Tanmay from BRISIL Technologies- Silica from Rice-husk ash

Are green fuels truly green? For example, rice husk, a popular biomass-based fuel, produces lot of ash when burned.  This ash can pollute the air, defeating the purpose of using a green fuel. Disposal of rice husk ash is a big issue for biomass-based power plants.

Tanmay Pandya, founder of BRISIL technologies uses this ash to create Silica, a widely used material. World consumes 5 billion dollars’ worth of Silica every year. There is far too much silica in our lives, from salt to cosmetics and even tyres. Silica is typically made from sand, but sand mining is increasingly getting banned as you and I need sand for our beaches. 

Tanmay studied chemical engineering at IIT BHU, and was interested in developing clean technology solutions for manufacturing industries.  A chance meeting with biomass power plant operators, helped him understand the problem of disposal of rice husk ash, leading him to start BRISIL.  

Tanmay and I had a very interesting conversation about

1.       Pollution caused by green fuels such as rice husk

2.       Market opportunity for green Silica

3.       Competitiveness of green Silica versus conventional Silica

4.       Scaling up BRISIL