MANOJ DIVAKARAN talks about how the education system needs private investment and the power & water problem can be solved by setting up solar & biomass plants
Tell us about the innovation to tackled water and power problemIJ
We have developed solar thermal power plants, solar biomass hybrid power plants, solar thermal desalination systems, and solar thermal process steam applications, biomass based power and desalination systems and thermal storage solutions.
The concept of solar-biomass power and desalination is aimed at generating power and desalinated water on a 24×7 basis using the combination of abundant, environmentally friendly and unlimited sources of sunlight, agricultural waste and seawater. The provision of power and water through locally available resources economically empowers communities and this model can be replicated in numerous coastal communities in various parts of India and other emerging market countries. We have designed the systems such that villagers who have only minimal training and education can also operate the plant.
Your opinion on India’s education systemIJ
The Government’s capacity to pay for education in India is limited. The standards of education differ immensely from one system or institution to the other. In this fragmented scenario, there is a critical need to explore private and other investments.
Where did you get the inspirationIJ
Power and water are among the most fundamental challenges facing the growing societies in the emerging market countries. This realisation and the fact that we need to meet these challenges in an environmentally friendly and sustainable manner provided the passion to think deeply about solutions in this field. Meeting like minded partners who had similar passions and thought process helped in evolving the concepts into solutions that are now helping to solve many problems for power and water.
How did you go about in conceptualising this projectIJ
We chose to explore the area of concentrating solar power since free and abundant sunlight is available in many parts of Asia and the Middle East. Using that to find a solution which guarantees power and water availability was very important for us. We found that once the solar thermal system produces steam it can be used for various purposes like power generation, water desalination, industrial process heat requirements, district cooling solutions.
This multipurpose use for steam led us to develop the overall solution and focus on making each of the components best in class and then integrating it to form the final solution. Testing out the concepts in our research labs and the success of the prototypes and pilot plants led us to finalising the solution.
How does this worksIJ
The solar thermal system is made up of mirrors, which reflect and concentrate the suns energy onto a receiver. The receiver has water flowing through it. The intensity of the concentrated sun’s rays falling on the receiver converts this water to steam at a very high temperature and pressure. This steam is used to drive a conventional steam turbine and generator to produce power. After power production, the steam exiting from the turbine is fed into a seawater desalination system so that the primary energy for desalination is taken from the waste steam. In this integrated manner we are able to produce power and water on a very cost-effective basis.
Where is this project running currentlyIJ
The solar/biomass-based desalination plant is operational at Narippaiyur village in Tamil Nadu.
Challenges facedIJ
Solar energy is tapped using a linear Fresnel Reflector (lFR) based solar energy collector system for process steam generation and the desalination is based on multi-effect distillation. Developing these systems and using them in a large scale project for the first time was a challenge. Use of solar energy and sea water as basic resource inputs to mitigate the rural drinking water problem is appropriate. The project requires minimal electrical power and is not parasitic on ground water resources. Thus the idea itself is quite innovative and challenging.