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 9
Chapter
FUEL REPLACEMENT IN A
SMALL SCALE INDUSTRY
THROUGH BIO-MASS
GASIFIER-A case study
Kishan Singh Rawat*1, Alok Singh2 and O.P.Nautiyal3�
1
Centre for Remote Sensing and Geo-Informatics, Sathyabama University, Chennai-600119
2
College of Agril Engineering and Technology, Navsari Agricultural University Navsari, Dediapada,
Gujarat-393040
3
Uttarakhand Science Education and Research Centre (USERC), Dehradun-248006
E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract
The term biomass generally refers to renewable organic matter generated by plants through
photosynthesis. The solar energy combines the carbon dioxide and water to form carbohydrate
and oxygen in photosynthesis. Materials having combustible organic matter are also referred
to as biomass. It contains C, H and O. It is the oxygenated hydrocarbon. The goal of many
biomass conversion processes is to convert solid fuel into more useful forms, i.e. gaseous or
liquid fuels. Gasification of biomass is thermal decomposition in the presence of controlled
air. It is the conversion process of solid, carbonaceous fuels into combustible gas mixtures,
known as producer gas. It is also referred to as wood gas, water gas and synthesis gas. This
gas can be burned directly in a furnace to generate process heat for electricity generation.
The gasifier is essentially a chemical reactor where various complex and physical as well as
chemical processes take place. Biomass gets dried, heated, pyrolysed, and partially oxidised.
Gasification is a complex thermochemical process. Splitting of a gasifier into strictly separate
zones is not realistic. Four distinct processes take place in a gasifier (i) drying of the fuel,
(ii) pyrolysis, (iii) combustion, and (iv) reduction. Whole biomass gasification process is
explained in present chapter. A case study on fuel replacement through biomass gasification
is also presented in this chapter.

Introduction
Biomass fuels come from things that once lived: wood products, dried vegetation,
crop residues, aquatic plants and even garbage. It is known as ‘Natural Material’.
196 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

Plants used up a lot of the sun’s energy to make their own food (by photosynthesis).
They stored the foods in the plants in the form of chemical energy. As the plants
died, the energy is trapped in the residue. This trapped energy is usually released by
burning and can be converted into biomass energy.
Wood is a biomass fuel, it is renewable. As long as we continue to plant new trees to
replace those that were cut down, we will always have wood to burn. Just as with the
fossil fuels, the energy stored in biomass fuels came originally from the Sun.It is such
a widely utilized source of energy, probably due to its low cost and indigenous nature,
that it accounts for almost 15% of the world's total energy supply and as much as
35% in developing countries, mostly for cooking and heating.

Conversion of biomassinto energy

This is a very common way of
converting organic matter into
energy. Burning stuff like wood,
waste and other plant matter
releases stored chemical energy
in the form of heat, which can
be used to turn shafts to produce
electricity. Fig.1 showed a simple
ways of how biomass is used in
generate of energy in form of
electricity. Fig. 1: Conversion of biomass into energy.

1. Energy from the sun is transferred and stored in plants. When the plants are cut
or die, wood chips, straw and other plant matter is delivered to the bunker.
2.  This is burned to heat water in a boiler to release heat energy in form of steam.
3.  The energy/power from the steam is directed to turbines with pipes.
4. The steam turns a number of blades in the turbine and generators, which are
made of coils and magnets.
5. The charged magnetic fields produce electricity, which is sent to homes by cables.

Biomass as a fuel source

In the present world, where every country wants energy independence and energy
security, it is necessary to go for energy conservation and efficient technologies. Every
industry wants adequate power supply to compete with others. So, at this time it
becomes necessary to adopt energy saving technologies. Majority of the small and
rural industries belong to the unorganized sector and their information are not readily
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 197

available. These industries provide employment to millions of people and form very
important part of the rural economy. A large number of these industries require thermal
energy for processing. This book chapter, suggest conventional fuel replacement of
small scale industry with more economical & reliable non-conventional fuel. We
have selected a small scale industry as a case study in Ghaziabad district of Uttar
Pradesh. The existing fuel pattern of that bakery unit has been studied. The industry
is currently using diesel for thermal purposes. We propose that if this industry can
use biomass gasifier for heating purpose that will be more economical and efficient.
In gasifier, wood-chips or rice husk can be used to obtain producer gas as an output.
Then this gas can be used as fuel, which goes to burner and produce heat energy for
baking purposes. India as an agricultural country, firewood plays an important role
in both, domestic and industrial sector [5].

