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Electricity from Rice Husk: a Potential Way to Electrify Rural Bangladesh

Md. Risat Abedin
Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Himadry Shekhar Das
Himadry Shekhar Das, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology, Dhaka, Bangladesh;

Abstract/ Executive Summary:

The sustainable economic development of a country stands on the sufficiency of electrical energy. So, to compete with the rest of the world, Bangladesh should have sufficient electricity facilities to carry on its economic development. To make a country a developed one, the facilities of electricity should be reached from door to door. As Bangladesh is an agricultural country, several kinds of agricultural wastes are available here. So, this huge amount of agricultural waste can be a source of electricity generation in Bangladesh. Rice husk is one of the potential agro wastes which can be used as raw material to generate electricity, only if it can be processed properly and systematically. The purpose of this paper is to make available an idea of electricity generation from rice husk in the rural areas of Bangladesh. The rice husk based small & medium power plants are very much useful to generate & supply electricity in the rural areas. In this paper the availability of rice husk in Bangladesh, the different feasibility studies and the main process which can be used to generate electricity from rice husk are discussed. The main purpose of this paper is to assist the journey of Bangladesh towards development. This paper will help both the Govt. & private sector to establish rice husk based power plant in rural areas of Bangladesh. Finally it is hoped that this paper will be a suitable guideline to mitigate the huge demand of electricity in the rural areas of Bangladesh.

Keywords: Rice husk, Gasification, Gas turbine, Power plant, Clean energy.

Location: Dinajpur (North Bengal), Sherpur (Near Bogra), Ishwardi and Kaliakoir (Near Dhaka)

Start Date:

End Date:

Program Area: Resource Development and Management

Commodity: Rice husk, Rice

Objectives:

If we use this huge amount of rice husk in a scientific way to generate electricity, then we will be able to reduce the emission greenhouse gas and at the same time be able to generate our demanded electricity.

Methodology:

