Hyderabad: IICT reactor to use leachate at Jawahar Nagar to generate biogas
HYDERABAD: A solution developed by Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT) might finally pave way for resolving the long-standing problem of leachate oozing out of Jawahar Nagar dumping yard on the outskirts of Hyderabad, where all solid waste generated by areas under GHMC is dumped. Dr A Gangagni Rao, Senior Principal Scientist, Bioengineering and Environmental Sciences(BEES) division of IICT, said that the IICT will be developing a 10 tonnes per day (TPD) anaerobic gas lift reactor at the dumping yard, which will use 2,500 litres of leachate every day along with 10 tonnes of solid organic waste to generate biogas through biomethanisation.
This plant will generate about 12 lakh litres of biogas everyday, which will in turn help generate about 1,440 units of power daily. While using municipal organic waste to generate biogas is not new and IICT itself has already developed and established one 5 Tonnes per day capacity plant for generation of biogas at Jawahar Nagar, the challenge lies in using leachate in the process because leachate has high amount of salts which can kill anerobic bacteria in digester where the slurry of organic waste is decomposed by bacteria to generate biogas, said Dr Rao.
However, a prototype of the biogas generation unit using leachate and organic waste was successfully tested at IICT lab. Department of Biotechnology sanctioned money to IICT for scaling up their technology for the 10TPD project. A private company which holds license from IICT to use their technology will be establishing the entire 10 TDP plant at the dumping yard.
Dr Rao said the works to establish the 10TPD plant will start next month and it will most probably start functioning from next year. As of now, as per rules the leachate is to be collected and treated as it is hazardous waste and once some select parameters in the treated leachate are in line with the standards set by Central Pollution Control Board, it can be disposed off. However, there are allegations that leachate from landfills is not treated, stored carelessly and even disposed off directly into water bodies.