Journal of Energy Engineering

Many cities and towns are rapidly depleting landfill space. As a result, some communities have opted to incinerate their municipal solid waste (MSW). The motive behind the choice is that incineration significantly reduces the volume of solid waste in need of disposal, destroys the harmful organic compounds that are present in MSW, and provides an attractive source of alternative energy. As a result, the generation of MSW ash is expected to increase in the future. However, disposing the MSW ash in landfills may not always be an environmentally or an economically feasible solution. This paper addresses the various issues associated with MSW ash and its possible use in construction applications. The innovative use of MSW ash in the production of polymer concrete (PC) has also been investigated. Experimental results show that good-quality PC could be produced using MSW ash. The potential construction applications of PC using MSW ash are also reported.

A harbor oscillating water column wave-energy device has been selected for the Indian pilot wave-energy program. The site has a water depth of about 12 m and an average annual wave-power potential of 13 kW/m. Such sites are attractive locations for fishing breakwaters. Due to the relatively low power potential, these oscillating water column devices are intended to be modules of a multifunctional breakwater. The present paper highlights the results of the scale-model experiments carried out on a prototype wave-energy caisson.

In the present experimental study, the effect of blade number, nozzle entry arc, and head on the performance characteristics of a cross-flow turbine have been investigated. It has been observed that the efficiency of the turbine increases with increase in blade number, nozzle entry arc, and head. The present investigation has also shown that there is an optimum number of blades for a given nozzle entry arc beyond which the performance of the cross-flow turbine deteriorates. It has also been shown that cross-flow turbines at higher heads do not behave as pure impulse turbines.