Research Areas

Biofilter: Technology for Industrial Odour Control
BFBR: A high-rate anaerobic Reactor for treating complex wastewater
Modular onsite wastewater treatment cum resource recovery unit
compact food waste bioenergy plant
Bioprocess for treating perchlorate (rocket fuel) contaminated water and soil.
Controlled AD process for recovering natural fibre from Agro-residues
Air sanitizer
Gas Bio-trickling filter (BTF) unit.
UV-Clean Disinfecting unit (λ-Flashbox).

Research Facilities

Dioxin Research

NABL accredited laboratory (vide certificate no. TC-8086) for the analysis of Dioxins and Poly Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs) has been set up at CSIR-NIIST.

Testing and Analysis of water and waste water

NABL accredited laboratory (vide certificate no. TC-8086) for testing and analysis of water/waste water samples ranging from surface water to industrial effluents has been set up at CSIR-NIIST. Beneficiaries include industries, hospitals, Govt. Departments & Ministries, regulatory agencies like pollution control boards, hotels, resorts, healthcare units etc.

Analytical Instruments

ICP-MS
UV-Vis. Spectrophotometer
Flame Photometer
Water Activity Meter
Moisture Analyser
Anaerobic & Aerobic Treatability Testing
Automatic wastewater samplers for flow proportional sampling
Environmental dispersion and emission estimation softwares
Flow Measurement – various types
High Pressure Oxidation Facility
HPLC, GC with with FID, TCD, ECD detectors
Epi-fluorescent, sterio and compound Microscopes
PCR machines, Gel documentation system, Hybridization oven, Electrophoresis units
Microwave digestion system
On-line Data Acquisition Systems
Portable Analytical Instruments
Portable open channel flowmeters
Total organic carbon analyser
VA Analyser for polarography and stripping voltametry

The Environment Technology Division (ETD) at CSIR-NIIST focuses on three core areas ofR&D activities such as

Environment clean-up technologies
Environment management services (NABET accredited)
Centre for excellence in DIOXINs like POPs (NABL accredited)

1. Environment clean-up technologies

Design, development and field implementation of technologies for solid, liquid and gaseous (odour) wastes are the major activities under this activity.
This division is known for its expertise in biological treatment systems, especially in anaerobic treatment systems.
Some of the unique technologies from this division such as the BFBR (US 6592751), Gas biofilter (US6,696,284), Solid-state AD system, Modular onsite wastewater treatment units (NOWA, WO2022/130402 A1) and Perchlorate remediation (US 2021147269A1) have already been implemented in the field.
Several full-scale treatment systems are working in the different parts of the country and abroad.

Ongoing projects:

Pilot scale demonstration of a technology for remediating community well water contaminated with an emerging & endocrine disrupting micro pollutant, Perchlorate. Project funded by Jal Jeevan Mission, Ministry of Jal Shakthi.
Transition pathways for solving the urban wastewater, faecal sludge, and septage problem in Indian cities based on resource orientation and business models (TRAPA). Indo-German Collaborative R&D project funded by CSIR and BMBF.
Implementation of a sustainable bioenergy-based model effluent treatment plant for Desiccated coconut industries. Project funded by DST.
Field testing and validation of an onsite wastewater treatment system. CSIR funded Fast translational & Commercialization category project.
Modular VOC &Odour Emission Control Unit- Gas Bio-trickling filter (BTF). Project funded by Central Pollution Control Board & Kerala State Pollution Control Board.
Investigation on Operational Efficiency of Industrial Gas Biofilters. Project funded by Kerala State Pollution Control Board.
Design and Development of A Novel Bio-Electrochemical Reactor for Bio-Hydrogen (Green H2) Production. Project funded by CSIR (CSIR H2T Mission project).
Development of a process for secondary sludge minimization in aerobic wastewater treatment systems. Project funded by CSIR.
Pilot scale demonstration of a comprehensive approach to recover high value products from waste banana pseudo stem. Project funded by DST.

2. Environment management services (NABET accredited)

Environmental management services activities at NIIST is working towards environmental sustainability using state of the art techniques like environmental remote sensing and geographic information system and tools like ArcGIS ®, Erdas imagine, Fugitive dispersion model etc.