Gasifiers
Gasifier is equipment which can gasify a variety of biomass such as wood waste,
agricultural waste like stalks, and roots of various crops, maize cobs etc. Biomass gets
dried, heated, pyrolysed, partially oxidised and reduced, as it flows through it.
Biomass gasification is basically the conversion of solid biomass such as wood,
agricultural residues etc., into a combustible gas mixture normally called “producer gas”
(or Low Btu gas). The solid biomass is partially burnt in the presence of air or oxygen
to produce a low or medium calorific value gas. Partial combustion process occurs
when air supply is less than adequate for combustion of biomass to be completed.
Given that biomass contains carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules, complete
combustion would produce carbon dioxide and water vapour. Partial combustion
produces carbon monoxide as well as hydrogen which are both combustible gases.
The gas produced in the gasifier is a clean burning fuel having heating value of about
950 to 1200 kcal/m3, Hydrogen (18 – 20%), and carbon monoxide (18 – 24%) are
the main constituents of the gas.
The advantages of gasifier are:
1. It is very easy to operate the gasifier
2. Its maintenance is easy
3. It is sturdy in construction
4. Reliable in operation
The volumetric composition of biomass based producer gas is follows: CO :20 – 22%,
H2: 15 – 18%, CH4: 2 – 4%, CO2: 9 – 11%, and N2: 50 – 54%. The gas also contains
measurable amounts of particulate material and tar. The heating value of the producer
198 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

gas ranges from 4000 to 5000 kJ/m3.

However, some important points which should be taken into consideration while
undertaking any biomass gasification system:
1. A gasifier itself is of little use. It is used either (a) to generate a combustible gas
to provide heat or (b) to generate a fuel gas which can be used in an internal
combustion engine as a petroleum oil substitute.
2. Some of the gaseous, liquid and solid products of combustion are not only harmful
to engines and burners, but also to human beings. That is why these gases are not
used as cooking gas.
3. A gasifier must have an effective gas cleaning train if the gas is to be used for
internal combustion engines. A maximum limit of 5-15 mg solids and tar per kg
of gas may be allowed for the use of the gas in an internal combustion engine.
4. A gasification system may not be of much advantage to generate a combustible
gas, as far as fossil fuel savings, economies and ease of operation are concerned.

Types of gasifiers
Design of gasifier depends upon type of fuel used and whether gasifier is portable or
stationary. Gasifiers are classified according to how the air blast introduced in the fuel
column. The fixed bed gasifier has been the traditional process used for gasification,
operated at temperatures around 1000°C [1]. The most commonly built gasifiers are
classified as:
1. Fixed bed gasifiers 2. Fluidized bed gasifiers.

Fixed Bed Gasifier

A fixed bed gasifier is generally a vertical reactor (furnace). The gasifier is fed either
from the top or from the side at a certain height. Inside the gasifier the feedstock is
supported either on a fixed grate or on a sand bottom. The fixed bed gasifiers may
further be divided into updraft, downdraft and cross draft or cross flow units.

Updraft Gasifier (Counter current)

In an updraft gasifier, the feed materials descend from the top to the bottom and the
air ascends from the bottom to the top, while air is being blown upward through the
grate. The oxidation zone lies at its bottom and gasification occurs through zones of
decreasing temperatures as the gas rises through the reactor-fuel bed.
As the reaction gases flow counter to the path of the incoming cool feedstock and exit
at a relatively low temperature, the fuel gas produced by an updraft gasifier has high
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 199

tar content. Hence this gasifier is suitable for tar free fuels like charcoal, especially in
stationary engines. The height to diameter ratio is usually kept at 3:1.

