DMC-POWER FROM WASTE

DMC will soon(may be Jan 2010) streamline the disposal system and set up a power plant with an investment of Rs 120 crore,this power plant will draw precious power out of the waste with zero recurring cost.DMC will also bid for a clean development mechanism (CDM) project under the Kyoto Protocol and is having a plan to earn lakhs of rupees for tapping methane, an extremely hazardous greenhouse gas.This process will surely stop the mindless, unscientific dumping that has led to the catastrophe.DMC is soon to adopt scientific municipal waste disposal,already the creation for a blueprint for DMC to adopt a technique called engineering landfill' so that methane can be tapped to generate power is going on.
Durgapur generates 250 m.t of waste.
How much power?
For DMC the total production will be 1.6 MW which is enough to light 1000 homes.
Mechanism
A 20 feet deep pit on a 1km-1.5 km plot would serve as the waste collection centre. The pit will be lined with geotextile to prevent seepage of chemicals. Special perforated PVC pipes are to be then set up in grid formation with vertical pipes 42-43 feet tall that can be sealed at the end. "These pipes will channelise the methane that is generated from the decomposing waste. Once the pit is filled with garbage (for a municipality that generates 1,000 tonne a day, it will take a year and a half to fill the pit), 20-feet-high embankment is to be created after the pipe ends sealed. Over the next year and a half, waste can be dumped in the embankment, thereby creating a 40-feet stack of waste. At the end of third year, enough methane will be generated from the pit to power a 5 mw power plant for next three years. Careful layout of landfill will ensure that a second site is ready for methane tapping once the first is exhausted. By the time the methane generation stops, the waste would also have converted into earth and can be used for landscaping.At 0.5 kg of waste generated per capita, one township can generate 750 tonne waste daily.DMC needs to manage the waste properly because methane leakage is a major cause of global warming. That will be one of the biggest challenges in future.