Professional Experience:
For the last 2 years, I’ve been working as an Engineer at Agni Energy, a Silicon Valley startup. Agni specializes in converting marginal agro-waste into bio-coal and has its own proprietary technology for the same. We aimed at using rice straw, a hitherto unused agro-waste which is burned in the fields after harvesting of rice causing tremendous breathing problems and other health hazards to the local population in the vicinity. When I joined the company, the total number of employees was less than 20 and I have watched it grow to employing over a 150 people and set up its first commercial plant.
My major assignment was to manage the process wastewater which was 700 kilo liters per day with an extremely high contaminant level: COD, TSS and TDS. I initiated a project to use micro-algae to treat our wastewater and set up a pilot plant of 5000 L. We noticed 80-90% reduction in COD, pH correction from 4.5 to 7.5 and we also harvested algae with a protein content of 34%. I made a strong case for replacing the conventional activated sludge process with a High Rate algae Pond and pitched for a standalone business of harvesting algae and marketing it as an aquaculture feed, with a GM of 35%. I also evaluated a number of treatment options: conventional options like aerobic and anaerobic treatments, micron and sub-micron filters, UF and MBR systems and Reverse Osmosis, constructed wetlands, lagoons, phytoremediation and of course, algae based remediation. I zeroed in on the bare minimum and least CAPEX intensive steps: Primary Settling followed by a 2 stage filtration system, a decanter and a RO. We decided to do away with the conventional Activated sludge process for the time being, resulting in CAPEX savings of USD 0.5 million. Installing a Multi Effect Evaporator for handling RO Reject would have increased our OPEX from Rs.60/m3 to Rs.160/m3. I made a strong case for an algae based evaporation system enhanced by a special type of misters.
While at IIT, my association with a couple of Professors and NGOs played a catalytic role in making me look out for ways in which I could utilize my engineering skills to sustainably solve problems at the Bottom of the Pyramid. I interned at The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI) 3 times during my college career, camped at a rural location in Uttar Pradesh. I was involved in developing a cleaner solid fuel which women could use in their stoves for cooking. I was partially successful in my attempts and the fuel that we developed gave off 60% less emissions during cooking. We had published our findings in a paper titled, “Role of processed fuel in cooking energy transitions" at the "Innovations and Sustainability Transitions in Asia, 2011", Malaysia.