Water Conservation of the Future

Super Absorbent Polymer for Agriculture

The foundation of Indian economy upon which nearly 30 percent of our GDP is based and around 60% of our population is directly or indirectly dependent, is agriculture. It has paved the way for many industrial developments over the years ergo playing a vital role in the Indian economic development. Indian irrigation infrastructure comprises nearly 39 mHa land by ground water, 22 mHa with irrigation canals, and 2/3^rd is still monsoon dependent.

Water is one of the key elements in agriculture and agriculture requires significant amounts of water most of which is rain fed or harvested. Seeds and fertilizers fail to achieve full potential if plants are not watered regularly. With nearly 20% of the world’s population to feed, India has access to only 4% of fresh water resources, out of which 90% is used for agriculture.

 

With regional and temporal variation of rainfall, and an average rainfall of 125cm, India is home to great spatial variations of rainfall. Areas of less to scanty rainfall viz. Northern Kashmir, Rajasthan, Punjab, Karnataka and Deccan plateau, Upper Ganga valley, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu are most susceptible to drought with 54% of India’s arable lands depending on it. Annual rainfall of India being 1183mm, out of which 75% is received in a short span of four months (July – September).

 

Water scarcity has negative impact on agriculture, and harms environment with increased salinity, nutrient pollution, loss of flood plains and wetlands. Indian agriculture uses nearly 90% water, and shall soon be facing water shortage owing to fast depletion of ground water resources and poor irrigation systems.

With 140 mHa of cultivable land in India, 42% falls in drought prone areas. Out of the 90% water usage, roughly 20% is used owing to flawed and inappropriate water management system.

Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP) for Agriculture when mixed with soil can hold up to 300 – 400 times water than its own weight, significantly improving water retention capacity of the soil, soil permeability, build quality, plant growth, easier flow of nutrients and minerals to the plant, while reducing water stress, water wastage, irrigation frequencies, money and labour. The fundamentals of hydrogel agriculture technology are based on insoluble gel forming polymers that can improve water retention property of different soils. Hydrogel functions as a water reservoir round in the vadose (root) zone of the plant perfectly blended with the soil harvesting water.

Hydrogel for agriculture is mainly based on cross linked polyacrylamide (PAM) and cross linked acrylamide-acrylate polymers as they can retain their activity for a longer period. The water retention capacity arises from the hydrophilic functional group of the chain while the cross linked network of the polymer contributes for the resistance to self-dilution.

Polyacrylamide Hydrogels are mainly of two types: Soluble (linear chain) and Insoluble (cross linked). Linear PAM is water soluble and has been doing well in lowering irrigation induced erosion in agricultural fields. Cross linked PAM does not dissolve in water and inflates to around 250 – 400 times its actual volume forming a gel when in contact with water. Thus acting as water storage for irrigation and rainwater.

The working principle of hydrogels is based on the charge – cationic, anionic or neutral. This charge distribution decides the mode of action with the soil or solute.

The clay particles present in soils are negatively charged, the heavy metals have positive charges and different minerals available in soils can hold a positive or a negative charge. Thus cationic hydrogels easily bind to clay and helps in flocculation, and anionic hydrogels are mainly used as a dispersant.

This water absorbing property of hydrogel increases manifold as the force of attraction between the gel and the soil particles becomes higher.

Significance of Hydrogel for Agriculture

• Increases water holding capacity of the soil
• Reduces irrigation frequency
• Limits water and nutrient loss from soil
• Enhances plant growth and performance
• Reduces surface erosion and water runoff
• Long term protection against drought and groundwater contamination
• Reduces NPK leaching when dry mixed with fertilizer preparations
• Delivery system for Mycorrhiza

Chemtex Speciality Limited manufactures and markets Hydrogel for Agriculture under the brand name of Alsta Hydrogel. With notable mentions on Wikipedia, to success stories on YouTube, Chemtex Speciality Limited is widely acknowledged for its service in modern agriculture.

For more information about Alsta Hydrogel, feel free to visit http://www.hydrogelagriculture.com or email at mailto:info@hydrogelagriculture.com

Alstasan Silvox: Silver Hydrogen Peroxide based Disinfectant

Anything that has mass and occupies space is subjected to microbial metabolism. It’s natural but creates havoc when this activity leads to undesirable contamination of the same. Many industrial and commercial applications are prone to being a habitat of micro-organisms owing to their varied operating conditions, which becomes a matter of concern when it bears severe financial losses to the industries. Introduction of bacteria, algae, fungi in a regular or closed system, disturbing their natural operations is how a microbial contamination occurs. Mass dependency on artificial resources is the primary reason for it but also its usage cannot be avoided. So, a striking a balance between combating contaminants and minimizing harmful byproducts is important for application sustainability.

