PCCE STUDENTS TAKE ON EFFICIENT WAYS TO RECYCLE PLASTIC

The world lurks to unearth the problems caused due to waste plastic, to do away with this man made nuisance , the students at Padre Conceição College of Engineering have adopted an efficient technique to curb the ever long plastic pollution. Landfilling and Incineration are prominently used to dispose off plastic waste , only to be faced with adverse effects on soil and air. A more sustainable approach was Recycling; but it too proved to have its limitations arising vis-à-vis not having a defined segregation method for certain grades of plastics like polystyrene (PS); pre-treatment was another prominent reason which dampens recycling and more-ever at times has been found to be expensive and even inefficient.
The focus on reduce and reuse, intrigued the final year mechanical engineering students at Padre Conceicao College of Engineering (PCCE) –Roshan Naik, Mayuresh Naik, Pralesh Kirlosker, Yuvraj Ghorpade and Sparsh Naik with the guidance of Mr. Mohnish Borker ( Asst.Professor, Dept. Mechanical Engg., PCCE ) to establish a more viable approach to not just reduce plastic waste but in the long run lessen the dependency on conventional sources of energy. The novel technical method of Pyrolysis currently also under research at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-B), Powai was brought to fore by the project group at PCCE ; thus advocating a simple, effective and inexpensive technique. Waste plastic is heated in absence of air to produce liquid fuel which can find its applications in the automotive industry. Global plastic pollution and fuel crisis as well as the potential to replace the currently used diesel fuel impelled the students to think in this regard. The Poly-fuel obtained via pyrolysis, is in three phases—gaseous, liquid and solid char; the liquid fuel having close resemblance to diesel. A conversion rate as high as 80% reinforces the need to study and master this technique .

The students now look forward to take up this project on a large scale by mass conversion of waste plastic to generate Polyfuel at localized levels. Setting up pyrolysis reactors by municipal corporations, municipal councils & village panchayats will help local level waste management. As a promising project to treat pollution, the group has received the prestigious prototype funding from the Goa State Innovation Council (GSInC). Another milestone recognition of the group was their achievement of being short listed atthe Middle East and Africa’s (MEA) Energy Innovation Hubs Hackathon held at Sharjah, United Arab Emirates (UAE), which had world-wide participants. The finalists have presented the idea at the recently held Hackathon at Sharjah. The students also had the privilege to undergo a 3 day mentoring program on converting the project idea into a business model. This not only brings laurels to the institute but is certainly a proud moment for the state of Goa where project ideas on sustainable and clean environment is being recognized at international levels.