Spotlight
New Delhi, 1 May 2007
POWER FROM SEWERAGE
SYSTEM
NEW DELHI, May 2 (INFA): Rapid urbanisation
is putting a severe strain on the basic resources of cities the world over. One
of the main problems plaguing these metros is the absence of an effective waste
disposal mechanism. Thankfully, a few cities are waking up to these problems
and devising measures to tackle them.
Vietnam’s largest city, Ho Chi Minh City, plans to use a new
technology to generate power from wastewater. According to the Japanese
company, “Tsukishima Kikai”, which has developed the technology, organic waste
from the sewage system would be used to generate power.
The system consists of an aeration panel and an innovative
air diffuser with high oxygen transfer efficiency. The waste would be treated
in an anaerobic container for 20-30 days, after which it would be turned into
biogas.
The technology reduces pathogens and unpleasant odours,
stabilizes waste quality and improves treatment performance. The biogas which
is obtained as a by-product is used to generate electricity.
The city officials are confident that the technology would
be beneficial for the city which every day dumps over one million cu.m of
domestic wastewater, 400,000 cu.m of industrial wastewater, 4000-5000 tonnes of
household garbage and seven tonnes of untreated non-hazardous garbage into its
rivers and canals.
Meanwhile, Salt Lake City,
the capital of Utah
state in western US is exploring a pilot project to convert sewer waste into
energy to run a heating and cooling system in a downtown 8000 square foot
building.
According to the city officials who are partly funding the
project, the heat will come partly from solid waste, and mostly from warm water
that runs in sewage pipes after draining out of toilets, showers, and sinks.
The sewage temperature---between 550C and 600C
– combined with a constant ground temperature of about 550C provides
a viable ground source for a heat-pump system.
Through the pilot system is expensive and costs $20,000 more
than traditional systems, it holds promise because of its environment-friendly
nature. And the city officials believe that if it works well, it could
eventually be used on a mass scale.
---INFA
BHEL’S PLAN FOR
R&D
HYDERABAD, May 2 (INFA): The Hyderabad-based
Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd. (BHEL) has drawn up plans to spend Rs.1,000 crore
by the year 2012 on research and development.
It may be added that its expenditure on R&D rose from
Rs. 124 crore in 2004-05 to Rs.238 crore last year, recording a 91 per cent
increase in the last two years.
The focus would be on the power sector keeping in view the
increasing demands in the future.---INFA
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