Scientists studied the deactivating effects that combination of Silver and Hydrogen Peroxide manifests and the major revelation of such combined disinfectant was about the toxicity of its components, residual effect and disinfection by product formation. Toxicity of this combination was found to be very low with prolonged residual effects and both, silver and hydrogen peroxide showed an exemplary anti-microbial performance even at lower dosage concentrations. In fact, this synergistic blend of Silver and Hydrogen Peroxide showed more cidal effects compared to other regular disinfectants in use, exhibiting an all-round microbial elimination without leaving behind any toxic residue over the application system.

Alstasan Silvox, an eco-friendly blend of hydrogen peroxide and silver, provides high efficacy in killing harmful pathogens across multiple media (viz., air, water, and surface) without leaving any kind of toxic residues on them. The key ingredients to Silver Hydrogen Peroxide include Hydrogen Peroxide which is a potent oxidizer, stabilized by the addition of antimicrobial Silver, that too in its Nano form, adhered by many inert stabilizers, and catalysts.

How does it work?

Hydrogen Peroxide is a rapid oxidizing agent which when comes in contact with wall of micro-organisms, ruptures their total internal structure, forbidding further replications. Once the microorganism is killed, the silver quickly stabilizes the activities of peroxide without allowing it to break into oxygen and water. Hydrogen Peroxide with stabilized Nano Silver exhibits excellent anti-bacterial and anti-fungal properties, eliminating harmful micro-organisms and also prevents their further replication, owing to the presence of silver which alters the DNA structure of those micro-organism, inhibiting any kind of further reproduction. This combination provides high efficacy in killing of bacteria, fungi, algae from almost all possible applications such as soil, water, air and any hard surface.

Chemtex Speciality Limited Manufactures Silver Hydrogen Peroxide under the brand “Alstasan Silvox”, highly effective for use in various applications found in Food Processing, F&B, Brewery, Dairy, Agro, Hospitals, Pharma, Fisheries, RO, Poultry, Potable Water, Swimming Pool, Air Conditioning Ducts and Vents, Effluent Detoxification, And Other Process Industries.

Highlights of Alstasan Silvox, summarized:

• Cold sterilant; No need of heat for disinfection
• Effectively disinfects Air, Water, Soil & Surface
• Eco-friendly and biodegradable
• Stable over a wide range of pH
• Natural and nontoxic
• Reduced quantity and toxicity of wastes
• Ensures rapid disinfection working on a short contact time
• Colorless, Odorless, Non-polluting and non-staining in nature
• Effective over a wide range of microorganisms
• Degrades into non-toxic by products i.e. water and oxygen making it eco-friendly
• Silver present within, acts as a stabilizer to oxidizing peroxide

To know more, visit: www.silverhydrogenperoxide.com

Antiscalant Dosing with Chemtex Chemicals

Scale and Corrosion is considered a curse to all industries, be it large or small.

Due to their subjection to water systems, heavy metal installations, industries face a huge annual loss due to these complications as they have direct implications on the production rate and outcome. Formation of scales cause severe metal lining problems, decrease in fluid flow rate, pitting and perforation, pore throats, wear and tear, machinery failure and primarily first stage of corrosion (in most cases).

Antiscalant dosing is preferred over other conventional treatments in counteracting scaling and corrosion. The primary reason being its simplicity and effectiveness over particulate matter deposition and cost efficiency. Most antiscalant chemicals work on adsorption mechanism, where they get adhered to the surface, preventing any interaction between inorganic salts and surface lining, ensuring lesser accumulation, lesser precipitation in the feeding solution, and ensuring prolonged protection.

Chemtex Antiscalant Chemicals can be directly dosed into the feeding system, and reduces the usage of acid usage. The exact dosage rate varies depending upon the severity of scaling, and typical OEM recommendations.

The composition and physico-chemical nature is tailor made to suit the specific nature of the problem enquired. Depending upon a number of co-related factors that help improve the workability of the system, also inhibiting the accumulation of inorganic salts that forms scales. Common compounds that are used in formulating an antiscalant are polyacrylic acids, polymaleic acids, organophosphates, polyphosphates, phosphonates, anionic polymers, etc.

The most likely mineral contaminants that poses threat to any metallic system are Calcium carbonate, Calcium sulphate, Strontium sulphate, and Barium sulphate.