Fig. 2: Schematic diagram of updraft gasifier.

Downdraft Gasifier (Co-current)

A schematic diagram of down-draft gasifier is shown in Fig. It is a vertical cylindrical vessel
of varying cross section. The biomass is fed at the top at regular intervals of time and is
converted through a series of processes into producer gas and ash as it moves down.
The first zone is the drying zone, in which the moisture content in the upper layers
of the biomass is removed by evaporation. The temperature in this zone is about
120°C. This temperature is acquired by heat transfer from the lower zones which are
at much higher temperatures. The dried biomass moves down to the second zone
called the pyrolysis zone, which is at temperatures ranging from 200 to 600°C from
top to bottom. Throughout this zone, the biomass loses its volatiles. In addition,
in the lower part of this zone, when the temperature reaches 400°C, an exothermic
reaction takes place in which the structure of biomass breaks down. Asa result, water
vapour, methanol, acetic acid and significant amounts of hydrocarbon tar evolved.
The remaining solid is called char (carbon).
The third zone is called the oxidation(or combustion) zone. A predetermined
quantity of air is drawn into this zone through nozzles and temperatures ranging
from 900 to 1200°C are attained. In this zone, a portion of char and pyrolysed gases
200 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

coming from the second zone are burnt. The principal reactions are exothermic and
oxidizing in nature, and the resultant products are carbon dioxide and water vapour.
These products pass on to the fourth and last zone called the reduction zone, along
with un-burnt pyrolysis gases and char. This zone is at temperatures ranging from 900
to 600°C, the highest temperature being near the oxidation zone. These reactions are
endothermic and consequently the temperatures of the zone progressively decrease. At
the end, the char is fully consumed and the final products are producer gas and ash.
These gasifiers are suitable for fuels like wood and agricultural wastes. They may be
used for power generation upto above 150 kW. They are cheap and easy to make.

Fig. 3: Schematic diagram of downdraft gasifier.

In a downdraft gasifier, the air is blown through a single duct or a number of equally
spaced nozzles around the furnace. The air is blown towards the bottom of the gasifier.
As a reaction gases also pass through the higher temperature zones at the bottom, the
downdraft gasifier produces cleaner gas with relatively less amount of tars, compared
to the updraft or cross-draft gasifiers. Usually larger amounts of tar and volatile
matters are thermally cracked, while passing through the higher temperature zones of
the bottom. As the gas also passes through the solid char bed, the carrying fly ash and
dirt are trapped and the gas is cleaned.

Cross-Draft Gasifier
The reactions in the cross- draft gasifier are similar to the downdraft gasifier. The gas
produced passes upwards in the annual space around the gasifier that is filled with
charcoal. The charcoal acts as an insulator and a dust filter. They are usually suitable
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 201

for power generation upto 50 kW. Air enters through a water cooled nozzle mounted
on one side of the firebox. The gas is produced in the horizontal zone in front of
the nozzle and passes through a vertical grate into the hot gas port on the opposite
side. Because of the short path length for the gasification reactions, this type of gas
producer responds most rapidly for changes in gas production. However, this gasifier
is not commonly used.

Fig. 4: Schematic diagram of cross draft gasifier.

Fluidised bed gasifier

In general, the fluidized bed gasifier is a tall refractory lined unit. The inert materials
like sand or ash may be used as a fluidizing medium. At the bottom of the reactor,
sand or other inert material is supported on a perforated plate with a grid
network, which ensures uniform distribution of the fluidizing medium (Fig.7).
Fluidization of the sand is achieved by supplying a controlled flow of air or oxygen at
a fluidization velocity through the perforated supporting plate. As a result the whole
bed including sand will be kept in suspension and separated. In a fluidized bed reactor,
the temperature is typically uniform throughout the bed.
Simultaneous oxidation and gasification occur rapidly at constant fluidized
bed medium. Because of the high turbulence and thorough mixing of the fluidized
bed, its capacity is generally dependent upon the volume of the fluid bed. Generally
the height to diameter ratio of a fluidized bed reactor is 10:1.
The bed temperature should be lower than 1100-1150ºC, in order to prevent
slagging of the residues, but it should be higher than 850ºC to promote partial
oxidation of the feed material.
202 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of fluidised bed gasifier.

