The Hindu 16.04.2013
440-KW biogas plant using solid wastes to come up in Thanjavur
Administrative sanction given to the Rs. 90 lakh-project.
The State government has allotted Rs. 90 lakh for putting up a bio-gas plant for producing 440 KW power using solid wastes generated by the Thanjavur municipality.
Welcoming the move, people of Thanjavur said that it would achieve two objectives. It would help solve the power problem and second would help solid waste management.
Thanjavur municipality generates 110 tonnes of solid waste a day, which is dumped at the compost yard at Srinivasapuram.
Market, hotel, kitchen, and animal waste could be used for preparing bio-gas and generate electricity.
After administrative sanction was given for the project, tenders would be called in and implemented, official sources at the municipality said.
N. Ramachandran, president of Clean Thanjavur Movement and Vice Chancellor of Periyar Maniammai University, welcomed the move of the government. However, he said that segregation of wastes into bio-degradable and awareness among people for collection and segregation of wastes alone could make the programme a success.
As part of Clean Thanjavur Movement, training had been given in solid waste management to students, teachers, people, industrialists, hoteliers, and hospital owners. Models for collection and segregation had been established in the town.
“When the municipality puts up a bio-gas plant, it can be made into a model plant and shown to students and people to create awareness,” Mr. Ramachandran said.
PMU had become a model for generating electricity from wastes. “We produce 60 KW of power from our bio-Methanation plant put up on our campus and use for power requirement in our hostels,” Prof. Ramachandran said.
The bio-Methanation plant was installed by the university in July, 2011 with the financial support of Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, Government of India.
The multi-feed plant was fed with cattle dung, night soil, vegetable waste, and food waste.
The gas producing capacity of the digester was 500 cu. mt a day.
The volume of gas generated could be used to generate 60 KW of electricity. Ten tonnes of wastes were fed a day.
For generating power, carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulphide gases were scrubbed off by providing a scrubber.
The scrubbed gas was stored in the gas balloon and from there it was conveyed to the bio-engine for power generation.
The digested sludge from the digester was being taken for vermicomposting.
“Fifteen tonnes of vermi compost is produced every month. The university has offered training on vermi-composting to 8,087 farmers across the state. Periyar Technology Business Incubator has developed 1,350 entrepreneurs. The vermi compost plant at the university also produces 2,000 kilos of worms per year,” Prof. Ramachandran said.
PMU that has been indentified as the nodal agency for technical know-how and installation of biogas plant, has installed bio-gas plants at various organisations like SASTRA University, and VIT University, Vellore, Prof. Ramachandran said.
