[en] Food Technology Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai has demonstrated that radiation processing of foods can contribute to nations food security by reducing post-harvest losses caused by insect infestation, microbial-spoilage and physiological changes. The technology has commercial potential for the conservation of cereals, pulses and their products, spices, onions, potatoes, garlic, some tropical fruits, sea foods, meat and poultry. Irradiation can ensure hygienic quality in foods including frozen foods by eliminating food borne pathogens and parasitic organisms. It offers a viable environment friendly alternative to chemical fumigants for quarantine treatment against insect pests in agricultural and horticultural products entering international trade. The safety and nutritional adequacy of irradiated foods for human consumption is well established. About 40 countries including India have regulations permitting irradiation of foods and 28 countries are irradiating foods for processing industries and institutional catering

[en] First task for any country's progress is to free from foreign debt consequent foreign domination. Negative trade balance plays a major part and efforts are generally made to boost exports. In India even the essential requirements of the poor, i.e. processed food products worth Rs. 1800 crores and cloth and yarn worth Rs. 600 crores are exported to earn foreign exchange. While our import bill on crude oil and petroleum products which was kept in check at about Rs. 5000 crores per annum in the eighties has been allowed to be increased to Rs. 13,000 crores, which is about $ 5 bn dollars per annum now. This has been the total foreign exchange loans the country has been taking per year in the eighties. If this amount is allowed for oil imports alone, the foreign exchange crisis our country is heading for will have very serious consequences. (author)

[en] Prior to independence most industries had their own captive power generation. Steam was generated in own medium/low pressure boilers and passed through extraction condensing turbines for power generation. Extraction steam was used for process. With cheaper power made available in Nehru era by undertaking large hydro power schemes, captive power generation in industries was almost abandoned except in sugar and large paper factories, which were high consumers of steam. (author)

[en] Energy conservation (ENCON) is of prime importance in the present context of energy situation in India since electrical energy has become scarce, demand outstripping the supply. The prime object of any industrial electrical distribution system is to achieve simplicity, reliability and safety, as well as minimise revenue losses towards electrical energy with minimum capital investment and payback within a reasonable period. 1 tab

[en] On paper the potential India has for generating hydroelectricity is immense - estimated at 84,044 MW (at 60% plant load factor). This too is based on actual assessed exploitable hydro electric potential and it translates into annual energy generation of 600 billion kWh. However, only 12,436 MW or 14.8% of the total assessed potential was developed at the end of March 1995. Add to this another 5,917 MW of hydel capacity which is under development. This leaves almost 65,691 MW or 78% of unexploited potential

[en] Growing environmental awareness and dwindling fossil fuel reserves have led to the adoption of clean and proven energy efficient technologies. Through Ignifluid combustion process, besides ensuring efficient combustion of fuels, having diverse characteristics, formation of harmful gaseous pollutants viz. nitrous oxides and carbon dioxides, is greatly reduced. These apart, CO and hydrocarbons leaving the combustion chamber are of a low order. The paper brings to the fore the versatile features of the environment friendly Ignifluid process through performance feedback from the operating installations related to air pollution control. Ignifluid technology is the answer for retrofit for existing scores of large sized steam generating plants which are operating at a dismally low thermal efficiency thereby bulging out tons of gaseous pollutants to the landscape. By retrofitting with Ignifluid combustor besides achieving lowered gaseous emissions, due to improved thermal efficiency, energy conservation of a high order is ensured. Also, this technology is well established for burning multi fuels including industrial wastes in varying proportions with fossil/biomass fuels in the most efficient fashion. Through installation of stack gas cooler as an outfit to the Ignifluid boiler, energy conservation due to enhanced thermal efficiency and substantial reduction in generation of gaseous pollutants are ensured. Thus by improving overall plant efficiency, CO₂ emission to atmosphere is drastically reduced thus abetting green house effect. Global warming is reduced by effecting reduction in gas exit temperature. Realizing this immense potential of Ignifluid system as an energy saving/pollution control device, government should give encouragement by way of granting fiscal benefits like tax concessions etc. (author). 1 fig., 6 tabs

[en] Our oil explorations both onshore and offshore have thrown open bright prospects of cogeneration by using natural gas in gas turbine power plants with heat recovery units. Both for co-gen and combined cycle systems, supplementary firing of GT exhaust gas is normally required. Hence, duct burners have significant role for effective contribution towards of efficacy of heat recovery system for gas turbine exhaust gas. This article details on various aspects of duct burners in heat recovery systems. (author)

[en] Prior to rapid spurt in industrialization in India, people were used to inhale pure air containing about 78% nitrogen, 21% oxygen and some carbon dioxide. But afterwards this composition of pure air was disturbed as a result of increased economic activities. Air, now a days also contains sulphur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides etc., etc. which are extremely harmful for human health. Virulence of air pollution was realised in late eighties after Bhopal Gas Tragedy (BGT) and an effective air quality management started taking shape in India afterwards. The basic components of air quality management are legislation and regulations, emission inventory, air quality standards and monitoring, air dispersion models and installation of pollution control equipment which are being discussed in this paper. (author). 15 refs., 5 tabs