CIVIL DEPARTMENT TRANSCENDS BOUNDARIES
We are proud to acknowledge that the Civil department of Delhi College of Engineering has been anointed as a third party quality assurance agency for major infrastructural projects being executed in Delhi by the Public Works Department (PWD), Municipal Corporation Department (MCD), Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC), Delhi Development Authority (DDA), NDMC, DSIDC and the like. With the 2010 Commonwealth Games in close proximity, Delhi College of Engineering has been asked to oversee and supervise some of the salient projects taken up by the state government. Few of those prestigious ventures are:
1. Construction of elevated road over Barpullah Nallah, from Sarai Kale Khan
to Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium. It is slated under Commonwealth project division CW-111 and consists of a duplex of packages worth Rupees 1.29 crores.
2. Corridor up gradation of U.P link road from NH-24 crossing to Chilla regulator.
It refuges under Commonwealth project division CW-113 and is pegged at Rupees 72.6 lacs. 3. Fabrication of great separator at intersection of road no, 56 and GT road near Apsara border .
It is planned under flyover division F-113 and will incur a cost of around Rupees 84 lacs. The affiliation of DCE with the preceding projects will unbolt the doors of novel and lucrative avenues for professors and students alike and will provide them sufficient exposure to the infrastructural world.
It will empower them with acumen into the modern world ridden with gaping 
sky -
scrapers and undulating flyovers which you cannot help but admire. It will not only expand the ambit of the Civil department but will also inspire research and developmental work at DCE. It has unequivocally reiterated the
fact that DCE is and shall always remain at the helm of innovation. Lets raise
a toast to DCE’s innovational prowess!
A L G A E B I O-R E A C T O R
With ever growing demand of diesel and environmental degradation caused by burning of fossil fuel, research for development of a sustainable alternative fuel is carried world over. India produced 34.11 million tonnes of diesel in 2007-08, whereas the consumption was 155.78 million tonnes, forcing it to import 121.67 million tonnes due to which it suffered a heavy deficit burden of Rs.2726.99 billion. India is a diesel driven economy and consumption of diesel is five times than consumption of gasoline. So there is an urgent need to substitute diesel by environmental friendly fuel such as biodiesel. Biodiesel is a renewable fuel which is produced from a variety of vegetable oils or animal fats through a chemical process and can either be used as either direct substitute, extender or as an additive to fossil diesel fuel in compression ignition engines. The most promising feature of biodiesel is that it can be utilized in the existing design of diesel engine with no or very little modifications.
Environmental Benefits
Biodiesel is an environment friendly fuel and as per a study conducted by EPA, the biodiesel has the capability of reducing majority of harmful emissions.
| Emission | B100 | B20 |
| Carbon monoxide | -43.2% | -12.6% |
| Hydrocarbons | -56.3% | -11.0% |
| Particulates | -55.4% | -18.0% |
| Nitrous oxides | +5.8% | +1.2% |
| Air toxics | -60%–90% | -12%–20% |
| Mutagenicity | -80%–90% | -20% |
Biodiesel Feedstock
One major issue for producing biodiesel on a large scale and supplementing diesel is that sufficient quantity of feedstock should be available and this feedstock shouldn’t have any competition with any food crop. Biodiesel can be produced from a variety of feed stocks as shown in table:-
| Feedstock | Countries | |
| Rape seed, Sunflower | EU | |
| Soya Oil | USA | |
| Palm Oil | Malaysia | |
| Coconut | Phillippiness & Thailand | |
| Linseed & Olive Oil | Spain | |
| Cotton Seed Oil | Greece |
For any bio-fuel to succeed in replacing a large quantity of petroleum, the yield of fuel per acre needs to be as high as possibleJatropha, existing biodiesel plant. In Indian context, Jatropha is potentially the most viable crop for biodiesel production. Jatropha Curcus is a hardy plant and can even thrive on waste and degraded land. It is also a valuable multi-purpose crop which alleviates soil degradation, desertification and deforestation, which can be used for bio-energy to replace petro-diesel, for soap production and climatic protection, and hence deserves specific attention. Govt. of India is promoting the cultivation of Jatropha at the waste lands.
Algae Photo-Bioreactor (PBR)
Algae Photo-Bioreactor is a closed system assembly of six acrylic tubes having an overall ds. capacity of 84 liters. The structure is made up of wood and the whole structure is mounted on the steel stand with castor wheels for the movement of the reactor. The tubes are 2 meters in length with the O.D. of 100mm and I.D. of 94mm. A carbon dioxide cylinder is installed in the design to circulate carbon dioxide through the closed system of six tubes for photosynthesis. The outlet of the cylinder is fed to the bottom of the first tube and the tubes are connected by a piping system which connects the top of the first tube to the bottom of the second tube and goes on till the last tube. However, gas from the outlet of the last tube is re-circulated to the first tube using an air pump with the installation of Non Return Valves at appropriate positions.
