Smart Product for Waste Management and Reuse

Our concept deals with collection and treatment of solid waste being generated in cities. There was no system ever thought of which could collect and process the waste on a local level. We have used plasma gasification technology along with the use of SOFC (Solid Oxide Fuel Cell) for treatment of dry waste and anaerobic digestion technology for the treatment of wet waste. From the dry waste section slag, electricity, hot as well as cold water is generated. From wet waste section, biogas and manure is generated. 

• We did an extensive ethnography study. We interacted with a lot of people which included sweepers, garbage collectors, rag pickers, and citizens to understand the real problem.
• As per our calculations, the SOFC generates 30.3 units of electricity per day for a waste input of 1776 kg, which has been calculated as per the population density for 20km2 area of Pune (a city in India). This electricity can be used for charging Electric Vehicles. Since the electricity is generated and used at the source, there are fewer transmission losses. It will help to set up an electric vehicle charging port, thus it will help to build an EV charging infrastructure and help the transport ministry to achieve their goal of all Electric Vehicle fleet by 2030.
• After plasma gasification, approx. 100kg of slag is generated which can be used as fillers while road construction.
• 400 liters of distilled water is generated daily as a byproduct from the SOFC which can be used for non-drinking processes like washing cars or even for gardening purpose.
• Hot water at 500 degrees Celcius is generated every day which can suffice the requirements of hot water for people in nearby areas, which in turn will help in reducing the consumption of LPG cylinders and also help in conservation of nature.
• Approx. 272 kg of Biogas is generated every day from 2664 kg of wet waste daily. This biogas can be given to low-income areas of the city which will not only help in reducing the LPG consumption but also will have a positive impact on the economy of India. The biogas generated will be helpful to 574 families.
• The residue obtained after formation of biogas acts as an excellent natural fertilizer and helps in improving the quality of the soil. It also eliminates the need for costly and not so nature-friendly artificial fertilizers.

The total investment of the project is Rs.19,35,960 i.e. $ 30,198. Although the investment looks quite high from the Indian context, you get almost Rs. 13,40,316 i.e. $ 20,906 in 1 year. The Return on investment is 56.2% and the total investment is recovered in just 1 and half year only. Rest of the life, the plant will act as a money bank for the government that too, by taking the credits of treating the waste in a clean and greenway. The project supports a majority of important and ambitious missions of the Indian Government like the "Swacchh Bharat Abhiyan", "Make in India", "Pune Smart City", and All EV fleet by 2030.  We used SOLIDWORKS 2017 for this project. We used SOLIDWORKS Piping and Tubing, Photoview 360, Flow Simulation and eDrawings. We developed a low fidelity prototype to get an idea of the product. Besides, we visualized our concept using Virtual Reality. The project was presented at AAKRUTI 2017, a Nationwide Design Contest organized by Dassault Systèmes, India. We won the first prize among 1700 students all over India. We got a chance to present our design at "SOLIDWORKS WORLD 2018" at Los Angeles, USA. We presented it to the audience there and received applaud from them. We even shared the center stage of the main event with Mr.Bernard Charles, CEO, Dassault Systèmes, Mr.Gian Paolo Bassi, CEO, SOLIDWORKS and Mr.Richard Doyle.  Media Coverage: https://www.maeeshat.in/2018/02/why-india-needs-to-flip-current-education-models-to-create-future-innovators/