सीएसआईआर-केंद्रीय काँच एवं सिरामिक अनुसंधान संस्थान

CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute

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সিএসআইআর-কেন্দ্রীয় কাঁচ ও সেরামিক গবেষণা সংস্থা

सीएसआईआर-केंद्रीय काँच एवं सिरामिक अनुसंधान संस्थान

CSIR-Central Glass & Ceramic Research Institute

Membrane and Separation Technology

Overview

India is one of the largest expanding economies having high future potential. The high economic and population growth rates are accompanied by an increase in the standard of living and a huge rise of energy and water demand as well as soaring emissions of greenhouse gases such as CO2. Much of this economic and corresponding social development is expected to take place in rural areas. In consequence, provision of clean and sustainable water to the rural population becomes increasingly crucial. At the same time it is crucial that this water is produced by environmentally friendly methods, e.g. using renewable energy resources and energy-efficient technologies. Rural India has more than 800 million people residing in about 1.42 million habitations spread over 15 diverse ecological regions. Groundwater is the major source of water in India with 85% of the population dependent on it. The health burden of poor water quality is enormous. It is estimated that around 37.7 million Indians are affected by water borne diseases annually, 1.5 million children are estimated to die of diarrhoea alone and 73 million working days are lost due to waterborne diseases each year. The resulting economic burden is estimated at $ 600 million a year(Reference : Drinking water quality in rural India: issues and approaches, https://washmatters.wateraid.org). Hence in India access to safe water is regarded as the primary factor responsible for limiting development. The average availability of water is reducing steadily with the growing population and it is estimated that by 2020 India will become a water stressed nation. Therefore the improvement and extension of water treatment remains an important and necessary objective of the Indian government. In addition, volume and the quality of industrial effluents in India is a matter of serious concern. There is a growing need for low footprint and energy efficient technologies for effluent treatment aiming at zero liquid discharge.

Membrane and Separation Technology Division is mandated to contribute significantly in research and development leading to practical application (Lab to land) in the field of water treatment, wastewater treatment, gas separation, green energy, recycling and reuse with special emphasis in development of new generation ceramic membranes and ceramic polymer composite membranes leading to application of such membranes for water treatment, wastewater treatment and reuse.

• Superhydrophobic membrane development (contact angle >1500) on ceramic support for multifaceted applications such as, CO2 capture, oil refinery waste treatment, downstream processing of biofuel and emerging contaminants remediation
• Sustainable recycling strategy for textile fabric waste derived biochar in emerging contaminants remediation and immobilization of the spent adsorbent as efficient electrode material for green energy storage device

Areas of Research

  • Ceramic monolithic porous support development
  • Ceramic microfiltration membrane
  • Ceramic ultrafiltration membrane
  • Ceramic polymer composite membrane
  • Hydrophobic membranes
  • Arsenic remediation from groundwater
  • Iron remediation from groundwater
  • Surface water pre-treatment
  • Adosrbent development
  • Industrial wastewater Treatment
  • Membrane bioreactor
  • Algae based wastewater treatment
  • Biomass and biofuel
  • Fruit juice clarification
  • Water recycle and reuse
  • Heavy metal remediation
  • Sludge management
  • Dust Filtration
  • Clean Energy Application (Metallic & Zeolytic membranes for mixture gas separation)
  • CO2 Sequestration (Enrichment of flue gas & lean gas)
  • Membrane distillation

Technology Developed

Title Recipient
Ceramic membrane based high capacity modules for pretreatment of turbid water for polishing of iron & arsenic contaminated water using micro filtration technique 1. Porel Dass Water & Effluent Control Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata on 11.05.2011
2. Sarvo Technologies Limited, Faridabad on 30.8.2017
Ceramic Membrane based Technology for Arsenic & Iron Removal from Groundwater 1. Entech Metals Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata on 23/04/03
2. Entech Metals Pvt. Ltd. on 22/07/13
3. Victor Engineering Co., Assam on 7.10.2015
4. Porel Dass Water & Effluent Control Pvt. Ltd., Kolkata on 24.04.2015
5. Zeolite (India) Pvt. Ltd. on 11.9.2017
6. Rollabss Hi Tech Industries, on 27.03.2018

Projects

ONGOING PROJECTS

S. No. Title of the Project Project No. Duration

Funding agency

Project PI & Co-PI
1 Monitoring and removal of antibiotics from wastewater by membrane separation Drug-Free Wastewater GAP0389 14.07.2023 to 13.07.2026 DST

