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Research Article
Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for
Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan
Region
*1Kumar Joshi, I.F.S; 2Vinay Sharma
1Post Doctoral Fellow, 2Professor, Department of Management Studies, I.I.T Roorkee. Uttarakhand, India
Briquetting of organic waste like wheat straw, peanut shell, coconut fibers, rice husk, maize cob and various
other agricultural residues is a common practice in India and abroad. Generally briquetting process is done
by application of heat and pressure through electrically driven machines. This paper accounts for
developing a bio briquetting machine in horizontal orientation and a comparative study between two
models of manually driven bio briquetting machine for a harmful forest bio residue of Western Himalayas
named as dry and fallen pine needles. One of the authors of this paper has successfully designed and
manufactured these two types of manually driven forest bio residue briquetting machine in vertical and
horizontal orientation. These machines are designed to reduce the use of fossil fuels and promote clean
and green energy. The uniqueness of the paper is also reflected by adopting grass not level execution
strategy for addressing climate change issue and creating livelihood opportunities for the communities
through converting a harmful forest bio residue into a useful resource for clean energy under social
entrepreneurship skills. It is further added that such an intervention will avoid devastating forest fires which
are primarily initiated by huge quantity of dry and fallen pine needles lying on the forest floors. A manually
operated bio briquetting machine finds its larger acceptability for a eco fragile, fire prone, chir pine forest
areas of Western Himalayas by eliminating fire hazards as well as providing direct economic benefits to the
villages through the sale of bio briquettes.
Key words: Western Himalaya, Pine needles, Manual briquetting machine, Livelihood opportunities, Forest fires.
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
• This article basically aims at developing an indigenous and an appropriate technology in reducing the forest fire
hazards in Western Himalayan region.
• The article gives a complete picture of manually operated bio briquetting machines which are capable of converting a
loose bio mass into briquettes.
• The main author of the article is a field practitioner for over last 28 years in natural resource management and really
felt an urgent need to address environmental issues because of repeated forest fire in Western Himalayas. While
doing so, creation of sustainable livelihood options for the communities from waste and harmful dry and fallen pine
needles is also kept in mind.
INTRODUCTION
Energy has been the driving force behind the process of 6% of the world’s primary energy. Indi’s per capita energy
economic development. Greater access to energy has consumption lags that of the world’s middle-income
fostered economic growth as well as other indicators of countries. Figure 1 shows per capita primary energy
human development. India has a per capita energy consumption of upper middle-class countries.
consumption of only about one third of the global average.
India’s per capita energy consumption equals 0.6 tonne of *Corresponding Author: Dr. Kumar Joshi, I.F.S, Post Doctoral
oil equivalent (toe) as compared to global per capita Fellow, Department of Management Studies, I.I.T Roorkee.
average of 1.8 tonne of oil equivalent. Though India Uttarakhand, India. Email: kapilkjoshi@rediffmail.com.
accounts for 6% of world’s population it uses only around Co-Author 2Email: vinayfdm@iitr.ac.in
Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan Region
Joshi and Sharma 068
Chir Pine trees have a tendency of shedding its leaves 1995), paper mill waste (Yaman et al., 2000), peanut shell,
every year in the month of January to May. These dry and coconut fibers, palm fruit fibers (Chin & Siddiqui, 2000),
fallen pine needles are highly inflammable and contain 18- rice straw, rice husk and maize cob (Wilaipon, 2007).
20 mega joules of energy per kg of its mass which is higher Process parameters like densification pressure, particle
than that of word, sawdust and fuel oil (Safi, 2002). In an size, moisture content and temperature are different for
estimation by Forest Research Institute, Dehradun over a different raw material available for briquetting. Lignin of the
million tonnes of dry pine needles fall every year on the biomass melts at high temperature and pressure which
forest floor of Uttarakhand (UFD, 2010). These needles directly affect strength characteristics of the bio briquette.
are extremely combustible and repeatedly course Densification is influenced by compaction temperature,
hazardous forest fires in the summer months. Burning of compaction pressure, compaction velocity, moisture
pine needles is a big source of atmospheric carbon. This content and particle size distribution (Mani et al., 2006)
also leads to soil erosion, land degradation, dryness, loss (Rhen et al., 2005). An optimum process parameter is vital
of young plantation and damages to life and property of the for a good quality bio briquette as densification process
human beings. parameters directly affect change in volume, durability,
density and strength of the briquette (Kaliyan & Morey,
Pine needles are abundantly available in the hilly region of 2009).
