Odia electrician extracts petrol,cooking gas from waste polythene in Khordha!

Khordha,May 6: An Odia electrician in Odisha’s  Khordha district has extracted  petrol  and petroleum fuel from waste polythene. The electrician who used to incubate new things out of his own innovation is Ajay Behera, a native of Radhacharanpur village under the Jatani block. Ajay who is a dropout from Class VII and work as an unskilled electric household mechanic is experimentally preparing petroleum and a gaseous fuel in his own laboratory with the help of his captive incubator. Most significantly, he is using his petroleum products for fuelling his bike. At the same time, the gaseous product formed from it as a by-product is used as a cooking gas. According to Ajay, he boils the waste polythene in his smelter unit which comprises a boiling chamber and diffuses the gaseous compound into a network of cylindrical metallic container through fire-proof pipelines. The containers help the petrol like product to settle the gangue materials in the form of forth. Similarly, the gaseous product is collected in another container during the process of extraction. Ajay claims that, he prepares around 1liter of liquid petrol and gaseous fuel from smelting  2 kilograms of polythene in his self- setup laboratory at a cost of around Rs 35-40 thousands. However, he arranged the working capital for his innovation fetching his bike as he could not afford it being a low-paid technician. “I picked the idea of extracting oil from polythene after I discovered some oily wastes formed from a biscuit manufacturing unit. I made up my mind to utilize the poly-waste to produce engine propelling fuel and useful gas for domestic purpose”, said Ajay. However, the product formed from the experiment is petrol or something else, has not been ascertained so far. On the innovation of Ajay, Krishna Prasad Patro, a research scholar said, the polythene is a long chain compound of carbon and a combustible hydrocarbon. However, preparation of Petrol or petrochemicals from it is yet to be invented. No such innovative venture across the globe has trialed out the experiment on it due to its environmental hazards. On the other hand, Coal to Liquid(C to L) is a lucrative project implemented by some power generating MNCs in some developed nations. While, the C-to-L plant of the Jindal Steel and Power (JSPL) in Odisha’s Angul is making ample success. However, the product, as the outcome of Ajay’s experiment is to be re-experimented in an accredited lab to ensure the authenticity of the fact, he added.