Brahmakumaris collaborates with researchers to devise process to recycle concrete with solar energy

[Ajay0]

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) in collaboration with the spiritual institution of Brahmakumaris have devised an interesting way to process recycled construction and demolition debris involving solar thermal energy ensuring sustainability.

The Brahmakumaris have an excellent track record in green energy projects, and scientific researchers used their giant solar concentrators of the thermal power plant in the Brahmakumari headquarters for their research purposes, which yielded excellent data on recycling waste concrete and the valuable properties the processed concrete possessed with various structural applications.

https://thebetterindia.com/309007/prof-ravindra-gettu-iit-madras-scientists-recycle-waste-concrete-using-solar-thermal-energy/

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In a significant win for sustainability, researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M), have devised an interesting way to process recycled construction and demolition debris involving solar thermal energy. Researchers led by Professor Ravindra Gettu, the V S Raju Chair Professor at the Department of Civil Engineering, used concentrated solar radiation to heat waste concrete from demolition to produce structural-grade recycled concrete aggregate (RCA).

Researchers argue that this RCA was higher in quality compared to those obtained from conventional mechanical crushing. They claim that concrete made using this technology met the requirements for structural applications like bridges, buildings, and roads.

The demonstration of this technology was done at the ‘India One Solar Thermal Power Plant’ in ‘Shantivan,’ the headquarters of the Brahma Kumaris — a well-known women-run educational, philanthropic, and spiritual organisation in Mount Abu, Rajasthan. This solar thermal power plant has 770 solar concentrators to produce electricity using steam generated at high pressure.

Operational since 2017, the plant provides power to a community of about 25,000 people at a reasonable cost and low maintenance. Two of the concentrators were used in the full-scale trials for treating the waste concrete. The findings of this demonstration were recently published in the reputed and peer-reviewed journal, Materials and Structures.