PI: Mr. Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI:  Dr. Sourja Ghosh

2 Ceramic membrane base re-refining of waste engine oil. HCP0054 (WP 20) 28.08.2023 to 31.03.2026 CSIR

PI: Dr. Mahesh Kumar Gagrai

Co-PI: Dr. Vignesh M

Co-PI: Dr. G.C. Sahoo

3 Technology demonstration for utilizing textile/jute industrial wastes into value-added product generation for rubber products manufacturing industries and agricultural sectors using a sustainable approach. HCP0054 (WP 28) 28.08.2023 to 31.03.2026 CSIR

PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

Co-PI: Mr. Swachchha Majumdar

4

Biochar based nanocomposite synthesis from industrial waste for dual application: environment friendly remediation of emerging contaminants and pathogens

from wastewater and antimicrobial antiviral surface coating development on medical devices

GAP 0388 21.08.2023 to 20.08.2026 DST

PI:   Dr. Lata Ramrakhiani

Co-PI: Mr. Swachchha Majumdar

Mentor: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

5

Development of catalytic membrane reactor for CO2 capture with

production of Hz through water-gas shift reaction

HCP 48 April 28,2023 to March 31 ,2026 CSIR

PI: Dr. Nandini Das

Co-PI: Dr. Nijhuma Kayal

Co-PI:  Dr. Mahesh Gagrai

6

Feasibility studies of Purification of olefin from C3 olefin-paraffin

mixture by Molecular sieve based Hybrid Process

GAP 0384  03.02.2023 to 02.02.2025

Science & Engineering Research

Board(SERB)

PI: Dr. Nandini Das

Co-PI : Dr. Nijhuma Kayal

 

7

Development of ceramic oxide based nanofiltration membranes onto oxide -bonded porous SiC supports and their performance evaluation study for liquid,

gas and particulate separation

GAP0380 09.03.2022 to 08.03.2025

Science & Engineering Research

Board(SERB)

PI: Dr. Nijhuma Kayal

Co-PI: Dr. Mahesh Kumar Gagrai

8

Natural Biopolymer based Novel Electrospun and Ceramic Composite membranes for treatment of Wastewater.

(Collaborative Project with CSIR-NEIST and CSIR-IICT)

MLP 1021 at CSIR-NEIST February 2022 to February 2025 CSIR

PI: Dr. Ganesh Chandra Sahoo

Co-PI: Swachchha Majumdar

9

Coal Derived Syngas for Green Energy.

(Collaborative project with CSIR-CIMFR)

 

 

MLP0310 25.05.2022 – 24.05.2024 CSIR

Dr.  Dr. Nandini Das, Project Nodal

 

WP1: Enrichment of hydrogen from syngas

 

Dr. Nandini Das, PI, WP1

Dr. Mahesh Kumar Gagrai, Co-PI

Dr. Nijhuma Kayal, Co-PI

WP2: Coal Derived Syngas as a Fuel for Solid Oxide

Fuel Cell (SOFC)

Dr. Jayanta Mukhopadhyay, PI, WP2

Dr. Srabanti Ghosh, Co-PI

Dr. A. Amarnath Reddy, Co-PI

 

10

Nano-selective, bio-mimetic membranes for integrated

biotechnological production of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass

GAP0377

1st March, 2021 to 29th February 2024

 

DST, Govt. Of India

PI: Sri Swachchha Majumdar

 

Co-PI: Dr.  Ganesh Chandra Sahoo

 

Co-PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

 

11

“Utilisation of toxic wastes as potential sources of colouring ingredient in glass

Making(Jointly with Speciality Glass Technology Division of CISR-CGCRI)

GAP 0179 30th December, 2020 to 29th December, 2023

Science & Engineering Research

Board(SERB)

PI: Dr. Asish Kumar Mandal (Of SGT Division)

 

Co-PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

Project Advisor: Sri Swachchha Majumdar

 

12 Development and performance characterization of crosslinked beta-cyclodextrin polymer based thin-film composite nanofiltration ceramic membrane (Jointly with FMD Division of CSIR-CGCRI) GAP0266

30th December, 2020 to  29th December, 2023

 

 

Science & Engineering Research

Board(SERB)

PI: Dr. Arnab Mukherjee (of FMD Division)

Co-PI: Dr. Ganesh Chandra Sahoo

Co-PI:  Dr. Priyanka Mondal

 

