[ad_1]
CHANDRAPUR: The Chandrapur Super Thermal Power Station (CSTPS) has officially conceded that its plant was emitting black smoke from its stack (chimney) of unit no. 6 on September 5. However, the plant management underplayed the day-long emission while left a back cloud hanging over a part of the city, claiming that they don’t have technology to control the emission during the light up (re-starting) after shutdown of every generation unit.
TOI had brought to fore high emissions from the plant on September 5, based on a complaint lodged by environmentalist Dr Yogeshwar Dudhpachare. CSTPS chief engineer Pankaj Sapate explained that the coal fired thermal power plant uses furnace oil or light diesel oil to ignite the boiler first, and after the furnace reaches a desired temperature, pulverized coal is used to generate electricity.
“This activity may take eight to 10 hours to reach the desired parameters of the furnace, and during this time black smoke may rise from the stack. However, Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) are tuning up during such time to arrest dust particles,” he elucidated. He maintained that as it is a technical part of the boiler light up, scientifically it can’t be skipped. He maintained that there is no proven technology in the thermal power industry to completely capture the black smoke emitted from the stack during the light up process. He maintained efficient pollution control equipment is installed in the plant to arrest regular emissions.
Complainant Dr Dudhpachare, who lives on the outskirts of plant premises, reiterated that old power generation units are responsible for high pollution from the plant. “At times when the guardian minister has ordered an inquiry into the high emission of CSTPS, its officials have confessed to being guilty of causing pollution at the time of light up of every unit in their statement,” he pointed out.
He informed that high emission is a common phenomenon from the old stacks of CSTPS. The units no. III and IV having generation capacity of 210 MW each in the plant are over 35 years old and totally outdated. Even units V and VI having generation capacity of 500MW are nearly 30 years old and built using old technology. “The old units of CSTPS are outdated and need to be scrapped to save the lives of people of Chandrapur. A recent analytical report suggests that Chandrapur has seen over 52,000 patients of respiratory disorder during the last four years. There have been a total of 302 deaths due to pollution in Chandrapur between 2017 and 2021,” he pointed out.
TOI had brought to fore high emissions from the plant on September 5, based on a complaint lodged by environmentalist Dr Yogeshwar Dudhpachare. CSTPS chief engineer Pankaj Sapate explained that the coal fired thermal power plant uses furnace oil or light diesel oil to ignite the boiler first, and after the furnace reaches a desired temperature, pulverized coal is used to generate electricity.
“This activity may take eight to 10 hours to reach the desired parameters of the furnace, and during this time black smoke may rise from the stack. However, Electrostatic Precipitators (ESP) are tuning up during such time to arrest dust particles,” he elucidated. He maintained that as it is a technical part of the boiler light up, scientifically it can’t be skipped. He maintained that there is no proven technology in the thermal power industry to completely capture the black smoke emitted from the stack during the light up process. He maintained efficient pollution control equipment is installed in the plant to arrest regular emissions.
Complainant Dr Dudhpachare, who lives on the outskirts of plant premises, reiterated that old power generation units are responsible for high pollution from the plant. “At times when the guardian minister has ordered an inquiry into the high emission of CSTPS, its officials have confessed to being guilty of causing pollution at the time of light up of every unit in their statement,” he pointed out.
He informed that high emission is a common phenomenon from the old stacks of CSTPS. The units no. III and IV having generation capacity of 210 MW each in the plant are over 35 years old and totally outdated. Even units V and VI having generation capacity of 500MW are nearly 30 years old and built using old technology. “The old units of CSTPS are outdated and need to be scrapped to save the lives of people of Chandrapur. A recent analytical report suggests that Chandrapur has seen over 52,000 patients of respiratory disorder during the last four years. There have been a total of 302 deaths due to pollution in Chandrapur between 2017 and 2021,” he pointed out.
[ad_2]
Source link