• Boiler Antiscalants are multi-purpose heavy-duty chemicals designed to remove rust, hard deposits of water scale, iron oxides, oily contaminants, lime and greasy deposits from boiler systems. Regular usage of these chemicals provide protection to system metallurgy, ensuring an optimally longer boiler life cycle.
• For Reverse Osmosis systems, various formulations were evolved depending upon the type of membrane, quality of feed water and rate of product recovery;
  • Use of high pH RO antiscalants to inhibit scales and disperse colloidal particles in cellulose acetate and thin-film membrane separation systems, stable over a wide range of supersaturated salt solution. It prevents precipitation on the membrane surface, reducing the risk of scaling and helping in effective plant operations with optimal recovery rate.
  • Neutral RO antiscalants reduces membrane fouling within separation systems, effectively controlling inorganic salts, metal hydroxides, and colloids in RO feed water
  • Application with low pH antiscalants eliminate inorganic scales in multiple applications areas. It stabilizes metal ions to prevent metal oxides precipitation and disperses silt and clay particles.
• Thermal Desalination Antiscalant, new formulation is precisely formulated in order to provide excellent control of scaling & fouling. On regular application, it ensures reduced cleaning frequency and thorough cleaning.

 General Key Features & Benefits:

• Excellent cleaning efficacy
• Wetting agent for scale penetration
• Excellent removal of oil and grease
• Inhibitor package to prevent corrosion
• Excellent de-rusting

Chemtex Speciality Limited manufactures a wide range of antiscalant chemicals used for the purpose of deterrence of scaling and elimination of inorganic deposits over a broad spectrum application.

For more information, please visit: www.water-chemicals.com

Hydrogel Agriculture

For any developing nation, Agriculture has a major stand in its economy. It manages the food security for the ever increasing population and provides a source of hand to mouth for a number of people based in rural areas. Irrigation practices has changed over the years with change in farming technologies, selected outputs and input materials depending upon soil conditions and climate but still there are places which follow age old conventional style of farming which not only reduces the effective use of water but also limits the available resources.

Today’s farming style has changed from what can be grown to what is economical to grow.

Catastrophes like water scarcity, soil infertility, irregular rainfall opens the gate to drought, monetary loss, price inflation, lesser production and farmer misery. These problems have been rising up recently in huge numbers and we don’t have a concrete solution as of now. What we have are technologies by which their adversity can be somewhat neutralized. One of them or rather feasible and cheaper of them, is the application of hydrogel on agricultural fields. This unique formulation solves the water related problem up to a large extent, upgrading the soil texture.

How? Upon its application, it mixes up with soil particles and swells up on contact with water. This swelling up of hydrogel behaves like a small packets of water and imparts water retaining property to the roots of the plants. As soon as the conditions become dry, it starts releasing water molecules, which can be directly accessed by them which will ensure uninterrupted water supply and normal growth.

Hydrogels are super absorbent polymers having cross-linking molecular structure with a hydrophilic group attached, which absorbs water to about 500-600 times of its own weight. It acts as a water reservoir for plants, it traps irrigation and rain water which can be released later at the time of requirement over prolonged durations. Hydrogel polymer also absorbs nutrients from the soil which are utilized by plants for carrying out various physiological processes. One of the major advantages of hydrogel is that it can be used on a wide variety of soils. Water Hydrogel polymer does not alter the chemical composition of soils on which it is applied, nor does it impair the action of applied biocides viz. fertilizers, herbicides, fungicides, insecticides, etc. These super absorbent polymers are based on Polyacrylamide. Water gets into this polymeric cross link network via osmosis. Hydrogel polymers are effective even at high temperature in arid and semi-arid areas.

 Using hydrogel in irrigational field will ensure following guaranteed results:

• Significant increase in water retaining ability
• Efficient usage of water
• Increase in soil permeability and infiltration rate
• Decrease in irrigation frequency
• Increase in plant performance, particularly in areas prone to drought
• Reduction of using fertilizers and pesticides

Farmers will have a sigh of relief even if half of the above points are consummated, ensuring good monetary benefits under limited or rather same resources. Chemtex Speciality Limited is an esteemed manufacturer of “Alsta Hydrogel”, a potassium polyacrylate based super absorbent polymer that meets the standard requirement of agricultural sectors.

