Subject: BUN-INDIA Newsletter: Vol 1.2, December 1996 (bio energy)
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December 1996 Volume 1.2
BUN-INDIA
FORE WORD
We are happy to place the second newsletter of BUN for your
perusal. We have sent about 500 copies of the first
newsletter and have received encouraging remarks and constr-
uctive criticism on our newsletter. Even as this newsletter
reaches you, considerable work on the dissemination of
biomass based devices for heat and electricity is going on
in India.One of the problems faced with new alternate energy
technologies, in particular biomass based devices is the
user confidence in the system. In order to help this cause,
government provides for subsidy at all levels-biomass stoves
to biomass based power generation from kWs to MWs. It is not
clear if the technique of giving subsidy alone helps promote
the technologies. In fact there are indications to user sus-
picion of the technology if government subsidy is provided.
What the user, particularly an industrialist (generally well
to do by the standards of the discussion here) accepts the
promotional measure,it will be converted to his advantage in
a manner not conceived in the subsidy package. For instance,
if both gasifier and diesel engine are provided for,the user
may accept it to use the engine in diesel mode rather than
in dual - fuel mode. This is not what is intended in the
package. In such situation, what would be the alternate
strategy at power levels at which the system may (intrinsic-
ally), show techno-economics in a reasonable time frame ?
One of the means is to provide for insurance of the new
technology with clear cut specifications of performance
understood by all parties concerned. The user may buy the
system at full cost or 50%cost (the rest given by government
initially) and obtain benefits from the use of the system.
The system kept under close technical monitoring by and
external agency/group can decide that at the end ofa certain
number of hours of operation - say, 2000 to 6000 hours - the
system has performed satisfactorily or has under-performed
to a certain degree.The departure in performance,if assessed
as being related to technology, should alert the government
to step in and provide for the development to overcome the
deficiencies. If this is proved to the satisfaction of the
user/external monitoring group in every new situation and in
several locations with differing characteristics,if any, the
purpose of technology dissemination would have been served.
In every case that the technology has proven itself in a
user site, the user can be expected to pay the depreciated
value for the product with a certain amount given as a conc-
ession by the government in support ofthe initial enthusiasm
to try the new technology. The basis of the above logic is
that users, particularly the industrialists will not mind
paying for the technology, but would like to be assured and
reassured of the goodness and reliability of the new techno-
logy. This calls for more well understood hand- shake
agreement between government user industry and manufacturer
with an openness to deal with a third party for monitoring.
It is time that all concerned groups and planners think of
new strategies.
Prof. H S Mukunda
Biomass Users Network India
Chairman
Prof. H S Mukunda
Combustion, Gasification &
Propulsion Lab.
Dept. of Aerospace Engineering
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012, India
Tel +91-80-3348536
Fax +91-80-3341683
E-mail:
mukunda@aero.iisc.ernet.in
Internet:
http://144.16.73.100/ ~mukunda/
home.html
Contents
Foreword
From Vision To Reality
SuTRA
Liquid Fuels from Biomass
Renewable Energy
Technologies In Asia
Experience on testing of IISc-DASAG Open Top
Wood Gasifier In Switzerland
Biomass Use In Industries
Research on Biomethanation At Teri
Swosthee a fuel efficient portable Cookstove
Recent Technical Meetings Held at CGPL
Do You Know This?
