Going the tech way to solve environmental problems - Engineering students develop prototypes; 25 teams from colleges across south India to demonstrate projects at IIT-M

Enterprising engineering students from across south India are developing prototypes to address issues such as reducing industrial waste and improving the environment.

Around 25 teams of students from various colleges will demonstrate their prototypes at the Indian Institute of Technology - Madras from February 7 to 9. The teams were selected based on their proposals and presentation. Feasible projects were given ₹5 lakh each to take forward their idea.

On the sidelines of IIT-M’s tech fest Shaastra, teams from Kongu Engineering College, Erode; SSN College of Engineering and IIT-M, Chennai; SCMS College of Engineering, Kochi; and CEERI Taramani, showcased their projects.

The team led by T. Dinesh Kumar and S. Abinesh of Kongu Engineering have designed a process to convert solar power directly to current in homes dispensing with the AC-DC-AC conversion now in vogue.

Saving energy, water

Veena Aishwarya and her team from CEERI have designed a low-concentration photovoltaic thermal (LC-PVT) system. “The PVT is used in hotels and textile industry. Our design will reduce the size of the solar module and produce more solar energy. A by-product is boiling water which can be used as an application in various industrial processes,” Ms. Veena explained.

IIT-M research scholars Ambika Selvaraj and T. Srihari Vikram have designed an evaporation and distillation unit for electroplating units in the Ambattur industrial estate to reduce water use.

“The 150 electroplating units in Ambattur use around 500 litres of water daily which is then wasted. Our unit will enable reuse of the water and also recover zinc, a metal the industry invests heavily in,” said Ms. Ambika.

Angel Joseph, an M.Tech student and her team from SCMS College, have designed microbial fuel cells to treat industrial waste water containing chromium. Ms. Joseph said this would prevent chromium pollution in the environment.

Keshav Kumar, a final year B.Tech chemical engineering student and his team from SSN, have designed a plastic disposal unit that can be installed in buildings. “Burning 1 kg of plastic produces 3 kg of CO2 which is released into the atmosphere. We are using a method called pyrolysis to burn the plastic which converts CO2 into gas and carbon. The unit can be installed in residential buildings,” Keshav said.

K. Sivaraman, advisor, projects of Industrial Waste Management Association said funding for the projects came from Virtusa Polaris and the U.S. Consulate. “We will also help selected teams to develop multiple prototypes as a reward,” he said.

“Start ups require funding and hand-holding in the initial years. We have the ecosystem that can help them,” said M. Subramanian, Chief Executive Officer of IIT-M Alumni Charitable Trust.

Source:
http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/chennai/going-the-tech-way-to-solve-environmental-problems/article22487091.ece

Boris Johnson’s English Channel bridge: an engineering expert’s view

Boris Johnson, the UK foreign secretary, has proposed building a bridge across the English Channel to connect England and France, to complement the rail tunnel that opened in 1994. Leaving aside the political and financial challenge of such a project, would it even be feasible to build such a long structure over the open sea and one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world?

For spanning long distances we use either cable stayed or suspension bridges, because they are light compared to conventional bridges and provide large areas unobstructed by pylons.

The longest suspension bridge built to date is in Kobe, Japan, measuring 3.9 km in total, with clear space between its pylons of almost 2km.

The longest bridge with a single cable-stayed span built to date is the Sutong Yangtze River Bridge near Suzhou, China. Its two pylons are separated by a 1km main span and it is 8km long in total. But it is not a completely suspended structure, with a number of densely spaced pylons on either side of the main span.

Similarly, the longest bridge in the world is the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China. It is mostly a conventional bridge made from columns sunk into the seabed, although it has a cable-stayed section. The bridge is 165km long (just over 100 miles) but the short distance between the columns would not do for the busy Channel.

A bridge over the English Channel that wouldn’t disrupt shipping would require a span of 22 miles, or 38km in total, which is an order of magnitude larger than anything else built to date. This presents a considerable civil engineering challenge for a number of reasons.

