CEE Oct-Dec 2002

when the vehicle manufacturers are ready.' [arl ier indications lor the S IAM (Soc iety of Indi an Automobile Manufacturers) were that by 2007/08, Euro-IV vehicles (other than two- and th ree– '' heelers) can be introduced in the country. While it is recognized that ma~imum em ission benefits from Euro- IV fuel will accrue only with Euro-IV vehicle technology, its use with current vehicle technology will a lso y ie ld emi ss ion reduction bene li ts, he sa id. SCIENTISTS DEVELOP PLASMA INCINERATOR Satye11 Jllnhapalra The llilldustan Times. I-I October 2002 With the Supreme Court call ing for mandatory sate disposal system in hospitals wi th more than 50 beds, sc ienti sts have developed plasma in ci ne rato rs to instantly vaporize hazardous medical waste. These inc in erators, each costing about Rs.l 0 to Rs. 12 lakh. turns hospital waste into harmless mo lecules of carbon dioxide and water vapour, said . Ms Ni rmala Kau shik . Scientific Officer in charge of the plasma incinerator project. at the Technology Information, Forecas ting and Assessment Counci I. The gaseous emiss ions from the5e inci nerators we re much lower than the prescri bed norms or the CPCB, Ms Kaushik, said. The incinerator, called plasma pyrol ysis system, uses a ·pl asma torch ' to decompose the waste. The plasma is created by passing high energy e lectrons through nitrogen gas . on-combus tibl e material s, including glass and metal, is reduced to inert slag which can be used by the construction industry, Ms Kau shik sa id. She sa id the licence for commerc ial production had been g ive n to Bhagwa ti Pyrotech Pri va te Ltd. Courte.~:v: TERI Newswire 1-15 Oct. 2002, Pp 23-24, 26 E-mail: oulreach(a'>teri.res. in Web: www. leriin.org A FACf FINDING MISSION Man.fi·ed Schohesherger and Rudolf Hemmelmoyr . lnspec Fibres. !l uslria Filter bags, no matter which type, have to work lor a certa in time be lo re being replaced. Typically, a new set has some lifetime warranty provided by the supp lier to underline the ceriainty they wi ll at least work during a defined period. The minimum life span is approximately 4 years and in some cases more than that. Everything be low this limit is goi ng to be ineffective from a cost perspecti ve. Various measures arc taken to reach this targe t. The first is to choose the right bag materinl, matching the gas and opera ti on co ndition s, second is to optimi se the process to all ow the fabri c to optimally operate, i.e. plant setup, bypassing and emergency tlaps. Downtime is the last thing ope ra tors are interested in and emi ss ion regul at ions a re tight. which means that the uni t can not be bypassed for bag changes. Signs of contamination are the tirst hints of a problem in the dust co llector unit. Lenkages caused by mi sfit s, bnd welding, leakin g bypasses as we ll as broken bags cou ld have caused du st to fo rm inside the bag. The result will be increased differential pressure and em ission values, which can be hard to overcome. Samples also indicate incorrect operati ng conditions. mechanical damage or the fi rst signs of the wrong bag material being used. The nex t stage i·s a c ross– section microscopic analysis to see the degree of dus t penetration, ind ica ting rema ining filtration 50 capabilities. This is then followed by ai r permeabili ty tests in all three fabric stages, dust- laden , pulsed and washed-out. All this information forms part of the bag analysis report, which details exactly what happened 'dust wise' to the fabric. A good ind ication of a bag' s remai ning li fe, is the mechanical test for tens il e strength and elongation as wel l as tear strength and Mullen Burst. Chemical analysis methods determine the chemica l or thermal cause of a problem and very often the degree of degradation as well as predictions fo r the remaining lifetime. The remaining solubility of the po lymer indicates thermal stresses, the inhe rent v iscos ity (measure or the chain length of the po lymer) is fol lowed by Fou ri er Transmissio n in frared (FT IR) analys is and hyclrazino lys is via High Pressure Liq uid Chromatogra ph y (H PLC) to accurately visualise the prob lem. The findings arc compared to labo ratory standa rds developed over a long period of time based on field experience of lnspec Fibre:, out of nil kinds of applications. Optical microscopy, SEM and RF A dust analysis means that it is possib le to understand the dust characteristics and composition as wel l as particle size di stribution. All these results arc used to prepa re a recommendat ion for enhanced fi lter unit operation or changes to other bag materials to avoid future problems. Bag analysis a lone is not sufficient to determine the cause or resolve a problem. In this case a fie ld gas test is the next step. A modern mobile gas analyser is used to collect in formation about the gas com pos iti on , spee ifica II y with regard to S0 2 , S0 3 , 0 2 , CO, NO, and N0 2 contents and the temperature profil e. .... . -