Services
Editorial
FROM VISION TO REALITY
Report of a visit to Taragram
Dr. C. L. Gupta, Solar Energy Unit, Sri Aurobindo
Ashram, Pondicherry 605002, India
There are events in time whose significance in terms of
their historical impact far exceeds their size or scientific
import. Taragram is one such happening and I say this with
due respect to other similar projects and almost at the risk
of causing embarrassment to the project family. The centre
piece is a NETPRO gasifier working on wildly growing Ipomea
which drives diesel engine alternator in dual-fuel mode. The
electricity from the unit is used to run a handmade paper
unit, a building materials enterprise and enlivens the life
of the architecturally beautiful complex located in the
jungles of Orchha. It has hired the children,the working
women from the surrounding tribal villages, created a scenic
spot fit for ecotourism and dotted a radius of 5 kilometres
with locally relevant micro enterprises e.g. collecting and
cutting Ipomia stalks, making mud bricks for their houses,
using Sisal leaves to make baskets etc. The gasifier is
instrumented andregularly monitored with efficient backup by
the designers at IISc,Bangalore and local innovation such as
cooling tower using sprays. 100 kW rated gasifier needs 300
tons/year of Ipomia where as the availability is 500 tons/
year with a cycle of 7 to 8 months. Ipomia of 3 to 4 cm
length with diameter around 1.5 cm is fed manually every 10
minutes in 5 kg bag of 10% moisture content. Delivered at
site costs are 270 Rs/tonne. Average diesel replacement of
80% has been obtained over 530 hours of operation (with si-
ngle run exceeding 9 hours). This comes down to 70% due to
moist biomass in rainy season. For reliability and better
plant load factor,2x50 kW gensets are planned to work singly
or together as required. Delivered power at full load after
derating is about 44 KVA from a single 62 KVA diesel genset
operating now. Starting time for gas is 5 minutes and for
power is 20 minutes. An energy meter measures the energy
delivered.
Rural industrialisation, income generation through value
addition, waste recycling of process water, use of scrap
from boiler tubes for making roof trusses, use of stone dust
for making stonecrete blocks and microconcrete tiles,earth
for walling blocks etc., are all there. Workers feel like
family members with an unbelievable rate of acquiring skills
and a reticent pride of true professionals,who have arrived.
SuTRA
A Total Bioenergy Package for Rural Development,
Dr. Chanakya H N, Astra ,IISc
Bangalore 560 012, India
Increased Science & Technology inputs have greatly improved
urbanised societies and have brought about development,often
at the cost of the environment and a neglect of the rural
regions. In rural India, more specifically in resource poor
semi-arid Karnataka, in spite of several developments in the
fieldof agriculture little benefits have reached farmers and
there has been only a small change in the overall quality of
life.Technologies and mechanisms which improve food security,
land productivity, value addition, asset build up and local
empowerment are expected to alleviate the grim situation. In
a resource limited country like India, the use of
a) locally available materials (resource base),
b) renewably raised biomass energy technologies (catalyst)
c) local management(enabling and empowerment mechanism)
d) village level recycling (conservation) and
e) year round agricultural activities (employment, value
addition)
can together leadto sustainable high production and improved
quality of life.Several integrated rural development efforts
in the past have inadequately addressed one or many of the
above inputs. The major bottleneck in the past has been the
absence of suitable village level energy technologies to
drive the development process. The SuTRA (sustainable tran-
sformation of rural areas) concept binds all the above with
field tested, novel biomass energy technologies. The SuTRA
concept, in addition to the above, also shows that the resu-
lting increase invillage level productivity are high enough,
even to consider viability in terms of capital recovery of
investments in rural development (5-6 years) in an 'all-win'
mode.
The key elements of the SuTRA concept are:
a. foster, enable and sustain (for a critical period) a
village development society tofacilitate equitable access
to benefits of the development package.
b. catalyzea development mechanism through bio-residue based
energy technologies which can effectively convert local
resources to productive outputs such as,
i. community based biogas and biogas-electricity system
which provides cooking gas, drinking water and
domestic illumination, frees human drudgery and incr-
eases effective work hours. These use locally avail-
able cattle dung and herbaceous waste resources as
inputs producing biogas and manure,
ii. a community controlled, agro-waste fuelled, producer
gas-electricity based irrigation system whichprovides
year round irrigation to specific crops on an
equitable basis absorbing year round family labourand
providing year round cash returns and also enhances
security against mid-season drought for food crops,
iii. a watershed approach and aquifer recharge based
harvesting and reuse of precipitation to sustain long
term irrigation systems,
iv. value added farm products - by drying of fruits and
vegetables and use of bioenergy for agro-processing,
v. builds up village assets through multiple use tree
plantations,
c. A four fold increase in family incomes from this package,
enables rural families to pay back a third of their
income giving a potential to recover investments on
hardware within a period of 5-6 years. All subsequent
cost-sharing would be only towards operation and mainten-
ance of such bioenergy devices and asset build up.
d. All the households in the village benefit and hence have
a stake in the success of this system and results in an
'all-win' system. The loss of access to drinking water at
the door step, reliable illumination, assured irrigation,
increased employment and assured frequent cash returns is
a very high stake to be given up easily. This insulates
against normal modes of failure.
e. Though not specifically stated, democratic village level
institutions control these utilities and hence their own
destiny, a powerful enabling and empowerment mechanism
leading to stability of village societies.