13 CSIR Integrated Skill Initiative,  Activity: Skill development training on ceramic membrane and water technologies. NWP 100 December 2020 to November 2025 CSIR

PI: Dr. P.K. Sinha

Activity Co-Ordinator:

Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Activity Leader:

Dr. Ganesh Chandra Sahoo

14 Phenome India-CSIR Health cohort Knowledgebase HCP 47 03.08.2022 – 02.08. 2027 CSIR

PI: Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

 

 

COMPLETED PROJECTS

S. No. Title of the Project Project No. Duration Funding agency Project PI & Co-PI
1. Development of ceramic membranes with internationally competitive specifications and setting up of a pre-pilot plant manufacturing plant facility to promote their application in different separation technologies GAP 0354 May, 2016 to May  31, 2021 DST, Govt. of India

PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

CO PI: Dr. Ganesh C Sahoo

2. Supply and installation of 51 numbers Iron & Arsenic Removal plant at Border outpost in North 24 Parganas TSP 0302 December, 2016 to August, 2020 PHED, Govt. of West Bengal PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar
3. Supply and installation of 43 Nos. Iron & Arsenic Removal plant at Border Out posts in Nadia District. TSP 0301 April, 2015 to June, 2021 PHED, Govt. of West Bengal PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar
4. Development of ceramic membrane based process for treatment and recycling of textile effluent towards zero discharge concepts. GAP 0356 September, 2016 to September, 2020 DST, Govt. of India

PI:  Sourja Ghosh

CO PI:   Sri Swachchha Majumdar

5. Water quality management and data analysis report generation for water drawn from river Ganga for proposed Godda Thermal Power Station [2X800 MW) TSP 0303 June, 2018 to December, 2018 Academy of  Water Technology and Environ Management, Kolkata

PI :  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

 

6. Development of Technology for separation of Acetic acid from Effluent generated during the production of HMX GAP 0363

August, 2017 to April, 2019

 

TBRL, Chandigarh(DRDO)

PI :  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

CO PI : Dr. Sourja Ghosh

7. Development of surface modification adsorbents with higher sorption capacity for specific contaminants removal in water / industrial wastewater(SMA) (FBR) MLP0304 August, 2018 to March, 2020 CSIR,  Govt. of India

PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

CO PI:  Dr. Sourja Ghosh

8. Technology assessment and integration of CSIR’s lignocellulosic ethanol programs/ facilitating technologies for a feasible 2G ethanol technology MLP 0305 October  2018 to March, 2020 CSIR,  Govt. of India

PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

CO PI: Dr. Ganesh C Sahoo

Co_PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

9. Membrane Contactors for As(III) to As(V) conversion CSIR –CNR bilateral January 2009 to December, 2011 CSIR,  Govt. of India PI: Swachchha Majumdar
10. Upscaling of pilot plant demonstration of ceramic membrane based iron removal plants in West Bengal GAP 0316 August 2004 to March 2009 DST, Govt. of India

PI: Dr. Sibdas Bandyopadhyay

Co-PI: Sri T.K. Ghoshal

11. Ceramics Materials for Emerging Technologies involving Liquid and Gas Separation Task 2: Development of industrial waste water purification technology based on ultra filtration membrane developed  as above SIP-23 April 2007 to March 2013 CSIR Supra Institutional Project Task Leader: Sri Swachchha Majumdar
12 Development of layered SiC ceramic filter for off-gas cleaning GAP0261 23rd March, 2018 to 22nd August, 2021 DST-SERB

PI: Dr. Nijhuma Kayal

 

13 Oil & Water separation unit for Great Eastern Energy Corporation Ltd. TSP 0304 31st December, 2020 to 31st October, 2021 Prism Johnson Limited PI: Sri Swachchha Majumdar
14 Process development for tannery wastewater treatment involving membrane bioreactor (MBR) process integrated with micro-algal bioremediation. GAP 0362 June, 2017 to 30th  September, 2021 DBT,  Govt. of India

PI:  Dr.  Sourja Ghosh

CO PI:   Sri Swachchha Majumdar

15 Development of Nanoadsorbents with higher sorption capacity for removal of Fluoride and Arsenic from Groundwater for potential application is water treatment plants. SSP 0315 24.08.2020 to 23.02.2022 Zeolite (India) Pvt. Ltd

PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI: Dr. Ganesh C. Sahoo

16 An integrated technology development involving biosorption for treatment of toxic metal containing wastewater generated from small scale industries and sludge management towards safe disposal. GAP 0367 August, 2018 to February, 2022 DST-WOS-B Scheme

PI : Dr. Lata Ramrakhiani

Mentor: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

17 Feasibility studies of enrichment of Ozone in permeate stream and recycling of retentate to the Ozone generator using ceramic membranes TSP305

22.12.21 to 21.7.22

 

ORAIPL

PI: Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI: Sri Somjyoti Basak

18

Membrane based prototype development for higher yield of microalgal

biomass and biofuel using industrial waste resources(International collaborative Project with USA),

GAP0372 August 2019 to August 2022

DBT

Govt. of India

PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

Co-PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

 

19 Next generation high performance in situ generated nano particles embedded sustainable antifouling ceramic-polymer composite NF membranes: preparations, modifications and application aimed at water/drinking water treatment. GAP0369 March, 2019 to March, 2022

Science & Engineering Research

Board(SERB)

PI:  Dr. Priyanka Mondal

Co-PI: Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI: Dr. Mahesh K. Gagrai

20 Synthesis of ceramic-polymer composite membrane: a novel next generation technique for water/ wastewater treatment and pervaparation application GAP 0358 January, 2017 to November, 2022 DST PI: Dr. Priyanka Mandal
21 Demonstration of ceramic membrane based process for removal of hydrocarbon from contaminated tube well in Hingalganj, Sundarban, West Bengal. GAP 0370 May, 2019 to May , 2022 WSSO, PHED, Govt. of West Bengal

PI:  Sri Swachchha Majumdar

Co-PI: Dr. Sourja Ghosh

Co-PI: Dr. Ganesh C. Sahoo

 

Divisional Facilities

List of the testing facilities at Water Technology Division:
 
Sl No. Nature of the Sample  Testing parameters
1 Water and Wastewater Turbidity
     pH
    Total Dissolved Solid(TDS)
    Conductivity
    Salinity
    Total Suspended Solid (TSS)
    Total Iron
    Total Arsenic
    Total Organic Carbon (TOC)
    Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
    Anions : Fluoride, Chloride, Bromide, Nitrate, Phosphate, Sulfate
    Cations: Lithium, Sodium, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Nickel, Zinc, Cobalt, Cadmium
    Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD)
    Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD)
    MPN (Total coliform)
    Oil & Grease
2 Ceramic Membrane Pore size Distribution
Analytical Facilities at Water Technology Division:
Ultra-Fast Liquid Chromatography (UFLC)
Name of the Instrument Ultra Fast Liquid Chromatography (UFLC)
Specification Determination of Pesticides, pharmaceutical components and personal care product of liquid sample
Model & Make Shimadza Corporation, Japan
Zeta Sizer Analyzer (Nano series)
Name of the Instrument Zeta Sizer Analyzer ( Nano series)
Specification Analysis of particles size 1µm-1nm in aqueous & non aqueous medium
Model & Make ZEN1600, Malvern, UK

 

Pore Size Analyzer
Name of the Instrument Pore Size Analyzer
Specification Analysis of MF range of pore size for single and multi channel membranes upto 1 meter length
Model & Make Porometer 3G , Quantachrom, USA
Zeta Potential Analyzer
Name of the Instrument Zeta Potential Analyzer (Z series)
Specification Zeta potential of stable suspension of nano particles in aqueous medium
Model & Make ZEN2600, Malvern, UK

 

Optical Microscope
Name of the Instrument Optical Microscope
Specification Magnification upto 100X
Model & Make STM6, Olympus, Japan
Polarimeter
Name of the Instrument Polarimeter
Specification ± 89.9 degree Arc optical rotation, Std. wavelength 589nm & 880nm
Model & Make Rudolph Research Analytical, USA
Refractometer
Name of the Instrument Refractometer
Specification Measure the refractive index and concentration of liquids
Model & Make Anton Paar GmbH, Austria
Gas Chromatography
Name of the Instrument Gas Chromatography (GC)
Specification Analysis of Ethanol, Bio-diesel, Pesticide, Nitrogen and Phosphorus  
Model & Make Dani, Italy
Ion Chromatography
Name of the Instrument Ion Chromatography (IC)
Specification Elemental analysis of Anions (F, Cl, Br, NO3, PO4, SO4 Cation (Li, Na, K, Ca, Mg) T-metals (Ni, Zn, Co, Cd) & Pesticide(Atrazine) of liquid sample.
Model & Make Metrohm, Switzerland
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer
Name of the Instruments Total Organic carbon Analyzer
Specification Analysis of total organic carbon of liquid sample.
Model & Make Shimadza Corporation, Japan
Spectrophotometer
Name of the Instrument Spectrophotometer
Specification Measure the concentration of solutes in solution by measuring the amount of the light that is absorbed by the solution in a cuvette placed in the spectrophotometer. 
Model & Make Carry60, Agilent Technologies, India
Total Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
Name of the Instrument Total  Kjeldahl Nitrogen (TKN)
Specification Quantitative determination of nitrogen contained in organic substances plus the nitrogen contained in the inorganic compounds ammonia and ammonium of liquid sample.
Model & Make Pelican Equipment, India