Tallest bridge ever

The channel is between 40m and 60m deep and some passenger ships are more than 70m tall. So to let ships pass underneath, the pylons supporting the bridge would have to be around 150m tall. To support the cables you would have to add pylons above the deck, which would mean a total pylon height well above 500m. Again, nothing this tall has ever been built.

Apart from the challenge of building them, the high pylons would need a very careful assessment of how the wind would affect them and the attached cables. This would have to be supported by a vibrational analysis to prevent potential failure. As the wind hits the pylons and the cables, it causes them to vibrate. In some instances, this can grow into a phenomenon known as “flutter”, causing the entire structure to become unstable, as happened to the Tacoma bridge, which collapsed in 1940.

To prevent the cables from becoming overstressed, you would need a relatively large number of pylons to hold the bridge up. But again, this conflicts with the requirement of having unobstructed space on the water for ships to pass through.

The cables would also have to be very strong and light cables, possibly stronger than the very expensive carbon fibre composites. To make them we would probably need to research new materials and find a way to make it affordable.

Another big unknown quantity is the undersea ground conditions, which would need to be carefully investigated to see if they would be suitable for the pylons’ foundations. This means we also don’t know how much the foundations would add to the cost.

Possible solution

Following the lead of the Danyang–Kunshan Grand Bridge in China, it may be possible to combine a cable-supported structure, for the part where a clear sailing space is needed, with a conventional column bridge style. This might ease problems of construction and cost, although it may still disrupt shipping routes to a certain degree.

But the only thing we can say for sure is that cost of the project would likely run into billions of pounds. It’s a project that would require a lot of further research into the properties of cable materials, not to mention a proper feasibility study.

Source:
http://theconversation.com/boris-johnsons-english-channel-bridge-an-engineering-experts-view-90409

Link between Scotland and Ireland would be a 'bridge too far', say engineers

A BRIDGE between Scotland and Ireland would be a waste of time and money as links to better markets already exist, a senior engineer has said.

Gordon Masterton, past President of the Institution of Civil Engineers, believes that the funds needed to finance such a hugely ambitious project would be better spent on links with the rest of the UK and Europe rather than across the Irish Sea.

The idea of a combined rail and road bridge is back in the headlines again following Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson's comments about a link above the English Channel between Britain and France.

Proponents have envisaged a viaduct similar to the 5-mile Oresund which links Denmark and Sweden, using a mix of pylons and a tunnel. 

However, Mr Masterton said that any similar structure between Scotland and Ireland would have to overcome substantial engineering challenges while major infrastructure work would also been needed before it would be of any use.

He said: "It's not a new idea. There have been various ideas for bridges or tunnels between Scotland and Ireland down the years, although none of them has been properly costed or studied in any great detail.

"A fixed link between the two countries is all well and good if there are benefits to be had, but no-one has explained what they could be in any great detail.

"I would have thought that a far more effective way to spend the funds you would need for the bridge would be to extend the HS2 high-speed railway into Scotland and improve links with the rest of the UK and further afield in Europe."

Mr Masterton said that any bridge would have to be able to withstand very fierce weather and would have to be high enough to escape the waves and allow ships to slip under.

He said that it would be done in sections linked by pylons sunk deep into the seabed to rest on the bedrock, while pontoons could also be used for some sections, but major technical challenges would have to be overcome before the bridge to Ireland could be a reality.

One of the biggest obstacles is Beaufort’s Dyke, a 31-mile long sea trench more than 200m deep which runs across the bottom of the Irish Sea, while even getting to the bridge would require costly upgrades to Scotland's roads.

Two routes have been suggested for a crossing - Portpatrick in Dumfries and Galloway to Belfast Cambletown Mull of Kintyre to Antrim. 

However, both lack decent transport links to the rest of Scotland.

Mr Masterton said: "It's all very well building a bridge, but then you have to connect it to the rest of Scotland and the cost of the whole project would have to reflect that.