The Centre for the Application of Science and Technology to
Rural Areas (ASTRA) at the Indian Institute of Science, for
over two decades, has been developing various rural technol-
ogies attempting to fill the above mentioned ruraltechnology
lacuna and correct the rural-urban disparity. All the rural
technologies and local management mechanisms have been deve-
loped at ASTRA, interactively field tested in a few villages
in Karnataka and improved continuously. The SuTRA concept
and the technology package is a result of success at village
level of these individual technologies tested in about 8
villages and of a long term interaction with villagers to
evolve the local management package.
LIQUID FUELS FROM BIOMASS
Dr. A V Bridgwater, Energy Research Group,
Aston Univ. Aston Triangle,
Birmingham B47ET, UK
Current State of the Art
Fast pyrolysis ofbiomass provides high yields of liquid fuel
through rapid heating to vaporise the material followed by
rapid cooling to quench the products into a liquid known as
bio-oil. The technology is relatively new and there are
currently no commercial fuel applications. The value of this
approach to renewable energy is that a liquid is produced in
high yields that can be stored or transported unlike gasifi-
cation and combustion when the product gas or heat has to be
used immediately and locally. There are about 15 instituti-
ons in Europe investigating this technology ranging from
universities operating at around 100 g/h to major utilities
operating with 200 and 650 kg/h pilot plants. There is still
a poor appreciation both of the science and technology and
also the barriers to commercial implementation.
Objectives of the Project
A Concerted Action or Network on biomass fast pyrolysis was
initiated in 1995 to provide a forum for both researchers
and industrialists to find out more about this new advanced
technology for producing liquid fuels and assist in better
dissemination of information throughout Europe. The overall
objective is to help industry more quickly and more fully
understand the opportunities offered by fast pyrolysis of
biomass and thereby take advantage of this new technology.
Achievements and Results
A pan-European network of researchers and industrialists has
been successfully established consisting of one or two
members from every country in the EU where there is an
interest in biomass fast pyrolysis. Each member is respons-
ible for collating information on all relevant activities in
his country and equally disseminating information to those
active or interested. Industrial members comprises at least
half the membership who play a major role in contributing to
discussions and leading workshops, thereby providing a comm-
ercial orientation to the discussions and workshops. In add-
ition to the value of the regular forum, meetings, newslet-
ters and reports, the researchers from universities and
industry benefit considerably from the sharing of ideas and
results, thereby more quickly learning how to overcome
barriers and hence commercialise the processes under devel-
opment. The Network has proved a very cost effective method
of co-operating and disseminating in this rapidly growing
renewable energy area.
RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES IN ASIA
A Regional Research and Dissemination Programme,
Funded By SIDA
Prof. S.C. Bhattacharya, AIT, P.O. Box 4 Klong Luang
Pathumthani 12120, THAILAND
Introduction
Many developing countries of Asia are currently poised
for economic growth and industrialisation. The energy demand
of these countries is therefore expected to increase rather
significantly in the near future. In fact, the future growth
of global energy demand is expected to be mostly from indus-
trialisation of the presently developing countries. So far,
industrialisation of nations has always been accompanied by
an increased demand for fossil fuels. However,the finiteness
offossil fuel reserves and large scale environmental impacts
caused by their widespread use, particularly global warming,
urban air pollution and acid rain, strongly suggest that
harnessing of non-fossil energy resources is vital for stee-
ring the global energy supplies towards a sustainable path.
