BITS Pilani Hyderabad researchers develop green technology to transform biopharma wastewater into reusable water
Hyderabad, July 30 (TNT): Researchers at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus have developed a sustainable, low-energy wastewater treatment technology that can convert biopharmaceutical wastewater into reusable water and clean energy, offering a potential solution to one of the pharmaceutical industry’s most challenging waste management issues.
The innovative three-stage treatment system uses Pulsed Electric Field (PEF) technology to replace conventional chemical and steam-based sterilisation methods.
The technology enables safe disinfection of biopharmaceutical fermentation wastewater while recovering reusable water and methane-rich biogas.
The technology has been successfully demonstrated at the laboratory level, and the research team is collaborating with Biological E. Limited, a leading vaccine manufacturer based in Hyderabad’s Genome Valley, to scale the system for industrial deployment.
The research project is supported by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, through its Water Technology Initiative under the Optimum Water Use in Industrial Sectors programme. The core disinfection technology has been filed for an Indian patent.
The research was carried out by scientists from the BITS Environmental Science and Technology (BEST) Laboratory, Department of Biological Sciences, led by Prof. Sankar Ganesh Palani, Prof. Mithun Mondal and research scholar Ravindra Dnyanaba Kulal.
Explaining the significance of the research, Prof. Sankar Ganesh Palani said conventional treatment of biopharmaceutical fermentation wastewater requires large quantities of chemicals and thermal energy.
The new approach demonstrates the possibility of safely disinfecting complex wastewater using electrical pulses while simultaneously recovering valuable resources such as reusable water and clean energy.
Biopharmaceutical fermentation wastewater is among the most difficult industrial effluents to treat as it contains live production microorganisms, residual antibiotics and antibiotic resistance genes.
Current treatment methods rely on chemical treatment followed by steam-based autoclaving due to biosafety concerns, making the process energy-intensive and costly.
The BITS Hyderabad-developed process involves three stages.
The first stage uses Pulsed Electric Field technology, where high-voltage electrical pulses destroy bacterial cells without the use of chemicals or heat.
Laboratory studies demonstrated over 99.9999% bacterial inactivation, achieving sterilisation performance comparable to conventional autoclaving while reducing energy consumption.
The second stage uses a Sequencing Batch Reactor (SBR), where naturally occurring microorganisms remove organic pollutants, reducing more than 90% of the organic load and producing treated water suitable for reuse after membrane filtration.
In the final stage, the team’s patented Intelligently Stirred Thermophilic Anaerobic Reactor (iSTAR®) converts residual sludge into methane-rich biogas, which can partially meet the energy requirements of treatment plants while enabling water recovery and supporting zero liquid discharge goals.
The researchers have filed an Indian patent titled “Voltage-Assisted Inactivation of Bacteria in Wastewater (VAIBaW)”, while a research paper detailing the findings is under peer review.
The technology could be applied across pharmaceutical and vaccine manufacturing facilities, helping industries reduce water consumption, recover energy and adopt more sustainable wastewater management practices.
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