BENGALURU: The energy department is keen on using fly ash generated at the waste-to-energy plant in Bidadi for roadworks. Karnataka Power Corporation Ltd (KPCL) has written to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)-Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) to see if fly ash from the Bidadi plant could be used for roadworks.
This move of the energy department comes in the backdrop of an agreement between CSIR-CRRI and the Greater Bengaluru Authority and the chief secretary on providing an aggregate solution to fix potholes within three minutes.
“A special water repellent mix has been prepared. The chemical composition of which could not be disclosed. But the GBA hasn’t started using this solution because of its existing contracts and tenders to execute roadworks. Thus, the roads continue to be in a poor condition,” an official associated with CSIR-CRRI said.
“Various agencies have been using fly ash for roadworks for over three decades. We are thinking of using it. To understand its binding capacity and chemical composition, proper testing is required. For this, we have approached CRRI,” Gaurav Gupta, additional chief secretary, energy department, told TNIE. Fly ash from thermal power plants is used in greenfield projects, roadworks and in the cement industry.
“The aim of setting up the waste-to-energy plant was to manage the waste generated. But the plant is generating fly ash, which is also a type of waste difficult to manage. Hence, we have asked CSIR-CRRI to test fly the ash samples from the Bidadi plant at the earliest,” KPCL officials said.
As per data, over 1.32 lakh tonnes of waste has been burnt so far to generate electricity. The plant started operations in November last. Till this July, it generated around 17,000 tonnes of ash, 15 per cent of which is fly ash (around 2,100 tonnes). The waste-to-energy plant has been designed to use 600 tonnes of waste to generate 11.5MW a day. Due to high moisture content, only 10.5MW is being generated and supplied to the grid.
Officials from CSIR-CRRI said it is too early to come to a conclusion. “A thorough testing is needed. Fly ash generated from thermal power plants is clean and its chemical properties are known. But the same cannot be said about the fly ash generated at the waste-to-energy plant.
Its characteristics, ash feasibility and environmental suitability should be understood. Presence of heavy metals, potential of hydrogen (pH) value, toxicity and elasticity should also be understood in lab and in natural environmental conditions, and all this will take time,” Satish Pandey, senior principal scientist and head of the department, Flexible Pavements, CSIR-CRRI, said.