For more information, Kindly visit www.hydrogelagriculture.com

Nano Silver Hydrogen Peroxide

Interest on chemical behavior of Nano silver has substantially grown over the years, mainly for its pursuit as an effective antimicrobial agent. Research states that silver has a relatively wider range of antibacterial and anti-fungal attributes than other metals. And, hydrogen peroxide is a deemed eco-friendly sanitizer, owing to its oxidizing attribute, aiding in the elimination of harmful microorganisms wherever used. It ruptures the total cell structure on contact, without leaving behind any traces for replication.

Hydrogen Peroxide and silver manifest excellent antimicrobial properties, their chemical synergy adds a lot of value as a prompt yet effective disinfecting agent with limited toxicity.

Nano Silver Hydrogen Peroxide, from its name can be understood as a combination of oxidizing hydrogen peroxide stabilized with Nano silver. Upon application, it helps out in eliminating harmful microorganisms across multiple media without any residual toxicity. Hydrogen Peroxide being a potent oxidizing agent, damages the total cell structure, coming in contact with the microbial cell wall.

Upon cellular execution, the silver quickly stabilizes the remaining peroxide and store its activities for further use, without allowing it to degrade. This chemical alliance of silver and hydrogen peroxide manifests excellent antibacterial, anti-fungal properties, effectively eradicating harmful microorganisms and preventing their reproduction, owing to the presence of silver ions which alters the DNA structure of those micro-organisms. The combination of these elements provide high efficacy against pathogens in almost all possible applications such as soil, water, air and hard surfaces, on contact basis.

Nano-Silver Technology has grown over the last decade, extending its utilizations in day to day applications.

Silver Hydrogen Peroxide is most sought after disinfectant owing to its following attributes:

• Cold sterilant, viz., does not require heat to disinfect
• Multipurpose, broad spectrum product
• Eco-friendly, leaving water and oxygen
• Antimicrobial silver
• Fast acting
• Non-staining, non-tainting nature

Chemtex Speciality Limited is an esteemed manufacturer of Nano Silver Hydrogen Peroxide under the trade name of “Alstasan Silvox”, utilized as a multi-purpose sanitizer and disinfectant in different applications of food processing, beverage, brewery, dairies, agriculture, hospitals, pharma, fisheries, poultry, drinking water, swimming pool, air conditioning, wineries, water tank and pipeline disinfection, reverse osmosis membrane, fumigation, effluent detoxification and various processing industries and institutes.

Learn more at: www.silverhydrogenperoxide.com

Water Sanitation and Hygiene; Improving Water, Improving Life!

In recent times, wastewater definition need not any formal introduction, we all know about the what’s’ and the why’s. The question arises for how, where we chug in. Unhealthy for human consumption! No doubt, but deemed unusable, rather not. This water treated safely can have a fair amount of applications.

Wastewater has to be treated before release because it has been adversely affected by domestic, commercial, agricultural or industrial uses, which has serious implications in the environment. The composition of wastewater varies as its’ sources, ranging from mildly polluted storm water runoff to toxic wastewater from chemical, pharmaceutical, and metal industries.

Water Sanitation is a process to purify contaminated water which otherwise cannot be utilized further, thereby making it reusable. Pathogens, organic and inorganic matter, suspended solid, dissolved gases, paint emulsions, toxic chemicals like pesticides, bio-solids, and many more unwanted substances interfere with the quality and need treatment to make it reusable, since water is a limited resource.

According to a survey report, about three-fifth of total water in India was found to be toxic and of no use.

Scarcity of freshwater supply has driven urban and rural farmers to treat waste water from all possible sources which is regularly contaminated with untreated domestic and commercial wastes. Immobile places of water, including streams, tanks, and pipelines generally get contaminated or polluted because of the convergence of urbanization and unplanned utilization. Untreated wastewater utilized for watering system poses potential risk to wellbeing of both consumers and irrigators, and wastewater sanitation concerns need to be satisfactorily attended.

Most common practices carried out to prevent water from being contaminated are:

• Safe techniques to use waste water
• Checking the outflow of industrial wastes into water sources like rivers, ponds, etc.
• Preventing contamination of crops with chemicals and or pathogens
• Preventing contamination of drinking water sources
• Managing water and crops to prevent expansion of vector borne diseases

Wastewater sanitation/ treatment are broken into three levels, or in other words, there are three stages of treating waste water.

• One treatment involves the removal of unwanted, suspended or dissolved solids from crude sewage. This treatment traps strong objects and sediments using gravitational force to evacuate suspended solids.
• Another follow up treatment expels the already dissolved organic matter that may have missed out on the first essential treatment. This is accomplished by microorganisms thriving on the organic matter as food, and changing it over to carbon dioxide, water, and energy for their growth and development.
• Final treatment cleans as well as disinfects relatively considerable number of polluting influences from sewage, producing effluent of water through routine chemical treatment.

