KOLHAPUR: A two-member team of experts from Indian Institute of Technology Bombay on Saturday visited Kolhapur Municipal Corporation’s (KMC) waste-to-energy project and took the samples of the waste processed at every stage for testing.The private firm started operating the plant, but has not yet received the go-ahead for commercial operations and commissioning. Based on the results of tests on samples, KMC will take a decision on permitting commercial operations. Civic officials said the IIT-B team will visit every three months, now on.The team checked the functioning of the plant and made suggestions on how to upgrade the facility. The plant processes waste at four stages. Refuse Derived Fuel (RDF) is generated at the last stage.Vijay Patil, chief sanitation inspector of KMC said, “The samples of fresh waste, inert material and RDF samples of three grades were collected and will be tested in IIT-B for calorific value and moisture content. Based on results, experts will suggest measures to improve calorific value and reduce moisture content. RDF is commercially sold, based on these values. The plant can be commercially feasible if high-quality RDF is generated that can be used in factories and boilers. We expect the sample testing results in two weeks. The plant operator has been asked to ensure fire safety measures, and these will be audited by the fire service department.”Since electricity cannot be produced directly through RDF, the operator has installed a biogas-based power plant at the site. The fresh waste collected from hotels and houses is used in the biogas plant. Electricity thus produced will be used to run the plant. Also, the treated waste water from the nearby sewage treatment plant (STP) will be used for the biogas plant, as per suggestions of the experts. “The experts tested the discharge of the biogas and the quality of slurry. They also made suggestions to increase biogas production,” Patil said.

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