Also, promoting renewable energy in developing countries
would be much easier compared to the developed countries
where fossil fuel based energy infrastructures are already
in place. Attempts to introduce renewable energy techno-
logies (RETs) were undertaken in most developing countries
after the energy crisis of 1973. Most of these attempts were
later abandoned because of a variety of reasons, e.g. the
crash of oil price in 1986, teething problems inevitably
encountered in developing new technologies, lack of trained
manpower, lack of co-ordination among various agencies
involved (government agencies,R&D institutions,entrepreneurs
and users), lack of consistent government policies, etc.
The mid-1990s appear to be a much better time to promote
RETs because of realisation of the gross environmental prob-
lems associated with use of fossil fuels and possibility of
joint implementation of renewable energy projects in the
near future. The AIT is currently executing the Renewable
Energy Technologies in Asia: A Regional Research and
Dissemination Programme (RETs in Asia),funded by the Swedish
International Development Co-operation Agency (SIDA).
Objective
The overall objective of the Regional Research and Dissemin-
ation Programme is to promote the diffusion of selected
mature/nearly mature Renewable Energy technologies in a
number of selected Asian countries through the adaptation of
the technologies to the local conditions.In order to achieve
the above objective, the project will involve a wide range
of activities to be carried out at AIT and in target
countries of the project.
Target Countries
Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam
Country Organizations to be Involved
Research Institutes, Energy Agencies, Govt. Organizations,
Financial Institutions, Entrepreneurs Renewable Energy
Technologies (Tentative)
Solar Thermal:hot water & drying,Photovoltaics,Brick Making,
Gasification
Methodology/Activities
Depending on the RETs, different methodologies will be
employed for realizing their adaptation and diffusion. For
each of the RETs, the main project activities will be
initial design of the RET device to overcome recognized te-
chnical problems and to suit local conditions, and its
fabrication, testing and further modification, if necessary.
Attempts will be made to associate entrepreneurs from the
very beginning of RET adaptation efforts. The final product
will be disseminated during different workshops of the
regional programme, country workshops/ training programs/
demonstration and through renewable energy newsletters.Apart
from the selected RETs mentioned above, an attempt will be
made to diffuse additional RETs by organizing training
workshop for entrepreneurs from the selected countries. Dif-
ferent RETs will be discussed in these workshops so that
the entrepreneurs would be exposed toand have an opportunity
to pursue a few additional RETs by themselves without sign-
ificant support from the Programme.
Finally, a Regional Technology Transfer Forum will be
organized to bring together INTERNATIONAL manufacturers/
developers and entrepreneurs of the selected countries in
order to facilitate transfer ofsome of these additional RETs
judged to be promising by the entrepreneurs.
An Invitation for Collaboration
The Renewable Energy Technologies in Asia (RETs in Asia)
Programme would be eager to consider proposals for collabor-
ation from international manufacturers/developersfor jointly
promoting renewable energy in Asia.
Expected Outcome
The expected outputs of the Programme are as follows:
1. A set of RETs adopted to suit the local conditions of
the selected countries.
2. Transfer of RETs to selected countries.
3. Development / strengthening of the capability of the
National Research Institutes in the field of RETs.
Research Team: The Principal Investigators of the project
being executed by the Asian Institute of Technologies are:
Prof. S.C. Bhattacharya and Dr. S. Kumar
EXPERIENCE ON TESTING OF IISC-DASAG OPEN TOP WOOD GASIFIER
IN SWITZERLAND
S Dasappa, G Sridhar, B Girish, IISc; P Giordano, CCC;
R Salzmann, Hasler P ETH;
The collaborative effort of IISc, India and DASAG of
Switzerland in successful testing of 100 kWe open top wood
gasifier in India took a further step by commissioning and
testing of one such system at Chatel-st.-denis, Switzerland
during Nov 95 - March 96. A similar system to the one tested
earlier was built and shipped in partly assembled condition
from India. This system had additional features of PLC
controlled automatic start-up and shut-down along with inst-
rumentation to record temperatures, static pressures and gas
flow rate.The basic intention of this testing was to qualify
the system for engine application in Swiss conditions using
wood availabe in Swiss. In the first phase of testing, the
gas was flared in a burner. The system was tested under
adverse ambient conditions (sub-zero temperatures) using
different species of wood with moisture content varying from
11 to 37%. The duration of each of the tests varied from 7
to 9 hrs. The tests were carried out at various loads. Tests
were conducted with respect to measurement of gas composi-
tion,particulate and tar measurement both at hot (before gas
scrubbing) and cold end (after gas scrubbing) of the system.
