By Jeevan Mathew Kurian, IANS
Aluva (Kerala) : Finding a piece of land for cremation has always been a problem in Kerala. Proposing a solution to this, the High Tech Seals Pvt Ltd, which also produces automotive parts, plans to introduce a mobile crematorium fuelled by liquid petroleum gas (LPG) here on the outskirts of Kochi.
“It was the controversies associated with cremation or burial and the issue of pollution that made us think about such a crematorium,” said John Thomas, the managing director of the company.
The company proposes to mount the crematorium on a vehicle that can be moved to any location.
Although the company went ahead with the project two years ago, it was forced to go slow on the work.
“We started the work on the mobile crematorium alright, but had to slow down as there were some technical problems,” said John.
The company, however, is successful with its non-mobile LPG crematoriums. These units have facilities to prevent pollution or odour from cremation.
So far the company has successfully installed 10 units in various municipalities in Kerala.
Size is the key factor that challenges the design of a mobile crematorium.
“The vehicle on which the crematorium is mounted has to be around 30-ft long. It is near impossible to move around with such a big vehicle on our roads. We are trying to bring down the size of the whole unit,” John told IANS.
“The cremation chamber though, is only 9-ft long and looks more like a whole body scanner,” he says.
The unit consumes space because it has to accommodate the facility to suppress pollution. The smoke is made odourless using a water-wash facility.
A scrubber also cools the hot air before it is released through a chimney.
“The heat inside the chamber during cremation will be around 1,100 degrees Celsius. The design has the approval from the State Pollution Control Board,” John said.
Another problem encountered by the designers was that the insulated bricks inside furnace could fall off during transit.
The company, however, remains confident of bringing out the mobile crematorium in a year.
“We have done a lot of research on the design with the help from the Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), and are positive about starting production by the end of 2008 or in 2009,” said John.
“The use of LPG for cremation is economical. It needs only 10 kg LPG to cremate a body and takes less than 40 minutes. The cost remains low, being around Rs.500,” he added.
A mobile crematorium, including the vehicle on which it is mounted, is expected to cost around Rs.3.5 million, while the non-mobile crematorium is priced at Rs.1.4 million.