High-tech innovations for emerging markets
Approximately 30 researchers in the Sustainable Infrastructure Technologies for Emerging Markets (SIT) Cluster in India are developing solutions that are inexpensive, reliable, and robust, thereby meeting the particular requirements of emerging markets.
Although India is still an emerging market, it is well on its way to becoming a major economic power. And it is going to great lengths to ensure that its industrial growth is as environmentally compatible and sustainable as possible.
However, there are still major challenges that need to be overcome. More than 400 million people in India are not connected to the power grid, and more than 800 million do not have access to even the most basic medical care.
With its research projects, the SIT Cluster is doing pioneering work in a number of fields that are important for the sustainable development of India’s economy and society. For example, CT experts are working to find novel ways to address needs in the healthcare system, particularly in remote areas. In the Rural Healthcare lighthouse project, researchers are developing medical devices and systems that are affordable and easy to operate.
The social and economic differences within India are immense. And that, in turn, means there is a multitude of markets, each with its own specific requirements. Besides extremely rural areas, which are often characterized by inadequate power and water supplies, India also has huge cities and large metropolitan areas with higher standards of living. This suggests that companies have to cater to markets with widely varying requirements.
Scientists in the SIT Cluster are developing innovative products and solutions that meet these unique regional requirements. The strength of this development process lies in bringing together worldwide CT know-how, the cluster’s inhouse competencies, and in-depth market knowledge. The SIT Cluster’s deep understanding of regional markets comes from its active involvement in SMART consulting projects. SIT scientists also focus on developing sustainable infrastructure solutions for all three Sectors.
Algae-bacteria-based water treatment
The example of wastewater treatment, a major challenge in India, illustrates this point. Every day, India’s cities produce roughly 29 billion liters of wastewater, of which only one quarter can be treated. That’s because treatment plants consume a great deal of energy, and India does not generate enough electricity to operate additional treatment facilities. In conventional treatment plants, some types of bacteria break down organic substances in the wastewater, whereas other types of bacteria oxidize nitrogen, for example,and thereby reduce it. To eliminate pollutants, aeration systems must constantly mix wastewater with oxygen. Operating these aeration systems consumes a lot of electricity, about 7.0 to 7.9 kilowatt-hours per cubic meter of wastewater.
A team from the SIT Cluster therefore went looking for a solution that requires substantially less energy to treat wastewater. To achieve this objective, researchers made use of the symbiotic relationships between specific types of algae and bacteria. With this method, algal cultures produce oxygen during photosynthesis. Bacteria need oxygen to grow and then process organic substances into CO2, which the algae in turn need for photosynthesis. It is thus the perfect cycle for treating wastewater without having to add more oxygen. Researchers first developed a rotating bioreactor as a prototype and achieved good results. However, market analysis showed that rotating systems are not generally accepted by Indian customers because of high maintenance requirements. Researchers responded by developing a prototype bioreactor without rotation. In this device, water runs from the top to the bottom in a zigzag pattern over a series of plates coated with the algal and bacterial cultures. LEDs provide the light required for photosynthesis. The new bioreactor design requires around 60 percent less energy for treating wastewater than conventional sewage treatment plants.
CT researchers in India developed a wastewater treatment system that exploits the reciprocal relationship between algae and bacteria to save energy.
Sensors for industrial applications
In industrial processes, specialists from the SIT Cluster are searching primarily for opportunities to save energy. One successful application can tobe seen at Britannia Industries, which, with 38 percent of the market, is one of India’s largest cookie makers. The company was facing huge material and energy waste due to uneven baking processes. To investigate this, SIT researchers installed 110 sensors in the baking line to measure temperature, moisture, and pressure during baking. They discovered that uneven baking resulted from vast temperature and pressure differences in the baking line.
The results of this study paved the way for a new type of oven, a prototype of which was developed by Britannia in collaboration with the Industry Sector and SIT. The new oven model is now being installed in all the new factories that Britannia is setting up at various locations. With the new oven, the company is not only improving its product quality, but also reducing its energy consumption and waste.
High-speed cameras are used in many industrial automation systems to measure speed or motion. However, the cameras are expensive, bulky, and thus often difficult to install. In addition, large amounts of data must be transmitted for measurements.
Experts at SIT have therefore developed a new and less expensive technology. It uses a stroboscope that illuminates the control object with red, green or blue light at specific intervals. A camera records the changes in color gradients, and on the basis of these changes a specially-developed algorithm calculates the speed that is to be measured.
This method, which is still in the testing phase, is suitable for control systems of sorting machines and also for measuring the flow speed of liquids or even the rotational speed of turbines.
Researchers at CT have developed versatile, inexpensive cameras that can be used in applications such as X-ray machines and for checking the quality of nuts.