What comes out of a coal-fired power plant need not necessarily end up as waste. Uttar Pradesh Rajya Vidyut Utpadan Nigam Limited (UPRVUNL) is attempting to put this principle into practice by looking at everything from fly ash and used oil to scrap metal, wastewater and even old equipment as potential resources.
Scrap recycled at the Rihand Hydro Project in Sonbhadra. (Sourced) The state power generator is now working on a multi-pronged circular economy strategy at its thermal power stations, focusing particularly on finding new avenues for ash evacuation, reducing energy consumption and recovering value from materials that were earlier discarded.
“Our approach is to move from waste management to resource management. Every material leaving a plant has to be examined to determine whether it can be reused, recovered or put to productive use,” UPRVUNL managing director Mayur Maheshwari said.
Ash management is emerging as one of the biggest components of the initiative. At Panki thermal power station, UPRVUNL is exploring the transportation of ash through railway rakes in coordination with Indian Railways.
At Jawaharpur, a 5-km ash pipeline is being considered to facilitate regular tie-ups with the cement industry in Etah. The Nigam is also examining a “coal in, ash out” model at Jawaharpur to ensure that ash does not accumulate on the plant premises.
“Currently, the fly ash from thermal plants is transported by trucks and hence there is a possibility of it flying and contaminating the air,” superintending engineer Sanjay Gupta explained. He said the disposal of fly ash from thermal plants located far away from cement factories, such as those in Anpara and Obra, remained a challenge and ways were being explored to address it.
Maheshwari said the Nigam was also looking at technology-driven interventions to make its ageing thermal assets more efficient. AI-driven digital twins of equipment are being explored to monitor equipment performance and
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