CHENNAI: Indian Institute of Technology-Madras is taking up academia-industry collaboration for technology development in thermal power generation using paddy straw as fuel, the institute said on Thursday. The tie-up aims to tackle stubble burning, which is often cited as the reason for smog and air pollution in New Delhi, a release said.
Stubble burning causes soil erosion, kills beneficial soil organisms and emits harmful gases such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, sulphur dioxide and methane along with particulate matter.
Punjab and Haryana alone produce 35 million tonnes of paddy straw per year, which is not fit for cattle feed, and are being burnt in the fields, the release said adding that the same straw has the useful heating value of around 3200 to 3500 K Cal/kg, which is closer to coal being used for power generation in thermal power plants.
The collaborating industry is SAEL (Sukhbir Agro Energy Ltd), which collects,transports and stores paddy straw for use at two biomass-based power plants, one in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Punjab.“SAEL is in the process of commissioning two 100 per cent paddy straw-based power plants in Punjab, besides implementing two more based on the same fuel in Haryana. These plants are based on the technology provided by Danish companies to Indian OEMs,” it said. The institute aims to work to build the technology indigenously.
This will require certain facilities to be constructed at IIT-M to closely look into the combustion of paddy straw, with funding from SAEL. The results will be put to test for further development in a boiler environment with a facility created.
With the above background the National Center for Combustion Research and Development (NCCRD) at IIT-M has entered into a Joint Development Agreement (JDA) with SAEL.
Speaking about the targeted outcomes of this collaboration, Satyanarayanan Chakravarthy, Professor In-charge, NCCRD, said “These objectives will be achieved by conducting trials in a laboratory scale combustor to be constructed at IIT-M and a prototype boiler constructed at the Technology Development Centre in Punjab.
“While IIT-Madras will meet the technical requirements such as design of prototype boiler, conducting trials and providing solution to the existing boilers. The whole project will be funded by SAEL,” Chakravarthy added.
Joining hands
The collaborating industry is SAEL (Sukhbir Agro Energy Ltd), which collects, transports and stores paddy straw for use at two biomass-based power plants, one in Uttar Pradesh and the other in Punjab