Scientists

Mr. Swachchha Majumdar, Chief Scientist and Head

Dr. Nandini Das, Senior Principal Scientist

Dr. Nijhuma Kayal, Senior Principal Scientist

Dr. Sourja Ghosh, Senior Principal Scientist

Dr. Ganesh C. Sahoo, Principal Scientist

Dr. Mahesh Kumar Gagrai, Senior Scientist

Dr. Vignesh M, Scientist

Technical/Support Staff

Name Designation Expertise
Subhendu Sarkar Senior Technical Officer (2) Standardization & performance evaluation of Ceramic Membrane based Iron & Arsenic Removal Plants, Standardization and performance monitoring (O&M) of high capacity Ceramic Membrane module for pretreatment of Reverse Osmosis (RO) process feed water, Water analysis, Operation and maintenance of Ion Chomatograph, TOC analysis.
Somjyoti Basak Senior Technical Officer (1) Membrane synthesis and membrane material preparation, zeolite membranes, pervaporation, Gas Chromatography , Bubble point porosimetry, operation of 1600 degree Celsius hanging firing furnace, operation and maintenance of twin screen extruder.
Sanjukta Roy Senior Technical Officer (1) Ceramic polymer composite membranes synthesis, membrane material preparation, operation of ultrafiltration set up.
Mrinmoy Adhikary Technical Officer
Ashis Kumar Mohanty Technical Assistant
Smarajit Ghosh Technician (2) Operation and maintenance of water distillation units, analytical balances, muffle furnace, air oven,  operation and maintenance of twin screen extruder, operation and maintenance of Gas Chromatogrpah, Kjeldal Nitrogen analysis, microbiological analysis of water.
Gouranga Chalak Technician (2) Fitting of module & permeability determination, Dimension measurement of ceramic tubes. Operating the Extruder & Mixture machine.
Nitai Chand Singh Technician (1) Operation & Maintenance Ultra filtration & nano filtration testing unit for treatment of aqueous & non-aqueous solution (Rice bran oil), Operation & Maintenance of Tintometer, Furnaces, Attrition mill, Porometer. Nomenclature of ceramic tubes & Fitting of modules. Industrial & Field operation of ceramic membrane pilot units in Sugar Industry & Veg. oil Industry.
Santanu Koley Technician (1)

Scholars/Students

Name

Status Project Supervisor

Dr. Mithu Naskar
CSIR Research Associate Dr. Sourja Ghosh,
Principal Scientist
Hillol Acharjee AcSIR PhD scholar & Project Associate-II MLP 0310

Dr. Nandini Das

Senior Principal Scientist

Biswajit Majee Project Associate-I MLP 0310

Dr. Nandini Das

Senior Principal Scientist


Susmita Kar

CSIR Senior Research Fellow &

AcSIR PhD scholar

Dr. Sourja Ghosh,
Principal Scientist
Nilanjan Santra Project Associate- I GAP 0380

Dr. Nijhuma Kayal, Principal Scientist


Krishanu Bhowmik

Project Associate-I & AcSIR PhD scholar

CSIR FBR

Dr. Ganesh Chandra Sahoo

Principal Scientist


Anirban Ray
UGC NET Fellow Dr. Sourja Ghosh,
Principal Scientist
Faisal Ali Junior Research Fellow(Project) GAP 0372

Swachchha Majumdar

Chief Scientist


Sarbasree Dey
CSIR Senior Research Fellow & AcSIR PhD scholar Dr. Nandini Das
Senior Principal Scientist

 

Contact

Mr. Swachchha Majumdar
Chief Scientist & Head
Ph: 033-23223252
Email: swachchha@cgcri.res.in

Last Updated on January 31, 2024