The output of a biomass gasifier can be used for a variety of direct thermal applications
such as cooking, drying, heating water, and generating steam. It can also be used
as a fuel for I.C. Engines to obtain mechanical shaft power or electrical power. If
the producer gas is used in IC engines, it has to be cleaned for complete removal of
particulate material and tar.
The conversion efficiency of a gasifier is defined as the ratio of the heat content in the
producer gas to the heat content in the biomass supplied and is usually around 75%.

Application of gasification (Gasifier)

1. Small size gasifiers (upto 10 kW)
It is used in rural areas, especially for providing shaft line power to agricultural
pumps, processing machinery and agricultural-processing machineries like
Thrashers, straw choppers, etc.
2. Medium size gasifiers (10 kW – 50 kW)
This gasifier can easily meet the shaft line power requirements of various rural
industries like saw mills, carpentry workshops, mechanical fabrication shops as
well as small rice mills. This can also be used as a decentralized source of electrical
energy in milk chilling centres, primary health coverage centres and for rural
electrification.
To provide the vehicular power or for combinations applications like vehicular
power or for shaft line power to vehicle mounted equipment.
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 203

3. Large size gasifiers (50 kW and above)

It is used in rural areas as well as urban industries, besides being a source of
decentralised electrification. This category of gasifiers can meet the shaft power
requirements directly or indirectly of various industries like dairy, oil mill, mineral
processing, brick manufacturing, ceramics and pottery industries etc. These
gasifiers can also be used in mining operations; forest based wood processing
units, well drilling etc. These gasifiers can be used for total electrification of small
and medium size villages.

Direct Thermal applications

The primary application for direct heat gasifiers is in industries where fuel oil or coal/
lignite is being used to generate process heat or run furnaces and kilns. Industries that
commonly use fuel oil or coal/lignite for supplying heat include the following:
Cement manufacture, glass making, brick making, ceramics and pottery, rubber
manufacture, food processing, brewing, crop drying, fertilizer production and chemicals.

Case Study
Energy Consumption pattern in a small scale industry at Ghaziabad
The energy shortage coupled with increasing energy prices have forced the industries
to look at ways and means for reducing their energy consumption. It has been
observed that factories in the small scale sector in India are generally less efficient in
process and utility of energy use compare to larger enterprise.

Status of these industries

The district Ghaziabad a growing industrial development in Uttar Pradesh These
industries are divided into three categories depending upon production, employment
and turnover.
Table-1: Industries status at Ghaziabad [Source:-10]
Particulars Small scale industries Medium/Heavy Industries
Units (No.) 14160 145
Capital investment (In Rs. Crore) 270 2930.86
Employment 73130 3120

Case Study
M/s P.M. Food Gramodyogsansthan is presented here as a case study. It is registered
under society Act. No.-21, 1860, of the state of Uttar Pradesh & registration no.999
204 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