Himalayas on thermal decomposition they generate gases
such as light volatiles, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, Different types of machine are available in the briquetting
hydrogen and other organic vapors. Since pine needles industry globally. Europe and United States of America
pose serious threat to forests and forest fires, their have perfected the reciprocating ram- piston technology
collection and disposal for energy recovery is a very while Japan has independently invented and developed
attractive proposition (Safi et al., 2004). screw press technology (Grover & Mishra, 1996).
Briquettes produced by a piston press are completely solid
while screw press briquettes on the other hand have a
LITERATURE REVIEW concentric role which gives better combustion
characteristics due to a larger surface area (Tumuluru et
Biomass briquetting is the process of densification of loose al., 2010).
biomass to improve its fuel and handling characteristics. It
increases the volumetric calorific value and reduces At present, these high-pressure technologies are widely
transportation cost and storage space requirement as used for briquetting. China is also producing large scale
compared to raw biomass. Briquetting produces a uniform, briquetting plants (Tumuluru et al., 2010). Cost of such
clean and stable fuel (Granada et al., 2002). By briquetting, plants is very high. For a unit producing about 2000 tonnes
bulk density of loose biomass can be increased from 40 to briquette in a year roughly cost a little over US D 1,00,000
200 kg m-3 to 600-1200 kg m-3which would reduce the which excludes the cost of the land (Fergunson, 2012). In
storage requirement significantly (Adapa, 2009). Biomass addition to large cost of plant and machinery for a
briquettes have been hailed as a potential means of briquetting industry various technical constraints like high
upgrading the raw biomass waste and providing a wood as wear and tear in screw extrusion briquetting technology,
well as fossil fuel substitute that could potentially by use in very high electricity bills even up to 15% of the total
domestic cooking applications and industrial applications. production cost (Grover & Mishra, 2010), inability of local
Biomass briquetting in many developing countries has for artisans to ensure smooth running and maintenance of the
years been synonymous with densification of sawdust and machine, experts supervision for installation and site
other agro residues (FAO, 1990). Over the past many specific variations in the plant and machinery have
decades, developing countries are promoting use of resulted in numerous failure of the machines and inhibited
electricity and fossil fuel energy to transform the life of poor extensive exploitation of bio briquettes as fuel (Kaliyan &
household (IEA, 2002). However, it is estimated that over Morey, 2009).
2.7 billion people rely on traditional biomass like wood,
charcoal and dung and half billion on coal for cooking and It is generally agreed upon that bio briquetting may be
space heating despite having access to some form of treated as a suitable business case for a substitute fuel.
electricity (Bravo, 2008) (Karekezi et al., 2008). This is But challenges like inability of producers to access
largely because electricity and Liquefied Petroleum Gas appropriate technology for commercially producing quality
(LPG) have become very expensive and unaffordable by briquettes are widely existing (Clancy, 1995) (Hood, 2010).
the majority of low-income earners. Use of wood, coal and There is therefore acute need to address high cost and
unprocessed biomass by a huge population in developing operational problems in order to ensure that commercial
countries contributes not only indoor air pollution but also briquette production result in successful enterprises.
largely affects climate change issues. Locally manufactured briquetting machines may be a
leverage point towards widespread adaptation of briquette
Bio briquettes are produced from any lingo-cellulosic plants, increasing sales and improving the quality of
organic material. Most widely used raw materials for briquettes. Moreover, very high consumption of electricity
briquetting are saw dust, wheat straw (Wamukonya, is also not desirable as the electricity is driven from mainly
Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan Region
Joshi and Sharma 070
average time for each step was recorded and then average
time was taken. It was observed that a total of 125 seconds
were taken by the machine to make a briquette of about 8
to 10 grams. Table 1 depicts the activity wise time taken
to manufacture a briquette from pine needles by this
machine.
