Chennai's first ever dry waste plant to run on full capacity from February 24

CHENNAI: City’s first-ever dry-waste incineration plant at Manali in North Chennai will run on full capacity from Monday. Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami inaugurated the plant, built at a cost of Rs 65 lakh, in October last year. “The plant will now work in its full capacity, processing 10 tonnes of dry waste in 20 hours daily. So far, we have only been experimenting with the plant to completely understand its functions,’’ said an official with the Solid Waste Management Department. The Chennai Corporation has testing the plant’s thermal levels, maximum uninterrupted period it can function, amount of cooling-tanks required, and the types of waste it can process. 

“During tests, we ran it for 10 hours continuously and the plant heated up. So, we recently built two water tanks to ensure that the machine operates at optimal temperatures when running for longer periods,’’ the official added. While the plant is capable of running non-stop for 24 hours, officials say the machine would be used only for 20 hours daily in the immediate future. “Equipment to recycle water has also been fitted to the plant, which only emits steam and has zero emission levels,’’ claimed the Corporation official. 
When Express visited the plant, it was functioning at very minimal noise levels. Wastes such as plastic covers, rubber, and clothes were being shredded into miniscule particles before being incinerated at 1,000 degrees Celsius. 

In just a few minutes, the waste was converted into ‘carbon black’ powder and ash, a powdery substance consisting of carbon. On the other hand, ash is generated, which is used to make concrete blocks for laying pavements. Though 100 kg ash is produced while processing 10 tonnes of dry-waste, only 2 per cent of it is being retrieved. Meanwhile, soil test is being conducted at Zone 4 (Tondiarpet) for construction of an incineration plant with a capacity of 50 tonnes. “Rs 9.49 crore has been sanctioned for this and works have begun,’’ the Corporation official further said.

Manali dry waste incineration plant was inauguratedby Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami in 2019 | d sampathkumar