IIT Kharagpur in India is evaluating the possibilities of a new technology which will help to generate clean bio-hydrogen fuel from waste, as reported by PTI.
A pilot level large-scale bio-reactor plant for producing hydrogen would be ready this year if the research work becomes fruitful.
A group of Indian scientists from six institutes engaged in research work under Debabrata Das of IIT-Kgp’s biotechnology department is to produce bio-hydrogen using waste.
“The pilot plant of 10 m3 capacity would be ready within three-four months, for which we are constructing a building inside the campus. Hopefully the pilot plan study would be done within a year, and after that we can go for commercialization of the technology”, said Das to PTI.
He said ONGC has already shown interest for higher scale studies of 100 m3 biohydrogen plants.
Hydrogen is seen as an element able to provide clean energy supply to meet the growing needs, and scientists are trying to generate the gas from distillery wastewater with a vision of ‘waste to energy’. They apply dark the fermentation process under which bacteria can work both in the presence and absence of light, and several organisms have been isolated so far.
Large-scale production of hydrogen gas for commercial use is now at developmental stage in India. However, storage will be another challenge as hydrogen has a very low volumetric energy density and requires large space to store. In addition, the cost of production will also be a critical factor in getting the technology move from labs to factories.
Many other national IITs and reputed universities have joined with the institution to assist and partner in the ongoing research works and developmental projects.
The project is funded by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.