However, this policy is difficult to be carried out in real life, considering the industrial sectors that rely on fossil fuels are the backbone of Indonesia’s society and continuity to meet the demands of the people.

The Professor of the ITB FMAE (Faculty of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering) Energy Conversion Research Group, Prof. Dr. Ir. Prihadi Setyo Darmanto, brought up the topic of the importance of NRE during his scientific oration on Saturday (29/10/2022).

The discussion was held at the West Hall of ITB’s Ganesha Campus and was broadcasted via the ITB Youtube channel. With his presentation “Encouraging the Modification of Industrial Processes and Equipment with the National Sustainable Energy and Environmental Policies", Prof. Prihadi stated that the government needs to examine the challenges faced in the industry before urging the use of NRE. Some of these challenges include (1) engineers, operators and owners of factories who are afraid or hesitant to transition into NRE and (2) the difficulties in using factories as laboratories for the staff due to others’ lack of trust.

Prof. Prihadi explained that alternative solutions that can be done by the government is to carry out the gradual transition to NRE with trusted task forces so that all risks can be faced properly and the industry can maintain its trust.

Then, the government can start modifying the industrial equipment for better efficiency. There are several steps to do so, starting from the preparation and analysis process stages, assessing the modified techniques and possible impacts, and mapping the detailed calculation and preparation of implementation.

One of the modification projects that has been successfully conducted by Prof. Prihadi is the power plants at Lampung. These power plants are installed with an anti-abrasion beam in their CFB-type boiler.

"We once reworked the power plant and found out it has many problems,” he recounted. “One of them is the bursting of pipes due to sand erosion, leading to production being only 60% of its target.”

Together with his team, Prof. Prihadi conducted a study analysis on the existing problems and concluded that the solution was to install a 7-level anti-abrasion beam on the boiler pipe. The sand produced in the boiler will jump to the middle with the help of the beam so that erosion does not occur. After simulating the process, the damage percentage from the erosion decreased from 75% to 10%. “The production power of the plant can rise and the factory can save operational costs by 28 billion rupiah,” he added.

At the end of his presentation, Prof. Prihadi said that the industrial sector is Indonesia’s driving force to generate its national profits. Therefore, the sector needs to adjust itself to a more guaranteed energy sustainability. For this sustainable process, he hopes that it can be dependent on Indonesia. Commitments from management and field personnel, researchers, as well as academicians can be raised to build mutual trust and reliance in future collaborations.

Reporter: Nur Rama Adamas (Civil Engineering, 2020)
Translator: Ruth Nathania (Environmental Engineering, 2019)