Facilities
The Department of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering houses highly sophisticated state-of-the art laboratory facilities that cater basic to advance research in Biotechnology, life sciences and chemical engineering. The laboratories are designed to serve the academic curriculum, research projects and consultancy assignments.
The various laboratories in the department are:
HEAT AND MASS TRANSFER LAB
HMT Lab is equipped with both the heat transfer and mass transfer operation equipment. The lab facilities include a U tube heat exchanger, emissivity apparatus, Stefan-Boltzmann’s apparatus, natural convection apparatus, free convection apparatus, composite wall, rotary drier, steam distillation unit , simple distillation unit, Soxhlet extractor, etc. These experiments also pave way for inculcating certain innovative skills in the students and to use the experimental setups as starting point to take up higher level experimental studies in heat as well as mass transfer
FLUID FLOW AND PARTICLE TECHNOLOGY LAB
This lab is run in conjunction with the theory course BT201 Fluid flow and Particle Technology. The goals of the experiments aim at the explication of industrial applicability of various techniques of fluid flow and particle technology in process engineering. The facilities include manometers, Stokes Law apparatus, venturimeter, orificemeter, packed bed, fluidized bed, pipette analysis,beaker decantation, flocculator, viscometer, batch sedimentation test etc.
RESEARCH LABORATORY
The research laboratory of the department of BT & BCE provides a propitious environment that ensures the participation of faculty and students in research and development. The facility has sophisticated instrumental facilities that support research in emerging areas like bio-nanotechnology, sensor development and validation, molecular biology, bio-processing and environmental remediation. The laboratory houses animal cell culture facility, photoluminescence spectro-photometric equipment and other state-of the art facilities. The nanotechnology wing of the laboratory is funded by the BioCARe scheme of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India and has a dedicated research team working on quantum dot synthesis and allied areas. The facility also supports student internships and consultancy projects in bio-nanotechnology and basic microbiology.
DOWNSTREAM PROCESSING LABORATORY
The lab is equipped with instruments to give a technical knowhow to students on downstream processing of biomolecules to strengthen the knowledge in basic techniques of cell disruption, flocculation, precipitation, protein purification and polishing techniques .The downstream processing lab is equipped with ultra sonicator, dead end filtration unit, centrifuge, electronic balance, vortex shaker, autoclave etc.
REACTION ENGINEERING AND PROCESS CONTROL LABORATORY
In reaction engineering and process control laboratory, students will perform experiments to support their theoretical study of chemical reaction engineering and process dynamics and control. The experiments related to reaction engineering include kinetic studies and RTD studies of different types of reactors. The experiments related to process Control, provides exposure to the dynamic response of various process components namely thermometer, different controllers, level control systems etc.
MICROBIOLOGY LABORATORY
Microbiology laboratory in the department has a unique environment that houses special practices and containment facilities in order to properly protect persons working with microorganisms. Aim of the microbiology lab is to focus mainly on basic principles, safe practices and morphological characters of different types of cells. Specific experiments address topics in microbial isolation, quantification and characterization. The laboratory has basic devices, equipment and instruments needed in microbiology experiments such as microscopes, hot air oven, laminar air flow, incubator, refrigerator, centrifuge, autoclave, chemicals including media and consumables.
BIOCHEMISTRY LAB
In the biochemistry lab, the students will have an opportunity to get acquainted with various reagents, equipment and experiments for the qualitative and quantitative analysis of various biomolecules. Schematic qualitative analysis of carbohydrates (mono, di and polysaccharides), amino acids and proteins, and qualitative estimation of proteins, amino acids, DNA, RNA and lipids are carried out independently by the student.
INSTRUMENTAL METHODS OF ANALYSIS LAB
Overall the students will be exposed to various instruments used in analytical labs for the analysis of biological samples by qualitatively or quantitatively. Also they will be familiarizing with the general terminologies used in IMA such as calibration, precision, accuracy, resolution etc. Students will get an idea about UV spectra of Nucleic acids, Beer’s-Lambert’s law and calculation of Absorption maxima. The second part in the lab includes separation of amino acids by paper chromatography, identification of nucleic acids by gel electrophoresis, estimation of turbidity using spectrophotometer etc.
BIOPROCESS ENGINEERING LAB
The Bioprocess Engineering Lab explore hands-on experience on the isolation and purification of various important enzymes (urease, amylase etc.) used in Bioprocess Industry. Further, they may study the effect of various environmental factors (pH, temperature, substrate concentration etc.) on enzyme activity under laboratory conditions. The second part the lab provides an idea about microbial growth curve, importance of immobilization technique, Residence Time Distribution (RTD) studies and estimation of total sugar and phenol content in wine sample.
SOFTWARE LABORATORY
This lab is equipped with 20 systems with all the necessary programming software like C++,MATLAB, ChemCADD, DWSIM Simulator etc. The laboratory has facilities for students to have internet access.
