JOIN USIIT-M develops tech to take on rising solid waste issue
A municipal solid waste combustor plant developed indigenously by researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) has been installed at the Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) facility in Tiruchirapalli.
The combustor plant is based on the first-of-its-kind ‘Rotary Furnace Technology’ to efficiently process unsegregated Municipal Solid Waste generated in India on Friday.
“Waste Management is becoming an important issue that necessitates solutions that can scale and also help in quick and safe disposal. The first-of-its-kind Solid Waste Combustor developed by IIT Madras not only addresses the scale and safe disposal issues, but also generates heat resulting in a waste-to-wealth creation,” IIT-M director V Kamakoti said.
The institute said the plant can process up to one ton of unsegregated municipal solid waste (MSW) per day and generate steam as the main output along with clean gaseous emissions and ash as a by-product.
The MSW generated in India is around 133 million tons a year of which more than 85 per cent ends up in landfills. The total solid waste generation in Tamil Nadu is 14,600 tons/day with around 5,400 tons/day generated in Chennai (TNPCB, 2021). The MSW generation is increasing at 1.3 per cent a year with a current per capita generation of around 0.5-1 kg/day.
The entire process from installation to commissioning was completed within six months, the institute said.
After the segregation and utilisation of bio-organic wastes for composting, vermicomposting and biogas generation, more than 2,500 tons/day of bio-inorganic wastes including plastics and high calorific value matter are dumped in landfills. However, the Indian solid waste management industry is worth $13.62 billion by 2025, the institute said.
BHEL would further carry out many tests and optimise operational philosophy for future scale-up and market this as a reliable and end-user-friendly product.
As part of the Ucchatar Avishkaar Yojana (UAY) project funded by BHEL, and the Union Ministry of Education, the plant was developed by IIT-M researchers at the National Centre for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD). This plant also plays a key enabling role in the Swachh Bharat Mission.