Turning waste into power

KS Sivaprasad holds the patent for developing the Refuse Derived Fuel Power System — a technology that converts mixed garbage to fuel to finally produce power.

Just when Bangalore is staring at a sea of garbage piling on its streets, one Bangalorean has shown how waste can be effectively converted into fuel. And he has done it in Malaysia, which has successfully adapted his technology.

KS Sivaprasad holds the patent for developing the Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) Power System — a technology that converts mixed garbage to fuel to finally produce power. Today, he is director (technical advisor) of Core Competencies, a Malaysian firm, which provides electricity to 2 lakh people there.

The plant daily converts 700 tonnes of garbage to 8.9MW of power.
Sivaprasad, a resident of Madiwala, has just one regret — despite the huge success rate in other parts of the globe, no one in India and Bangalore in particular has approached him to utilize this technology

" This is green power. We obtain this after removing all the pollutants, including heavy metals, from the mixed garbage. All we require is a plot of land to station this plant," Sivaprasad said.



THE GENESIS

 It all started in the 1970s when US was looking to generate alternative fuel from municipal waste in the wake of the oil crisis. "That's when the idea struck me and I developed this technology in India," said Sivaprasad, who set up a plant in Madiwala then. The biggest global recognition for RDF came in 1995 when he participated in a UN conference in Bangkok. He made a presentation and got a call from the Malaysian company, which wanted to introduce this technology there. In 2006, they started work on building the plant and by 2009, the plant started power generation. He is working on a second plant which will treat up to 1,000 tonnes of garbage.


How power is generated:

 Segregation is done in several steps at the plant Non-combustible matter is segregated and moisture content reduced by drying it Recyclable matter (like plastic) and hard material like bricks or stone are removed next Kitchen waste sent for composting Combustible matter that remains is fuel taken to boiler to generate steam Steam is fed to the turbine to generate power Pollution abatement system incorporated in boiler, which produces clean energy From 1,000 tonnes of garbage, about 400 tonnes of green fuel is finally obtained.

Times of India

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