The delayed solid waste incineration project has gone on stream in Chennai. This is touted as a solution to stop dumping of waste in Perungudi and Kodungaiyur yards.
* The first place to get an incinerator is Manali, with a capacity to process 10 tonnes of garbage a day
* Six more localities in the city will get 100-tonne capacity waste incinerators
* The Corporation has called for tenders to install incinerators in Sathangadu in Tiruvottiyur zone, Kodungaiyur in Tondiarpet zone, Ayanavaram in Thiru Vi Ka Nagar zone, Ambattur, Mylapore Burial Ground in Teynampet zone and Pallikaranai in Perungudi zone
Process of incineration
1. Unloading garbage from trucks at the plant
2. Segregation of waste in a chamber
3. Bio-degradable waste will be composted at a facility on the premises
4. Shredding of non-biodegradable waste
5. Heating of such waste to over 1025 degree Celsius in a furnace after removing moisture and injecting oxygen; no external fuel will be used
6. Collection of ash, a part of which will be used to make bricks
7. Passage of exhaust through a pollution control unit to release only water vapour into the atmosphere
Byproducts of incineration
Paver bricks
* One tonne of incinerated waste will yield 20-30 kg of ash
* The ash will be converted into paver bricks in the ratio of 40% ash and 60% stone chips
* One tonne of waste will thus yield 60 kg of bricks
Fly ash with carbon (0.1% to 0.2%)
Fly ash with 0.1% to 0.2% carbon content and weighing 2 kg will also be produced by a tonne of waste; the fly ash will be used in agriculture
Activated carbon
Approximately one kg of activated carbon will also be produced in the plant. Activated carbon is used in sewage treatment, metal extraction, gold purification and medicine
Benefits of incineration
* Reduction of landfill sites
* Existing dump yards will be converted into parks and recreation centres
* Reduction of groundwater pollution in residential areas near dump yards
Negatives
Residents in thickly populated areas such as Mylapore, Ayanavaram and Ambattur are expected to oppose the project because of pollution
Existing state of waste management
Chennai generates 5,000 tonnes of municipal soild waste, which is dumped in Perungudi and Kodungaiyur. The Pallikaranai marshland has been polluted by the Perungudi dump yard. Residents have been opposing the dumping of waste over the past few years. Once dumping of waste is stopped in Perungudi, ecorestoration of the marshland will be successful
