IIT Madras employs Solar Thermal Energy to recycle waste concrete
- January 17, 2023
- Posted by: OptimizeIAS Team
- Category: DPN Topics
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IIT Madras employs Solar Thermal Energy to recycle waste concrete
Subject: Environment
Section: Pollution
Concept:
- The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras researchers have developed a treatment process involving solar thermal energy to recycle construction and demolition debris.
- The demonstration was done at the ‘India One Solar Thermal Power Plant,’ located in ‘Shantivan,’ the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris organization in Rajasthan.
Treatment Process
- It has 770 solar concentrators to produce electricity using steam generated at high pressure.
- The waste concrete from demolition was heated using solar radiation to produce recycled concrete aggregate (RCA) that was higher in quality when compared to those obtained from mechanical crushing.
- The concrete made using this technology met the requirements for typical structural applications.
- The plant has been operational since 2017 and provides power to a community of about 25,000 people at a reasonable cost and low maintenance.
Significance
- Concrete is the most common material used in construction universally with an annual production estimated to be 10–30 billion tonnes.
- The present study attempts to mitigate the limitations of conventional thermomechanical techniques with regard to harmful emissions through the utilization of concentrated solar energy.
- It presents strong evidence for the use of concentrated solar energy for recycling waste concrete, with promise for large-scale waste concrete recycling.
- This would reduce the energy footprint of Construction and Demolition waste processing significantly, and lead to savings in raw material and electricity, towards circular economy.