Monday 17 December 2012

Various techniques, which are employed to derive energy from the waste material.


Combustion or Incineration

  •  It is direct burning of wastes in the presence of excess air (oxygen) at high temperatures
    (about 800 C).
  •  It results in conversion of 65%-80% of heat content of organic matter into hot air, steam and hot water.
  •  
  • The steam generated can be used in steam turbines to generate power.

Biomethanation or Anaerobic Bigestion
  •  In this, the organic waste is segregated and fed into a biogas digester.
  • The waste undergoes biodegradation under anaerobic conditions to produce methane rich biogas.
  • The so produced biogas can be used for cooking, heating, generating electricity etc.
  •  The sludge can be used as a manure depending on the composition of the input waste.
Pyrolysis / Gasification
  •  It is chemical decomposition of organic matter through heat.
  • The organic matter is heated in the absence or restricted supply of air till it breaks down into smaller molecules of gas (known collectively as syngas).
  • Syngas so produced is known as producer gas which constitutes carbon monoxide (25%),hydrogen and hydrocarbons(15%), carbon dioxide and nitrogen(60%). 
  • The producer gas is burnt in internal combustion (IC) generator sets or turbines to produce electricity.

Landfill Gas Recovery
  • In this the waste slowly decomposes to produce “Landfill gas”.
  •  This gas consists of high percentage of methane (approximately 50%) and has a high calorific value of about 4500kcal/cubic meter. 
  • It can be used for heating cooking and generating power.

Plasma Arc
  •  A relatively new technology for disposal of wastes, particularly, hazardous and radioactive wastes.
  • Since it involves nearly complete destruction of waste while producing energy, it is less polluting.
  •  It does not produce oxides of nitrogen and sulphur and makes toxic ash left in the process easier to handle.
  • However, the technology is costly and has not been tried in India.

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