"The project is not just the bridge, it's the approach roads which in this case would go all the way back to the Central Belt."

The engineer added: "It's good to have people thinking about large-scale projects which fire the imagination, but you have to focus on where the benefits will be and if there would be any value for money."

Boris Johnson raised the prospect of a bridge as it was announced that Britain and France were setting up a panel of experts to look at joint infrastructure projects.

But Downing Street appeared to pour cold water on the idea, saying there was no plan for the bridge. The English Channel bridge, which would have to cross the world’s busiest shipping lane, with 500 vessels passing each day, was also criticised by maritime chiefs.

Source:
http://www.heraldscotland.com/news/15889404.Link_between_Scotland_and_Ireland_would_be_a__bridge_too_far___say_engineers/

India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway by 2019: Nitin Gadkari

India is giving highest priority to Indian-Myanmar-Trilateral Highway project and by the end of December next year they will get connectivity, road transport and highways minister Nitin Gadkari says

New Delhi: India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway (TH) is likely to be operational by December 2019, union minister Nitin Gadkari said on Tuesday.

India, Thailand and Myanmar are working on about 1,400km long highway that would link the country with southeast Asia by land and give a boost to trade, business, health, education and tourism ties among the three countries. “Next year by the end of December, we will be in a position to get connectivity...We are giving highest priority to this (Indian-Myanmar-Trilateral Highway project). This will boost trade and ties among the nations in the region,” the union road transport and highways minister said in New Delhi.

The minister said there are 24 projects in Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal and Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) connectivity and work is on in 14 to 16 projects. He said most of the projects were being funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB).

Asked about the challenges in the project, the minister said, “There are some land acquisition and other problems... Tree felling is a big problem...We are finding out solutions.”

Last month, Gadkari said connectivity of projects such as the India-Myanmar-Thailand Trilateral Highway, extension of TH to Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam Kaladan Multimodal Transit Transport Project are being planned and they are at different stages of implementation.

He also said India has proposed $1 billion line of credit to promote sea, air and road connectivity projects with ASEAN besides setting up a project development fund of $77 million to develop manufacturing hubs in Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar and Vietnam.

 Source:

http://www.livemint.com/Politics/hdV9E00I5CwSrKmSheAu6M/IndiaMyanmarThailand-Trilateral-Highway-by-2019-Nitin-Gad.html

Sinhagad College shines at Vidyarthi Awards for Civil Engineering

PUNE: City-based non-government organisation (NGO), Pune Construction Engineering Research Foundation (PCERF) initiated the Vidyarthi Awardsto encourage excellence in the civil engineering and architectural education. This year, students of Sinhagad College of Engineering bagged most of the awards including first place in both the categories at Padmashree B G Shirke Vidyarthi Competition 2018 award ceremony held at Constro 2018.

The third edition of was supported by the Shirke Group. This year, the scope was expanded to other cities including Kolhapur, Solapur and the Konkan region. There were more than 160 entries in competition from 300 colleges. The competition was held across four categories including architecture undergraduate and post-graduate and civil engineering undergraduate and post-graduate. Three prizes in each category were distributed. The awards were given in the form of the cash prize, a trophy, and a certificate.

Twelve winners in all four categories were felicitated in Constro 2018. In Architecture, Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Architecture, Pune bagged three awards including first and third in the postgraduate category and also a third prize in the undergraduate category. Allana College of Architecture, Pune stood first in the undergraduate category for proposing domestic airport terminal project at Ratnagiri.

In civil engineering, Sinhagad College of Engineering Vadgaon (Bk), Pune stood first in the postgraduate category for their topic - response analysis of effective location and positioning of wastewater treatment plant in high rise structures. It bagged first prize for 'online air pollution control system' and third prize in the undergraduate category.

Source:

https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/education/news/sinhagad-college-shines-at-vidyarthi-awards-for-civil-engineering/articleshow/62638276.cms