Algal Research and Biotechnology Laboratory

Algal Research and Biotechnology Laboratory aims at basic and applied research on algae for renewable energy production, environmental remediation, wastewater treatment, CO 2 sequestration, bio-fuels and lipid production. The micro algal species grown are Chlorella, Spirulina, and Scenedesmus for the application of algae in the treatment of distillery effluent.

Algal research and biotechnology lab is established as an outcome of DST funded projects on:

  • Experimental and Simulation studies of CO 2 sequestration using solar and chemical methods from 2008 to 2011 and total project cost of ₹ 54 lakhs.
  • Experimentation on bio fixation of CO 2 using efficient photo bioreactor and stimulation and development of scale up methods – DST from 2012 to 2015 and total project cost of ₹ 81 lakhs.

 

The lab was certified with ISO 9001:2008 for the period of 2015-18.

 

The research scholars and the students work with molecular algal species of various genera such as Spirulina, Chlorella, Scenedesmus and Pharmedium. The research works aim at producing values added products from molecular algae, waste water treatment and CO 2 sequestration. Five PhD’s (includes one PMRF) produced from this lab with publications in referred journals such as RSC Advances, Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Ecological Engineering, and Journal of CO 2 utilization.

Current research:

  • Organic cultivation of spirulina
  • Effluent treatment (Distillery, Paper, Diary industries and automobile service stations)
  • Domestic wastewater
  • Algae for fuel cell applications

 

The lab was established with various types of reactors ranging from lab scale to large scale production of microalgae such as raceway ponds, rotary reactor, photo bioreactor and paddle wheel (different designs) reactors.

 

Key Facilities

  • UV/Visible/NIR Spectrophotometer
  • FTIR Spectroscopy
  • Gas Chromatography
  • PAR Sensor
  • Lyophilizer
  • UV Spectrophotometer
  • Fluorescent Inverted Microscope
  • Photo Bioreactor
  • Refrigerated Centrifuge
  • Online pH Meter

For Detailed list of facilities, please click here

Faculty in Charge

Dr. M. Premalatha
Professor
Department of Energy and Environment
National Institute of Technology
Tiruchirappalli - 620015
Tamil Nadu, India
Email: latha@nitt.edu