Rice Husk: Characteristics & Availability Rice husk can be used to generate electricity. The characteristics & chemical composition of rice husk has made it easy to use it for electricity generation. The availability of rice husk is also discussed in this point to have an overview of the scenario of the current rice husk production and its availability in Bangladesh. Characteristics & chemical composition of rice husk The approximate amount production of rice husk globally is 600 million tons.The outermost layer of paddy is called rice husk. It is also known as rice hull. Availability of rice husk in Bangladesh Using rice husk for electricity generation depends on the availability of raw material and the technology used for conversion rice husk to energy. According to the Rice mills owners association of Bangladesh, there are one hundred thousand rice mills and 90% of these rice mills are located in four cluster areas. These four cluster areas are Dinajpur (North Bengal), Sherpur (Near Bogra), Ishwardi and Kaliakoir (Near Dhaka). Taking an average (lower- mid) capacity range of about 100-200 KW, there is a 50-100 MW power markets in these cluster areas. Total rice production in Bangladesh is now producing about 25.0 million tons per year to feed her 135 million people. Total amount of available husk = 5 million ton/year. [Assume 20% of weight is converted into husk] Total amount of available husk per day = 13698.63 kg/day. For a steam turbine power plant consumption of rice husk is 1.3 kg per kWh electricity as reported by Singh [5]. On the other hand for a gasification power plant consumption of rice husk is 1.86 kg per kWh electricity generation. According to the theorem a steam turbine power plant can produce around= 13698.63/1.3 kWh =10537.41 kWh per day and a gasification power plant can produce= 13698.63/1.86 kWh =7364.85 kWh per day. A survey based on majority of paddy production area shows the potential power capacities is estimated to be 41450 kW in the four selected zones considering the steam turbine technology, whereas the corresponding power capacities is estimated to be 29050 kW considering gasification technology[7]. Procedure of Electricity Generation from Rice Husk There are several methods of generating electricity from rice husk. Among some effective ways, here power generation by rice husk gasification is adopted and the system is designed in such a greener way so that the system evolves absolute zero emission. 4. National & International Case Study Electricity generations from rice husk projects are being popular and implemented now days, both nationally & internationally. So it is more practical to discuss about a national & an international case study to make the thing clearer. Both a national & an international case study are discussed below. National Case Study This plant is fully operational. Name: Dreams power Ltd Location: Kapasia, Gazipur, Dhaka, Bangladesh Project Sponsor: Infrastructure Development Company Ltd. (IDCOL) Equipment Supplier: Ankur Scientific Energy Technologies Pvt. Ltd. of India. Some parts are also come from Germany & Italy. Main Parts of The Project: Two downdraft gasifier, a dual fuel generator, four electric motors & a spread pond. Capacity: 250 KWh Cost: Tk. 2.50 Crore. 5. Users and Benefits of the Project: By Products of the Process The main users of this project are the rural people. In Bangladesh there are thousands of people who are deprived of the benefits electricity. Again there are some remote areas where it is very costly to setup conventional power plant or connect national grid connection to supply electricity. In this field, such kind of low or mid capacity based electricity generation by using natural resources are very much effective. Most of the people in Bangladesh live in rural areas & hundreds of tons rice is produced in these rural areas. So if the authority makes it happen to generate electricity from rice husk in these rural areas, then the lifestyle of these rural people will surely be developed which will ultimately help our economic development to run faster. Thus the potential beneficiary of this electricity generation will be the whole country. To elaborate the benefits of such kind of electricity generation, the first thing that comes to consideration is that the process is very much eco friendly as it is a form of clean energy. Again the costing of such kind of low or medium capacity based rice husk based power plant is not so much. It is very easy to install & need less maintenance (only 4/5 people are enough to run such kind of power plant). It needs less space to install and the technology used here is very common. So such kind of power plant can be run by local people and can be installed in any remote area which is one of the main benefits of it. Another advantage of the procedure of electricity generation from rice husk is that amorphous silica (SiO₂) is produced as byproduct in this process. It makes the project economically more viable to implement. The amorphous silica that is produced as byproduct is rich in silicon as rice husk has high ash content. So this silica can be used widely in glass, ceramics and cement industries etc. Cement industries can produce better quality cement production or make unique quality concretes which have high strength, more durable and low permeable. This ash also can be exported if the transport facilities are viable because the price of rice husk ash is as high as $500/ton. Obstacles There are many obstacles which makes it difficult to implement such kind of power plant especially in Bangladesh. In Bangladeshi perspective the obstacles are: Loan Facilities: The loan facilities to establish such kind of non conventional power plant are not available in Bangladesh. Different Govt. & private Bank and finance organization does not get interest to fund such kind of projects. But recently with the help of Infrastructure Development Company of Bangladesh (IDCOL) different financial organizations are coming up to fund such projects. Attitude Barriers: The local people are not concerned about the technologies that are used in such power plant. So they are not interested to establish such power plant. Availability of rice husk: Though Bangladesh is a rice producing country, rice husk is not available all the year round. Especially in the rainy season the rice mills cannot continue their work properly. As a result the supply of rice husk is almost off in that particular season. This time is called scarcity time. Again the rice mill owners are not very much willing to supply the calculated demand as they use this rice husk for their own fuel purpose. It is not economically viable for them to sell the rice husk at a cheaper rate and to buy fuel at a higher cost. Again, the poor people of Bangladesh use briquette made by rice husk as household fuel. So, there causes an Attitudinal Barriers to have sufficient rice husk for electricity generation purpose. Efficiency: The main problem electricity generation from renewable energy sources is that this is not as efficient as generation of electricity from conventional power plant. This is also true for the process of electricity generation from rice husk

Source of Information: INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF RENEWABLE ENERGY RESEARCH, Vol.4, No.3, 2014

Article Link (Online Journal):

Funding Source:

Budget:

Total Budget (Tk.) :

Achievement/Findings:

It is impossible for any country to keep pace in development activities with other developed countries if it is not independent in power generation sector. Bangladesh is a developing country. So it is very much important for Bangladesh to ensure its own energy security. The conventional energy sources are decreasing day by day. So now it is high time we should take the renewable energy sources in action. Electricity generation from rice husk can be a better alternative of conventional energy sources in Bangladesh perspective. It is comparatively cheaper to install, easy to handle. In Bangladesh there are several types of obstacles to establish such kind of non conventional power plant. But there is no other way for Bangladesh to generate electricity but from renewable energy sources. So, Govt. & private organizations should come forward to inspire & to fund such kind of projects.

Knowledge Management: Journal