Chemtex Speciality Limited is one of the leading manufacturers of Water Treatment Chemicals, meeting all the standard industrial and commercial needs and requirements.

Visit us at www.water-chemicals.com

RO Membrane Cleaner is flawlessly used for cleaning of RO membranes

Reverse Osmosis (RO) can be viewed as the procedure by which demineralization and deionization of water happens by making it go under pressure through a semi-permeable reverse osmosis membrane. Keeping in mind the end goal to do the filtration of intensely grimy water, reverse osmosis membrane is utilized which is for the most part brings some significant issues that may cut down the productivity of the membrane, for example, Scaling, Degradation and Fouling of RO membrane.

Fouling of RO membranes may be operationally viewed as the reduction in water transport per unit zone of layer (flux), achieved by a substance or substances in the feed water that total assemble on or in the film. Water has a tendency to diffuse through the film quickly, yet the dissolved and suspended particles in the water don’t diffuse through the layer promptly, so they stay at the feed water surface. These materials summon a decrease in limit and/or an improvement of the pressure and, subsequently, of the energy use. It is, in this way, fundamental to preventively filter the layer. By and large general gentle cleaning is superior to anything cleaning intermittently with an aggressive cleaning item which offers the layer some assistance with lasting longer.

Utilizing high quality RO Membrane Cleaner is an imperative part of any Reverse Osmosis plant maintenance program. It is profitable to clean layers at early phase of fouling, as irreversible harm can occur when cleaning too much fouled films. Cleaning of reverse osmosis membranes ought to be done when one or a greater amount of the principle (standardized) working parameters, for example, conductivity, flux, or pressure differential, changes by 10 – 15%. It may get difficult to recoup plant execution by routine cleaning methods when execution decays by 30-40% (or more).

RO Membrane Cleaner is flawlessly used for cleaning of RO membranes by the evacuation and dispersal of the deposited scale. These cleaners have been judiciously treated by utilizing propelled procedures and premium grade constituents in order to guarantee powerful cleaning of contaminations, for example, sludges, silica scales, oils and natural mixes. These cleaners are appropriate to exhibit excellent system clean up, exact pH quality, ease in evacuation of soil, evacuation of silica scale, and so forth. Contingent on the sort and level of fouling of the layer, cleaners can be chosen, for example, Low pH membrane cleaner, High pH membrane cleaner, Cleaner for Silica Fouled membrane, and so on.

Polyelectrolyte is well known for its function of efficient flocculation

Polyelectrolytes can be viewed as polymer chains having an electrolyte group on every repeat unit. These polymers, when dissolved in a polar solvent, get charged due to complete dissociation of small counter ions that leave behind a charged macro ion. Polyelectrolytes involve biologically important molecules such as polypeptides and DNA. These are generally referred to as polymers that are typically used for purifying water. These are hailed high for their beneficial nature of tackling problems of slow settling of flocs in water at low temperature, treatment of soft colored water where they increase toughness of the flocs and enhance its settlement ability.

Polyelectrolytes have been designed in such a way so that they can be used as coagulants and flocculants as well as a sludge dewatering agent in the waste water treatment plants. Polyelectrolyte, thereby, functions as a critical ingredient in the sludge conditioner formulation.

Generally flocculation occurs owing to charges present on the particles. In practical cases, charges are present on the impurity particles and electrostatic interaction occurs between these particles and polyelectrolyte. Generally, Polyelectrolyte can be differentiated into 3 types based on the charge present on it. These are Non-Ionic Polyelectrolyte, Anionic Polyelectrolyte, and Cationic Polyelectrolyte.  

Polyelectrolyte is well known for its function of efficient flocculation offered by different chemical suppliers. It can be safely used for the disinfection of potable water. Polyelectrolyte functions as a decolorant, and is effective in algae growth inhibition and organics removal. It can completely replace Alum or PAC. It finds applications in variable sectors such as water treatment, cosmetics, mining, paper making, textiles, soil treatment, oil industries, etc.

Polyelectrolyte serves as a strong cationic radical polymer based coagulant that has been specially designed for complete or partial settling of water soluble matters, organics, and suspended solids in the effluent water through electro neutralization and bridging absorption. Bridging absorption takes place when long chain polymers get absorbed on the particles in a pattern such that it forms loops and tails extending some way in the solution. At this stage, particles are said to be re-stabilized.