Dated-23.02.2006. This Company also running a bakery Unit., which has made
sale of around Rs. 50 Lacs. In the financial year 2004-05 as such the promoter are
having sufficient experience for running bakery unit. The bakery unit of the society
manufactures mainly RUSK, a type of low price biscuits. This unit is well connected
with metal road directly linking Ghaziabad to Delhi. The unit M/s. P.M. Food
Gramodyog Sansthan runs a bakery unit & it works 16 Hrs/Day with a production
capacity of 100Kgs/Day. For production of rusk they need heat energy and they
generate required heat energy by diesel burners. This unit requires fuel consumption
of 28-30 Litres/Hr.
Biomass is energy derived from vegetative matter plants, considered with biogas as
biofuels or bioenergy. Globally, bioenergy for electricity generation has reached an
installed capacity of 35GW. The US alone has 500 biomass-powered power plants
with an installed capacity of 7GW [2, 3].
It can be debatable, as to whether it is a sustainable energy or not, because unless
trees are grown for this purpose, we cannot continue to use trees and plants for
energy. Also, burning surely does produce gasses that are all forms of particulate
matter in the air, raising talk about air pollution. An example is the high methane
gas it gives off, which is not good for the ozone layer. On a positive note, it does
not have as much harmful emissions as Fossil Fuels, and plants, together with
animal waste used in this way will reduce the amount of waste that ends up in
the landfill [9].
Many biomass plants use crop and forest residue like perennial grasses, straw, corn
stalks, rice husks, and leftover soya bean plants to produce energy. Some producers
also cultivate fast growing trees like poplars to feed the biomass plant.
Like fossil fuels, the primary source of energy from biomass is the sun. Trees and
plants use sunlight to produce energy, and in their lifetime, they store the food in the
form of chemical energy. As plants die (or trees are cut down), they can be used in a
number of ways.
Biomass as a fuel source
In the present world, where every country wants energy independence and energy
security, it is necessary to go for energy conservation and efficient technologies.
Every industry wants adequate power supply to compete with others. So, at this
time it becomes necessary to adopt energy saving technologies. Majority of the
small and rural industries belong to the unorganized sector and their information
are not readily available. These industries provide employment to millions of
people and form very important part of the rural economy. A large number of
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 205

these industries require thermal energy for processing. This book chapter,suggest
conventional fuel replacement of small scale industry with more economical&
reliable non-conventional fuel. We have selected a small scale industry as a case
study in Ghaziabad district of Uttar Pradesh. The existing fuel pattern of that
bakery unit has been studied. The industry is currently using diesel for thermal
purposes. We propose that if this industry can use biomass gasifier for heating
purpose that will be more economical and efficient. In gasifier wood-chips, rice
husk can be used to obtain producer gas as an output. Then this gas can be used
as fuel,which goes to burner and produce heat energy for baking purposes. India
as an agricultural country, firewood plays an important role in both, domestic and
industrial sector [6, 7, 8].

Energy Consumption pattern in a small scale

industry at Ghaziabad
The energy shortage coupled with increasing energy prices have forced the industries
to look at ways and means for reducing their energy consumption. It has been
observed that factories in the small scale sector in India are generally less efficient in
process and utility of energy use compare to larger enterprise.

Status of these industries

The district Ghaziabad a growing industrial development in Uttar Pradesh These
industries are divided into three categories depending upon production, employment
and turnover

Case Study
M/s P.M. Food Gramodyogsansthan is presented here as a case study. It is registered
under society Act. No.-21, 1860, of the state of Uttar Pradesh & registration no.999
Dated-23.02.2006. This Company also running a bakery Unit., which has made
sale of around Rs. 50 Lacs. In the financial year 2004-05 as such the promoter are
having sufficient experience for running bakery unit. The bakery unit of the society
manufactures mainly RUSK, a type of low price biscuits. This unit is well connected
with metal road directly linking Ghaziabad to Delhi. The unit M/s. P.M. Food
Gramodyogsansthan runs a bakery unit & it works 16 Hrs/Day with a production
capacity of 100Kgs/Day. For production of rusk they need heat energy and they
generate required heat energy by diesel burners. This unit requires fuel consumption
of 28-30Litres/Hr
206 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

Fuel (Diesel) consumption pattern

Table-2: Diesel consumption in Industries
S. No Particulars 1styr 2ndyr 3rdyr
(Projected) (Projected)
1. No. of working Shifts/Day 2 2 2
2. No. of working Days/Yr 300 300 300
3. No. of working Hrs/Day 16 16 16
4. Present requirement of Oil /Hr (Liters) 30 30 30
5. % of capacity utilization of the plant 75 85 95
6. Diesel or oil consumed Per yr (In lakh litres) 1.08 1.22 1.36
7. Price of diesel @ Rs Per liter (ann. Incr 5%) 35 36.75 38.58
8. Cost of diesel/yr (Rs. In Lacs) 37.80 44.98 52.78

