INDUSTRIAL USES :
(apart from the general use of supplementing Biomass: 80% aprox.  in Gasolene/Diesel based generator

Thermal Applications (Drier)

In dryers, ovens, furnaces, thermo packs, boilers etc. where liquid or gaseous fuels are currently in use. In case of electric ovens/furnaces, sizing has to be carefully done and some changes in current designs/operating procedures may be needed. In addition to straight thermal applications for tea/ coffee drying, bakery ovens, brick / lime / pottery kilns, various industrial dryers, ovens and furnaces as well as boiler firing, typical applications could be in the industries like CO2 production where producer gas could provide the main product (CO2) as well as power and heat for the process at a very economic cost. While it is quite evident from the product range that it can be used in many industrial applications, here are few of them, which narrates about how some of the present industrial applications has been made:

In one of the factories in Maharastra State in India, a Sugar factory is using as its major power source which runs on: agricultural residues like sugarcane leaves, Bajra residues, wheat residues, etc. this is on a Thermal gasifier of 800 kW capacity. It is a multi-fuel gasifier. it runs on sugarcane leaves, Bajra husk, safflower residues, sweet sorghum stalks and bagasse, sugarcane bagasse, etc. About 20-24% of the fuel is converted into char, which is a value added item
· Zero waste water system. Hot gas cleaning.
· PLC controlled unit. Only two operators per shift are required.


Brick / Tile Kiln running on Biomass Gasifier

A great example of energy savings and eco-friendlysense of
using Naturaland inexpensive feeds for energy output & huge savings.


Generally in India coal is used as a fuel for burning bricks/tiles in the traditional kilns. The concentration of suspended particulate matter (SPM) and other allied gaseous pollutants are usually high in stack emission from these kilns. This causes an overall deterioration in the ambient air quality of the region. On the other hand agricultural residues such as rice husk, saw dust, cotton stalk, coconut shell, tea waste etc. are available in huge quantity, which could be utilized as supplementary fuel for burning of bricks and tiles. Development of appropriate technology for the conversion of such type of biomass into heat energy through gasification is imperative and need exhaustive R&D efforts. Keeping this fact in view a collaborative project has been undertaken at Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee with Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, through financial support of Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources, New Delhi, to explore techno feasibility of utilizing biomass in firing of bricks and tiles in kiln through gasification system.

Central Building Research Institute, Roorkee in India, has a down draft kiln of capacity to burn 8-10 ton of clay products per batch. Based on the available technical data for burning of bricks in down draft kilns, using fire wood as fuel, the thermal capacity of gasifier has been worked out to be 750 kW with an average consumption of 200 kg bio-mass per hour. The gasifier has been designed fabricated and installed at CBRI near down draft kiln.

Few operational trials of the gasifier for burning bricks in down draft kiln have been conducted using fire wood pieces. A close control on the air/fuel ratio was maintained by regularly measuring the proportion of oxygen in the exhaust gases. The level of SPM, CO2, SO2, CO NOx were also measured and found to be substantially lower when coal is used for firing bricks in such kilns. Fuel gas temperature, stack draft, fuel consumption, rate of rise temperature at various zones in the down draft kiln at different time intervals, were also recorded. The temperature achieved in the kiln varied from 925o-940oC.

Further work is under progress to utilize appropriate mixtures of firewood and cotton stalk as a fuel to fire the bricks in the down draft kiln.


Island Electrification and also running of
Cottage Industries on a small Island

West Bengal Renewable Energy Development Agency (WBREDA), Calcutta [India] has recently awarded the contract for Electrification of Chhotomollakhali Islands in the Sunderbans using biomass gasifier tour associates in India. This is the second such project with a power plant rating of 500 kWe. The first trend-setting and ambitious project for Gosaba Island in the Sunderbans was commissioned for WBREDA by our associates in June, 1997. The projects are jointly funded by Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources (MNES), Government of India and WBREDA/State Government and implemented by WBREDA, the state nodal agency. The overall management at the local level is by a Rural Energy Co-operative specifically formed for the purpose. The project already has over 400 customers and there has been a strident demand for extension of services to other parts of the island. MNES has therefore sanctioned an additional feeder line which will allow the project to serve another couple of hundred customers.
The plant is being run and managed by two local youths employed for the purpose by the company. The co-operative is responsible for distribution of electricity, collection of tariffs as well as overall management of the power plant. The electricity is being supplied at the rate of Rs.4.75 per kWhr in a sustainable manner.
Encouraged by the unqualified success of the Gosaba project, the Chhotomollahkhali project has already been initiated and should be operative before end of Year 2000. WBREDA is also preparing ambitious plans for the entire Sunderbans area for extensive use of this environment-friendly and cost effective technology. Similar plans are also under formulation/implementation in various Northeastern States of the country where diesel based power generation is extensively practised.

Captive power generation

Over a wide range - engine selection has to be carefully done. Coupled to large energy plantations or naturally growing hard species like prosopis etc., power generation at megawatt level can be undertaken for feeding into the grid. This could also provide a strong economic motive for raising of plantations in wastelands of backward areas. In case of industries with captive feedstock, surplus power can also be fed into the grid.

Grid paralleled operation/grid feeding:

Very interesting Grid paralled operations can be done and the surplus power can be fed to the grid and hence if major line of such projects are organized at village or remote levels it can also be a savings and the return on the project can be much faster as the revenue flows on daily basis.

Chilling / cold storage applications:

Wherein both thermal energy (for washing / absorption refrigeration as well as power could be produced in requisite proportions.
Co-generation Applications:
Extremely interesting co-generation possibilities include: SIMULTANEOUS production f charcoal and power wherein energy inefficiencies and air pollution problems of traditional charcoal making are converted to electricity as a by-product

AND OBVIOUSLY MANY MORE USES IN RURAL AND INDUSTRIAL AREAS CAN BE MADE, if you have ay specific questions please contact us on : kam@globalenergycollaborations.com