News in Frames | Greens power

The Hindu’s News in frames: December 22, 2024

Hyderabad’s Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Vegetable Market Yard, or Bowen pally market, has always been a hive of activity. But recently, the buzz was not just about the arrival of a variety of vegetables from near and far. The noise and bustle of customers and tractors moving goods blends with the whirring motors of a waste-to-power plant located within the market.

The anaerobic gas lift reactor-based plant was developed by the CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), the State Department of Marketing, and Ahuja Engineering Services at a cost of ₹3 crore.

It has a capacity to produce up to 800-1,000 units of electricity a day using 10 tonnes of waste.

The market produces three or four tonnes of organic waste every day. This waste is first placed on conveyor belts which carry it to shredders. After shredding, the waste is converted into a slurry and is put into large containers or pits. These are high-rate biomethanation technology-based reactors.

The reactors start the process of anaerobic digestion, where organic waste is converted into biofuel. The fuel is then put into biogas generators that converts it into electricity.

The electricity generated from the plant powers more than 100 street lights, 170 stalls, an administrative building, and the market’s water supply network — giving the market committee substantial savings in power bills.

The plant produces biogas, which is being used to replace LPG cylinders in canteens. Bio manure generated is sold separately as organic fertilizer.