Tests were conducted using casuarina wood (11-15% moisture),
pine wood (up to 25% moisture), branches (25% moisture) and
green wood (up to 37% moisture). In total over 400 hrs of
testing has been completed.
Particulate and Tar analysis
The gas sampling for Particulate and Tar (P& T) analysis was
done by IISc and ETH. The P&T analysis was done by Cosmic,
India and EMPA and Natura chemica (NC) of Switzerland. The
results of analysis of the three laboratories for the cold
end at varying loads is shown above.From the above figure it
is clear that the particulate content at the cold end is
below 50mg/Nm3 and tar is less than 80 mg/Nm3 for varying
moisture content (15-37%) and varying load (30-100%). Simi-
larly for the hot end particulates and tar are less than 350
- 650 mg/Nm3 respectively. These are comparable withthe test
results at IISc, for a given moisture content and species of
wood.
Gas composition and Calorific value
The gas composition was obtained using online facilities and
on to a computer by ETH. The average gas composition was
found to be CO 17%, H2 18 %, CH4 2 % and CO2 13 %, rest N2
Variation of calorific value of gas with moisture content
and different wood species
with an average calorific value of 4.7 MJ/Nm3. With increase
in moisture content the calorific value of the gas also
decreases. For pine wood, the variation (around 15%) is
attributed to the fact of moisture content in wood, because
the mixture was created with fractions of high and low moist
wood chips.
BIOMASS USE IN INDUSTRIES
A case study of silk industry, S N Srinivas TERI,
T. S Nagaraj KSMB LTd., Bangalore
The biomass use in industries and establishments amounts to
about 73 million tonnes per year. The biomass used in this
sector are fuel wood and crop residue. Some of the indust-
ries using biomass are,brick,tile making,manufacturing lime,
tea & tobacco curing, cardamom, silk industry, jaggery
preparation etc., It is important to make efforts for
conserving biomass in these sectors. Silk production is one
of the industries consuming considerable biomass. This
article tries to bring out the biomass use in different
stages of silk production and provides some estimates of
biomass use.
India is one ofthe major silk producing country and it ranks
second, next only to China. It produces about 15,000 tonnes
of silk (current production) every year. The major concent-
ration of silk production isin the states of Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, West Bengal and Kashmir.
Combustion of biomass is needed in various stages during the
silk production. They are,stifling, silk reeling,re-reeling,
dyeing etc. Some of the fuel wood species used are tamarind,
eucalyptus, pongemia pinnate, neem, etc. and agro-residues
used are,groundnut shell,paddy husk, coffee husk, eucalyptus
leaves,sawmill waste,maize cobs, tamarind husk etc. However,
in fabric production in the silk industry,conventional fuels
such as coal, oil etc., are used.
(i) Stifling is an activity where the cocoons are treated
with steam to kill the pupae inside,so that they do not
break and come out of the cocoons thuspreventing damage
of the cocoons
(ii) Major use of biomas is at the cooking stage (silk
reeling is done through cooking),cooking is an activity
where cocoons are cooked in near boiling water so as to
soften the gum covering the silk in and around cocoon
shell. The silk filament can be reeled only when it is
softened through cooking.Surplus hot water from cooking
stage is used at the reeling stage.
(iii)Re-reeling is to preserve the yarn for a longer time;
(iv) Degumming, bleaching and dyeing is performed to strip
the natural gum and colour of the silk to provide the
desired colour to the yarn by dipping it into a hot
water bath (90-95 C).
Some estimates indicate that about 106,500 tonnes of biomass
is burnt yearly for stifling, 220,000 tonnes for cooking co-
coons, and about 150,000 tonnes for dyeing. There is an
estimated 61,000 reeling units (almost all of them with a
stifling unit as well) and about 20,000 dyeing units. The
average efficiencies in these units is only about 10 to 12%.