Fuel replacement by bio-mass gasifier

Estimated capacity of Gasifier
For the bakery industries, the maximum temperature needed is about 450 degree
centigrade .This can be managed by producer gas.
• As bakery unit is using 30 liters diesel oil per hour
• Calorific value of diesel oil -10 KWH per liter
• Energy generated by 30 liters per hour = 30 x 10 =300 KWH
• If efficiency of present diesel based system is 60%
• The useful heat energy required per hour = 300 x 60 % = 180 KWH
To replace 30 liters of diesel of per hour, there is requirement of 180 KWH capacity
gasifier, but for keeping some provision for increase of production the unit should
install 200 KWH capacity gasifier. According to thumb rule, one liter of diesel oil can
be replaced by 6 Kgof rice husk or 5kg of wood for generation of equivalent heat energy.

Estimated cost of project

Estimated cost of suggested 200 KW capacity biomass gasifier is shown below.
Table-3: Estimated of total cost of project
Particulars Cost
(Rs. In Lakh)
A -Civil construction
The foundation cost for installationof gasifier system. 0.60
B- Plant & Machineries
(i) Biomass gasifier of 200 KW with cooling and cleaning system 11.00
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 207

(ii) Online stand by mechanical equipment 1.25

(iii) Erection and commissioning 0.75
(iv) Sales tax @ 4% 0.44
(v) Cost of transportation of gasifier 0.50
(vi) Cost of 4 mono fuel burners including sales tax 0.46
Total cost (B) 14.40
Total project cost (A+B) 15.00

Central Finance Assistance

As per the policy of Govt. of India, the Ministry of New & Renewable Energy
(M.N.R.E.), New Delhi is provided an amount of CFA @ Rs. 2.00 Lacs per 100KW
as capital subsidy for biomass gasifier .Hence it is expected that an amount of Rs.
4.00 Lacs as subsidy will be available for the project of 200 KW gasifier. So if we
deduct CFA from total project cost, bakery unit owner has to pay only Rs. 11.00 Lacs
for the establishment of biomass gasifier

Description of Biomass Gasifier

Updraft gasifier
Updraft gasifier is suitable for bakery
unit on the basis of cost and fuel
consumption. In the mentioned
gasifier,the solid biomass fuel having
moisture cannot exceeding 15% to
20% and not exceeding 25mm to
30mm in size, is fed from the top
,while the air and steam is fed from
bottom and moves upward against the
downward movement of the biomass
fuel and this process of gas generation
is called updraft principle [4].
Fig. 6: Updraft Gasifier.
Component of the updraft Gasifier
1. Ash zone, 2. Oxidation zone, 3. Primary reduction zone, 4. Secondary reduction
zone, 5. Distillation zone, 6. Cleaning and cooling system, 7. Burners.

Advantage of referred gasifier system

• The biomass/ fuel consumption can be controlled as per requirement of gas.
208 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

• It is multi-fuel system i.e. the gasifier can accept any type of biomass without
any Modification/change in design in solid block size up to 30mm such as semi
powdery biomass.
• High efficiency.
• Steam is introduced during combustion in the gasifier to ensure gas generation of
high quality and consistent
• Tars and oil produced in pyrolysis zone and carried out along with the gas and
the cleaned before putting the gas in the burners
• The gasifiers have a life of at least of 15 years
• The gasifier is continuous running plant.
• The requirement of the biomass will be around 150 Kg of firewood per hour and
for 16 hour operation per day,the daily biomass requirement will be 2400 Kg.
Supply of sufficient quantity of wood and rice husk is available in the area of the
bakery unit.
• Calorific value of woodchips -4500KJ/Kg
• Calorific value of rice husk-3500KJ/Kg.

