Cement, Energy and Environment

Cement Association (CEMBUREAU) and since 2009; TCMA has been an Associate Member of EUPAVE (European Concrete Paving Association). Besides these two CLEAN EMISSIONS WITH NANOTECH PSU major BHEL is setting up dedicated Nanotech centre to develop applications that can reduce carbon emissions from power plants BV Mahalakshmi Nanotechnology, the manipulation of matter at the scale of atoms and molecules, seems to be the buzz world among the Indian public sector, private enterprises and the researcher community these days. Research is in top gear at over 100-odd companies in the public and private domain and there are 50 universities to harness the potential of this technology. Areas of applications with immediate impact could be seen in the areas of drug delivery to treat tumour or cancer, solar energy, display technologies, opto-electronic devices and semiconductor devices in nanoelectronics. Research and development is in top gear at public sector major Bharat Heavy Electricals Ltd (BHEL) in its endeavour to become an all inclusive engineering enterprise. Aiding these initiatives is its R&D arm which is consolidating its knowledge base using emerging technologies such as nano materials. Nano science is one of those frontier technologies which is used across many verticals such as pharma, textiles, paints, cement etc and is primarily used for enhancement of capacities. It memberships, TCMA has also undersigned a Memorandum of Understanding with AUCBM (Arab Union for Cement and Building Materials) in 2009. FUTURISTIC TECHNOLOGY is now in power plants as well. Nano materials exhibit novel properties and its applications can be used in power systems and develop applications for product and systems. BHEL is setting up a dedicated facility, the Centre for Nano Technology, at its corporate R&D centre in Hyderabad. "With super-critical and ultra super critical power projects being the order of the day, corporate R&D is working to set up a centre of excellence for frontier area of nanotechnology and centre for excellence in areas of machine dynamics, compressor and pumps," says HS Jain, general manager, BHEL. The Centre for Nano Technology is being developed at a cost of Rs. 8.27 crore, and it is expected to be functional by June 2011 . "In the wake of climate change, we are trying to reduce emission from power plants. A beta testing is happening for a novel filter, for carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide using advanced nanotech." says Jain. This centre would be focused on development of nano strengthened creep resistant steels, nano structured coatings, gas filters, catalysts and nano– doped insulating materials which are used in power plants. According to Jain, the entire R&D work is to impart 'future ready' status to BHEL in super– critical regime. Some of the other centres of excellence include a centre of excellence The main goal of TCMA is, to raise the public awareness about the role of Turkish cement industry in the development of the country. for machine dynamics in order to improve the capabilities development in the areas of rotating machine, condition monitoring and expert diagnostics thereby reducing vibration, noise, tribology, stress and strain. Among others, the R&D unit of BHEL is developing and testing a 1 MVA power transformer designed with 77 K superconductors. The prototype transformer has been engineered and assembled for the first time in the country. The transformer featuring zero copper losses exhibits higher efficiency than conventional transformers. With this technology, the BHEL R&D unit has entered the era of applied superconductivity. An IEC-61850 compliant substation automation system (SAS) and accessories, like bay control units (BCU) and human machine interface have been developed by BHEL during this year. The SAS includes capabilities to execute substation control commands and monitor substation parameters from a remotely located human machine interface (HMI). With the inter– operability of the new system, a complete SAS is in advanced stage of establishment and is expected to be operational with BHEL designed equipment at a transmission substation . Having recorded the highest ever turnover of Rs. 34,050. crore, BHEL has spent Rs. 788 6 ·~