Thus an estimated 32 kg of biomass is burnt to produce 1kg
of raw silk yarn. Some estimates indicate that at least the
biomass consumption could be reduced to half if proper meas-
ures are undertaken. Some efforts have been made to conserve
biomass by introducing economic oven through CSTRI (Central
Sericulture Technological & Research Institute),however,they
did not have the desired effect on dissemination. Hence
there is an urgent need to make efforts to conserve the
biomass through conservation measures in the existing set up
through acceptable retrofitting or by introducingalternative
technologies.
References:
1. Energy Audit - comparative evaluation of Traditional &
Economic ovens. A report Submitted to Energy Management
Centre by TERI
2. Study of Ovens in silk reeling units. Project report su-
bmitted to Swiss Development Co-operation by TERI.
RESEARCH ON BIOMETHANATION AT TERI
Mrs. Kusum Jain, TERI, New Delhi
Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) is a high rate
anaerobic process for the treatment of waste streams.This is
based on the principle of natural flocculation and agglomer-
ation of the bacteria so as to form discrete particles of
biomass which can be retained within the reactor. UASB has
gained more importance because of low cost associated with
the process as there is electrical power demands are minimal
and the packing material or recirculation of sludge is comp-
letely eliminated unlike in other anaerobic treatment
processes. Although UASB was commercialised in early 1970 by
Lettinga & co-workers, it has been used largely for distill-
ery effluents but not for effluents from other sources such
as dairy, food processing, leachate from solid wastes etc.
Hence biomass energy technology area at TERI has decided to
carry out research on application of UASB to various
effluents.
Upflow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) reactor of 29 ltr ca-
pacity has been developed for treatment of synthetic
effluent composed of glucose and volatile fatty acids. The
COD of the effluent is maintained at 11,000 mg/L. Acrylic
pipes have been used for fabricating the reactor which faci-
litated the observation of minute changes in sludge charact-
eristics at each step. The reactor consists oftwo zones viz.
reaction zone and settling zone. The reaction zone consists
of a granular sludge bed and fluidized zone. The settling
zone has an expanded section which reduces the turbulence of
upflowing stream. The inverted cone in settling zone made of
SS acts as a gas liquid separator. The UASB process known to
be a more economical and efficient process as the sludge bed
is capable of withstanding high organic loading, in the
present case,showed that the reactor could take up a loading
rate as high as 47 kg COD/m3 corresponding to an hydraulic
residence time of 5 hr. The methane production at this OLR
was 14.5 m3/m3d. Performance study of the reactor indicated
a COD reduction of 90~95% during its operation at different
loading rates. The shutdown of the reactor for a period of
1 month did not have any effect on the methanogenic activity
of the granular sludge as the normal gas production could be
restored within 10 days.
SWOSTHEE
Single Pan Wood Stove Of High efficiency A Fuel Efficient
Portable Cookstove,
Svathi Bhogle
Swosthee is a portable metallic single pan stove designed at
the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. It has a heat
utilisation efficiency of 32 % which is the highest among
all single pan stoves in India today. Even by a conservative
estimate, usage of high efficiency stoves like Swosthee can
conserve 84 million tonnes of firewood annually in India
alone. Some other salient features of the stove are: It is a
multifuel stove capable of burning a variety of biomass like
firewood,coconut shells, cowdung cakes, twigs and briquetted
agricultural residue. Reduced emissions (CO - less than 20
PPM at the operator level and Suspended Particulate Matterin
the range of 1.0- 1.5 mg/m3). A power input of 3.5 kW.
Easy ignition and maintenance.
Versatility -The stove can be used with vessels of all sizes
and shapes and is suitable for cooking all types of common
dishes. The Swosthee stove is designed by a team of scient-
ific workers who do not use firewood burning stove as a part
of their daily routine. Their objective was to design astove
with a maximum heat utilisation efficiency, minimum release
of hazardous emissions and as user friendly as could be per-
ceived by them. A survey was therefore carried out among
rural, semi-rural and urban households to obtain first hand
information on stove usage, cooking practices and user
response to Swosthee stoves.A near unanimous conclusion from
the survey was that the Swosthee stove saves fuel and time
and also emits significantly less smoke than traditional
stoves. All types of users found the stove to be sturdy,
stable and easy to ignite and maintain.Other inferences that
can be drawn from the survey are:
The Swosthee stove is ideal for a family size of 5-6
members.
