pollution, Technology, Wastewater treatment}, issn = {0255-2701}, doi = {10.1016/j.cep.2023.109572}, author = {Dixit, Divya and Thanekar, Pooja and Bhandari, Vinay M.} } @article {49407, title = {Enhanced disinfection efficiency using Cu vortex diode for providing safe drinking water: devising newer methodologies}, journal = {Environmental Quality Management}, volume = {34}, year = {2024}, month = {JUL}, abstract = {

The present research aims to refine the hydrodynamic cavitation technique with traditional knowledgebase of Ayurveda for more efficient water disinfection and that has huge potential for implementation in real life, especially for substituting the existing chlorination method for drinking water treatment. The study incorporates use of newer copper reactor configuration, employing vortex flow for generating cavitation for the disinfection of water. Elimination of model contaminant,\ Escherichia coli, with initial concentration of \~{}105\ CFU/mL of bacteria was used for the disinfection study. Copper vortex diode with a capacity of 1\ m3/h was employed as a cavitating device. The cavitation using copper vortex diode gave significantly higher disinfection, over 30\%, compared that with conventional vortex diode, with aluminum as material of construction, under similar conditions. Remarkably, the addition of 0.1\% betel leaf oil led to an extraordinary 260-fold increase in the rate of disinfection, requiring only a single pass to achieve complete bacteria elimination. Furthermore, a notably high synergistic index of 246.96 was achieved for the process intensification approach using the Cu vortex diode. The cost was substantially reduced by approximately three times to 0.011\ $/m3\ using the Cu vortex diode compared to the conventional vortex diode. The developed strategy offers significantly enhanced performance, as well as a techno-economical and sustainable solution for drinking water treatment to ensure the provision of safe drinking water. Moreover, the newer methodology can have the advantage of producing no harmful carcinogenic disinfection by-products compared to chemical disinfection processes apart from sustainable alternative to chlorination.

}, doi = {https://doi.org/10.1002/tqem.22279}, author = {Dixit, Divya and Balapure, Kshama and Bhandari, Vinay M.} }