Benefits of using biomass gasifier

• Conservation of depleting fossil fuel
• Conservation of environment from global warming and pollution.
• Encourage energy plantation this resulting in a green environment
• Improvement of nation’s energy security using locally available fuel.
• Provides a sustainable,affordable and eco-friendly alternative to fossil fuel

Environmental Effect
• In the biomass based gasification plants, the pollutant are CO.
• The burnt biomass coming out as ash.
• The liquid product is called liquor has very low phenol concentration. The ash
produced, is wet and dumps separately. The disposal of the same will not pose
any problem.
• The liquor is treated with chemical in the collection center to control Ph level. A
part of liquor would be utilized to cool & wet the hot ash. The excess of liquor
may be treated with lime and purged with fresh water discharge. Hence the same
will not create any pollution problem
Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management 209

• The plant design aim at zero leakage of producer gas (which contain CO),
whenever gas is vented, it burnt in the flare at a height of about 40’.
• Use of any renewable source of energy is environment friendly and it does not
generate Green House Gas (GHG) unlike fossil fuel .On the contrary biomass
gasifier based energy generation plant helps reduction Carbon Di Oxide (CO2)
emission indirectly,as a result the promoter of such power plant is entitled
to get monetary benefits on Carbon Trading under Clean Development
Mechanism(CDM).Thus a project helps cleaning the environment.

Economics of proposed Gasifier system

Fuel consumption and expenses with proposed Gasifier system
• The price of wood is taken as Rs. 2,000 per M.T.
• The Gasifier plant will run for 16 hours in a day & 300 days in a year.
• There will be two shifts per day and following will be staffing pattern per shift.
• 1 Skilled Gasifier system operators, salary @ Rs. 3,000 p.m.
• 2 Unskilled workers for feeding biomass cleaning, disposal of ash, watering etc.,
salary@Rs. 2, 000 p.m./employee
Thus the total salary per shift will be Rs. (3,000 + 2,000 x 2) = 7, 000 Rs. per month
Therefore for two shifts per day for one year, the cost of salary/wages will be Rs.
(7,000 x 2 x 12) = Rs. 1.68 lakh.
Table-4: Total expenses in proposed Gasifier system
S. Particulars 1st yr 2nyr 3rdyr
No (Projected) (Projected)
1. No. of working Shifts/day 2 2 2
2. No. of working days/yr 300 300 300
3. No. of working hours/day 16 16 16
4. Installed capacity of Gasifier (In KW) 200 200 200
5. Firewood require to replace per liter oil is 5 Kg Hence 5.4 6.12 6.84
requirement of wood (In Lacs Kg)
6. Avg. price of firewood Rs. 2.00/Kg (5% incr/yr) 2.0 2.1 2.205
7. Cost of biomass per year (Rs. in Lacs.) 10.80 12.85 15.08
8. Lab our charge @ 5% increased per year (Rs. in lacs.) 1.68 1.764 1.8522
9. Total expenses 12.48 14.62 16.93
210 Energy Resources: Development, Harvesting and Management

Gross saving out of installation of Biomass Gasifier

Table-5: Gross saving first 3 years with proposed Gasifier system
1st year (Rs. in Lacs) 2nd year (Rs. in Lacs) 3rd year (Rs. in Lacs)
37.80 44.982 52.787
-12.48 - 14.62 - 16.93
----------- ----------- -------------
25.32 30.362 35.8577

Payback period
11.00/25.32 X 12 = 0.52 Yr ≈ 6 Month

Conclusion
The effective use of gasifier for generation of heat energy at much cheaper rate, the
suggestion has been made to the owner of the bakery unit to implement the project,
which will substantially reduce the running cost for the bakery unit. For the gasifier of
the bakery unit, there will be no difficulty in arranging sufficient quantity of firewood
from nearby area.The other merits are:
• The life period of gasifieris !5years and pay back period of 6 months is most
beneficial in the installation of biomass gasifier for small scale industries.
• It will generate direct employment of worker for the gasifier project alone
• The project will save huge fossil fuel.
• The project is environment friendly as because it will helps to reduce CO2
emission & due to replacement of fossil fuel it falls under Clean Development
Mechanism (CDM) as such it attracts additional financial benefits in terms of
earning of US dollar through Carbon Trading. Such initiatives in small scale
industry will lead to energy independence and energy security and surely such
step will strengthen the rural economy of country.

Reference
1. P. D. Grover, P.V.R. Iyer and T.R. Rao, Biomass Thermo Chemical Characterization,
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