The Swosthee stove is especially suited for houses having
roofs made of reinforced concrete,asbestos or other sheets
and thatch.
The Swosthee stove has a high acceptability among househo-
lds living in urban slums where the size of the house is
small.
The survey also categorically confirmed that the two most
important attributes that a potential user is looking for in
a cooking device is a reduction in the cooking time and a
saving in the fuel bill. Swosthee stoves will meet the cook-
ing requirements of a variety of users not only in India but
elsewherein the world as well besides reducing deforestation
and emission of hazardous emissions.
Recent Technical Meetings held at Combustion,Gasification
and Propulsion Laboratory, IISc, Bangalore - 560 012, India
One day meet on the available Engines for Power Generation
using Biogas from Urbanand Industrial Waste Treatment Plants
was held on 29th May 1996. The participants were major manu-
facturers/dealers with their foreign principles, the techno-
logy group and the members of policy making group. The
representatives of engine manufacturers presented their
currently available configurations of gas engines, the
technology group demonstrated the model H2S cleanup system
for biogas from industrial plants. Later on interactive
session was held to provide focus for the future.
Awareness program on Biomass gasifier for Industries
The meet was held on 22nd August 1996 to educate industries
on opportunities and use of Biomass gasification. Several
representatives of small and medium scale industries had en-
rolled for the program.
Proposed Programme
REACH - Renewable Energy Awareness Campaign for the masses.
This program is aimed at educating school and college
students regarding Renewable energy technologies.
Do You Know this?
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Fuel A/F Density Flame Temp Energy Energy Density
K MJ/Kg MJ/m3 (fuel)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Woody
biomass 6.3 200-1000 1500 16 - 18 9600-10800
(600 avg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coal
(5% ash) ~ 5 800 1900 35 - 37 28000-29600
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Coal
(40 % ash) ~ 3 1300 1600 20 - 22 26000-28600
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Diesel/
gasoline 15-16 750-850 2300 42 - 44 33000-35200
(800 avg)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Rice husk,
other shells
with high ash 5.5 100 1000-1300 10 - 13 1000-1300
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Producer gas 1.2 1 1500 4.5 - 5.0 4.5 - 5.0
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Biogas 15 1 1300-1450 26 26
----------------------------------------------------------------------
LPG 15 500 2300 44 22000
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Natural gas 17 0.5 2300 45 22.5
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Services
Abstracts relating to published papers on bio-resource can
now be made available at no cost. This could be obtained by
sending a request letter along with one or two relevant key
words. Services relating to search for Patents can now be
availed from Bun-India on chargeable basis
Editorial
The BUN-NEWSLETTER is published by the
BUN-INDIA
Combustion, Gasification & Propulsion Laboratory
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India.
Bun-India is a newsletter which provides a platform for
exchange of concepts, technologies and success stories pert-
aining to bio-resource.We sincerely wish this news letter to
reach a large number of people having concern for bio-re-
source and environment.If you are not inthe subscribers list,
kindly enrol by sending your mailing address to us.From then
onwards get a free copy of this quarterly and become part of
the group committed for bio-resources.
Bun-India invites views from its readers.Comments containing
constructive criticism will help better presentation of
future news letters. Bun-India welcomes contributions from
its readers.The article should have relevance to the subject
of the newsletter and carry the message ofbio-resource being
a environment friendly source of energy.
For further information or correspondence please Contact:
Mrs. Gayathri V
Combustion Gasification & Propulsion
Laboratory, [CGPL]
Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore 560 012, India
E-mail: gayathri@aero.iisc.ernet.in
Fax: +91-80-3341683
Tel : +91-80-3348536, +91-80-3092338
A fact not known adequately is that in India,the total waste
land, regions next to high ways where fuel can be grown is
about 80 - 100 million hectares. At 6 T/hectare/Yr., this
generates 600 - 1000 million tonnes/Yr. of biomass constit-
uting 80,000 - 1,00,000 MW apart from Agro fuels which cons-
titute additional 10,000 - 15,000 MW
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