New green tech pays off for Phoenix Yule

Phoenix Yule Ltd. recently became the first company using rubber as a basic input to get the Environment Excellence Award .

The company uses synthetic and natural rubber as raw materials for manufacturing conveyor belts, which is needed in heavy engineering industries.

According to T K Mukherjee, managing director, Phoenix Yule Ltd, over the last two-three years, the company has invested around Rs 4-5 crore for adaption of clean technology, even though it meant compromising on profit initially.

One of the causes of environmental hazards in industrial areas is the black fume generated by combustion of coal.

To reduce the emission of the fumes, fluidised bed combustion (FBC) boilers were installed in the factory.

FCB boilers used crushed coal to generate steam, needed for processing rubber.

"When the coal is crushed, then the burning is complete and there is no black fume emitted from the factory," explained Mukherjee.

This apart, an electrostatic dust collector installed help restrict dust in one place, rather than polluting the entire environment.

In 2001, Phoenix Yule became one of the few companies in India to install oil fired boiler for steam generation.

As the machine used oil rather than coal, pollution in the factory area fell drastically.

Last year, the company purchased another oil-fired boiler, in spite of surging oil prices.

"We are expanding, so we need boilers. However, we opted for oil-fired boilers, even though coal is cheaper than oil," said Mukherjee.

Installation of compact fluorescent lamps (CFL), rain water harvesting, use of non-CLF chillers, minimum use of wood and resin bonded furniture, recycling of steam for oil and fed water heating, use of sunlight instead on artificial lights and use of sophisticated lightning arresters to prevent lightning, were some of the other measures taken by Phoenix Yule, as a part of its move towards clean technology.

The company invested more than Rs 1.5 crore for installing 180 tone refrigerator vapour absorption cycle chiller, scrubber plant for oil fired boiler, ash handling silo, construction of process water drain isolated from storm water drain and related infrastructure.

This year the company hopes to reduce carbon emission and waste generation by 5 per cent and increase the waste recovery by 2 per cent.