Research title: " Bio-ash Innovation: Reinventing power station ash for biomass co-firing"
Summary: To contribute to New Zealand's net-zero goal, greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from coal-powered power plants in the country need to be reduced. One way to do this is to co-fire biomass (viz., Pinus Radiata), which is a carbon-neutral energy source, with coal at various blending ratios in order to reduce the fraction of coal in the plant. Although this can lower GHG emissions from these power plants, there is a challenge in utilizing the humongous ash residues generated after combustion. In this context, this research focuses on the possibility of valorization/utilization of this co-fired ash in civil infrastructure, primarily concrete and, if possible, environmental geotechnical applications.
Main supervisor: Prof. Allan Scott
Co- supervisor: Insa Errey (Future Fuels, Genesis), Dene Cook (Fletcher Building), and Dr. Giuseppe Loporcaro
Research interests: Utilization of Industrial by-products (IBPs), low-carbon cementitious binder systems, Environmental Geotechnics, Municipal Solid waste management, landfill mining, Analytical Instrumentation
Academic history:
Master's in Technology (2025)
Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, India
Bachelor's in Civil Engineering (2021)
Tribhuvan University, Nepal
Publications:
▪ Bibek Chand, P. Singh, S. Singh, D.N. Singh, “Synthesis of Aggregates from Bauxite Residues and Waste Plastics for Sustainable Infrastructure Development”, Journal of Building Engineering, Volume 128, 2026, 116413, ISSN 2352-7102, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jobe.2026.116413.
▪ Bibek Chand, P. Singh, S. Singh, D.N. Singh, “Polymer Composites from Industrial By-products and Municipal Plastic Waste for Sustainable Development”,Geomandu 2024 conference, Nepal, DOI: 10.1007/978-981-96-8536-3_13.
▪ B.V.S. Viswanadham, V. Gajamer, Bibek Chand, and K.M. Dharme (2024) “Centrifuge Model Tests on the Simulation of Continuous Non-Uniform Settlements of landfill capping system”, Indian Geotechnical Conference 2024, India, DOI: 10.1007/978-981-96-7862-4_37.
▪ Surawar Vaishali, Dash, Abhishek Roy, Chiradip Singh, Devendra Narain, Bibek Chand, “Development of Polymer Composite from Bauxite Residue and Plastic Waste for Sustainable Utilization”, ICSOBA 2025, Nanning, China, DOI: 10.71659/icsoba2025-br021
▪ D.R. Pathak, Bibek Chand. “Possible Safe Utilization of Sludge of Wastewater Treatment Plant: from laboratory insights to field applications”, Geotech Asia 2025, India, DOI: 10.1201/9781003645955-22