The group has major activities in the areas of Environmental Impact Assessment and sustainable management of sediment resources (Sand replenishment studies).

The group is also involved in other environmental management services like E-waste inventory, geo-spatial analysis and ecological damage assessment.

Clients include Kerala minerals and metals Ltd., IREL (INDIA) Ltd., Kerala state pollution control board, Institute of Land and Disaster Management (ILDM), revenue department, government of Kerala etc.

Ongoing projects:

Preparation of District Survey Report (DSR) for Riverbed or sand mining for various of Kerala state. Project funded by ILDM, Govt. of Kerala
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for mining of beach sand minerals in KMML NK Blocks I, III, V & VII, Kollam district, Kerala
Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) studies for mining of beach sand minerals in IREL NK Blocks II, II EE, IV & IV EE, Kollam district, Kerala
Impact Assessment and stability studies on the banks of TS canal passing through IREL block IV EE, Kollam district, Kerala
Random verification of Annual Inventory on Hazardous waste management. Project funded by Central Pollution Control Board.

3. Centre for excellence in DIOXINs like POPs (NABL accredited)

This is a unique NABL accredited national facility under CSIR in India, with state-of-the-art sampling, sample preparation and quantification for DIOXINs like POPs, which as recommended by MoEF& CC for environmental clearances and accredited by as per ISO/IEC 17025:2017 for environmental, food and feed analysis.

Under the Pradhan MantriKisanSampadaYojana- Food Testing Laboratory (PMKSY-FTL) scheme of Ministry of Food Processing Industries, GOI, facilities were also established to cater the growing needs of food & feed exporters to comply with international regulations.

The Centre has also expertise and facility to undertake health risk assessment using the prediction of health risk through metadata analysis, validated health risk prediction equations for dioxin contamination in environment and food samples. Further, the validation of risk prediction will be undertaken using preclinical tests and clinical studies.

Ongoing projects:

Establishment of Pradhan MantriKisanSampadaYojana- Food Testing Laboratory (PMKSY-FTL), Ministry of Food Processing Industries (MoFPI), Govt. of India,
Update of National Implementation Plan on POPs funded by United Nations Environment Programme
Affordable method development for confirmatory analysis of dioxins & PCBs in animal origin food materials in Indian market & human risk prediction, CSIR-ATLAS Mission of Food Safety
Study on the levels of dioxins, furans and PCBs in fish and fish products in export materials funded by fish product exporters
Investigation on the emissions of dioxin-like POPs and heavy metals during an accidental fire breakout at the waste storage facility at CBWTF, Malampuzha, funded by Kerala State Pollution Control Board
Study on dioxins and furans emissions in air, ash/soil samples for Industrial plasma gasifier, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai
Analysis & Interpretation of of Arsenic, lead, cadmium and mercury in Ayurvedic Formulations, M/s. Pankajakasthuri Herbals India Pvt Ltd

Major Equipements

ICPMS (M/s.ThermofisherScientific ;iCAP RQ)
GC-MS/MS (Agilent Technologies, 7010)
Continuous Flow Analyzer (Skalar Pvt Ltd)
Dynamic Olfactometer (Scentroid)
Ion Chromatographic system (DIONEX)
HPLC (DIONEX)
PCR & Gel Doc (Biorad)
Epi-fluorescent Microscope (Leica)
Total Organic Carbon Analyzer (Analytica Jena)
Microwave Digestion System (CEM corporation, Mars 6)
Accelerated Solvent Extraction System (Dionex, USA)

Biodegrability testing and analysis of biodegradable items (ISO 14855, ISO 15985)
DIOXINs like POPs testing analysis in environmental, food and feed samples (NABL accredited/ MoEFCC recommended)
Testing and analysis of water samples for heavy metals and water/wastewater quality parameters
Testing of inoculum samples for aerobic composting

Remote sensing and GIS applications in Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) and Management
Application of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Environmental and Process Engineering
Training programmes for dioxins and PCBs analysis in environmental, food and feed samples