Rice Straw/Paddy/Stubble Fired Steam Boilers Benefits
Rice is one of India’s staple crops. India is one of the leading producers of rice in the world. In 2019, India produced 2.6 thousand kilograms of rice per hectare. After harvesting, the paddy is sent to the rice mills for milling processing. There are two byproducts of rice: rice straw and rice husk. Rice husk is produced during milling and rice straw is removed during harvesting. The straw is pilled or spread out on the rice field depending on the harvesting methods. The ratio of straw to paddy produced during harvesting varies from 1.0 to 4.3.
Each year farmers in UP, Haryana, and Punjab burn millions of tons of rice straw in a bid to get the fields ready for the next crop. This releases air pollutants such as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, hydrocarbons, etc increasing pollution and smog across North India. Rice straw can be used to feed livestock and for soil conditioning. It has some industrial applications such as being used for manufacturing fiberboard, as paper pulp, a resin binder, and for energy applications to generate electricity.
The Indian government has given a lot of incentives to use biomass fuels for energy production. Rice straw fired boilers are a perfect solution to protect the environment and produce steam.
Benefits Of Stubble Fired Boilers
Some of the benefits of rice straw fired boilers are:
- Reduced dependence on coal and other fossil fuels.
- Steam produced can help meet the steam requirement to run turbines and for process requirements of plant.
- Replacing fossil fuels with rice straw can reduce greenhouse gas emission which prevents the pollution caused due to stubble burning.
The government is looking for viable alternatives to utilize rice straw. We, at Mago Thermal Private Limited, offer viable solutions to use rice straw as a fuel.
Properties Of Rice Straw
Combustion is a thermochemical reaction to produce heat utilized to generate steam. Dried rice straw size ranges from 70 to 140 cm. For efficient burning, boiler operators need to size the fuel to approximately 50 cm. This helps to improve the combustion performance and thermal energy of the fuel. Paddy straw is fibrous, and the fuel handling system needs to be designed carefully. The bulk density of rice straw varies from 40-80 kg/m3. The ultimate analysis of rice straw is as follows:
|
Constituents |
% |
|
Carbon |
31.11 |
|
Hydrogen |
4.84 |
|
Sulfur |
0.03 |
|
Oxygen |
26.26 |
|
Nitrogen |
4.13 |
|
Moisture |
20.29 |
|
Ash |
13.34 |
|
GCV |
3275 kcal.kg |
The fuel has high volatile content of (60.55-69.7). Unfortunately, rice straw has a high quantity of ash. The analysis of ash revealed that the ash had a high silica quantity making the boiler susceptible to erosion. The high alkali content can cause slagging, fouling, fusion, and sintering of ash on the grate. The ash analysis is as under:
|
Constituents |
% |
|
Silica |
82 |
|
K20 |
8.1 |
|
Cao |
2.5 |
|
MgO |
2.5 |
|
P2O5 |
2.0 |
|
SO3 |
0.5 |
|
Fe2O3 |
0.47 |
|
Al2O3 |
0.31 |
|
MnO |
0.31 |
|
Other components |
0.076 |
The boiler designers study both the ash and fuel properties to arrive at ways to burn the fuel with maximum efficiency and low down time.
Features Of Paddy Straw Fired Boiler Offered By Mago Thermal Private Limited
We, at Mago Thermal Private Limited (MTPL), have designed straw fired boilers to have a low furnace gas exit temperature. This helps to deal with the high alkali content of the fuels. Rice straw fired boilers have following features:
- We offer a single drum natural circulation boiler.
- Our tall furnace ensures longer residence time and lower furnace exit temperature. This helps to deal with the adverse features of rice straw.
- Our 3 pass hanging slagging austenitic superheater helps to reduce superheater deposits. Soot blowers placed in strategical manner helped to reduce deposits further.
- Our water-cooled vibrating grate can handle rice straw and other biomass fuels. The grate is suitable for high-pressure and low-pressure applications.
- The fuel handling system can handle the fibrous properties of straw. The handling system can handle other biomass fuels as well.
Why Mago Thermal?
Mago Thermal Private Limited has been in the steam-generating business for over 10 years. We are an ISO 9001-2000 company and are committed to designing, manufacturing, erecting, and commissioning boilers and EPC projects with the vigorous standard laid down in our manual.
- We have experience in burning different biomass fuels. This has given us a unique perspective of handling rice straw. We are proud that our boiler can deliver maximum efficiency with low fuel costs.
- We offer a cost-effective solution and ensure a faster return on investment.
- Our stubble fired boilers can operate with different fuels.
- We have a dedicated and highly experienced team to ensure your project runs smoothly and the boiler erected gives the rated results.
- We also undertake modification of existing steam boilers to run on rice straw.
- We offer our customers flexible solutions depending on their needs. We offer standalone boilers, captive power plants, cogeneration units, and EPC plants for rice straw.
- Our air pollution control units can handle statutory pollution requirements.
To know more about rice straw fired steam boilers in India, contact Mago Thermal at +91-9910490700.