• Line diagram and operations of the Horizontal Fig. 7: Design of horizontal Briquetting Machine (top view)
briquetting machine
• Problems encountered while developing a
The machine design is shown in figure 6 and figure horizontal machine
7. This machine also operator on the basic principle of
hydraulics. The machine operations are as follows: During the process of designing a horizontal
briquetting machine, the biggest problem encountered
➢ Charge the hopper with dry and crushed pine was repeated failure of the machine bench over which
needles horizontal piston-cylinder assembly was mounted. The
➢ Shut the stopper plate. main cause of the bench failure was excessive
➢ Fill the niche of the die with pine needles by raising pressure of the level of 2500 to 3000 psi coming over
the side of the hopper. it through hydraulic unit. A further reinforcement was
➢ Close the slide. provided over the bench in the form of heavy mild steel
➢ Close the release value of the pump. angle rods strongly welded over the bench structure in
➢ Start pumping in reciprocator manner by using lever order to avoid its bending. Similar problem was faced
(hand and foot) attached to the hydraulic pump. The in horizontal die mould assembly which got displaced
plunger attached to the pump pushes pine needles under excessive pressure causing damages to piston
and starts compressing it. also. This problem was tackled by removing nut bolt
➢ Briquette is made inside the die with a pressure assembly used to fasten the die-mould system over
ranging 100 to150 kgf/cm2. the bench and by providing a welded die-mould
assembly directly over the machine bench.
Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan Region
Int. J. For. Wood Sci. 073
• Time study on the Horizontal briquetting machine may switch over to hand as well as to foot as per
his operational.
This machine has following sequence of operation: ➢ Cost of the machine comes about USD 1000 per
Loading of the raw material in to the die, close the unit, if manufactured locally.
release valve and ensure sufficient pumping to ensure ➢ Manually operated and horizontally aligned bio
briquetting, open the release valve, wait for the piston briquetting machine has few more advantages
to move back and eject the briquette with the help of like low operating time, easily transportation, less
an ejecting handle. This machine has almost half of maintenance, less weight, dual operating feature
the operations as desired in the previous briquetting (hand and foot), multiple uses and low cost as
machine. compared to manually operated and vertically
aligned bio briquetting machine.
A flow diagram of the briquetting process is show in
figure 8. Figure 9 depicts a consolidated sequence of operations
on both the machines in pictorial form.
tonne of loose and dry fallen pine needles could be Food and Agricultural Organization (1990) The briquetting
transported in a truck, which makes this venture highly of agricultural waste for fuel: Environment and Energy
uneconomical for mega bio briquetting plants. An series
appropriate technology in the form of a manually operated Global Village Energy Partnership (2011) Kenya Briquette
bio briquetting machine to convert forest bio residue into industry study. Global Village Energy Partnership,
useful briquettes at the place of it’s origin has given a Nairobi.
strong substitute of mega bio briquetting plants for Government of India (2019) Ministry of Finance Economic
Western Himalayan region. Once densified at it’s place of survey 2018-19, Chapter 9, vol 1, 164
origin, a total of 6 to 7 tonnes of bio briquettes could be Government of India (2019) Ministry of Finance Economic
easily transported to it’s end users. This phenomenon of survey 2018-19, Chapter 9, vol 1, 175
transporting 6 to 7 tonnes of bio briquettes in a single go Government of India (2019) Ministry of Finance Economic
from a hilly terrain up to the consumer’s end not only make survey 2018-19, Chapter 5, vol 2, 104
this venture commercially viable but also provide ample Government of India (2019) Ministry of Finance Economic
scope for livelihood creation to the local communities. survey 2018-19, Chapter 9, vol 1, 172
Granada E, López González L M, Míguez J L, Moran J
Such small machines may be provided to the local villagers (2002) Fuel lignocellulosic briquettes, die design and
residing in and around the pine forest areas. These products study. Renew. Energy 27(4), 561–573
villagers will collect the harmful dry and fallen pine needles Grover P, Mishra S K (1996) Biomass Briquetting:
and convert them in to briquettes. A value chain shall be Technology and Practices Field document no 46.
created through customer-seller interface and villagers will Regional Wood Energy Development Program in Asia.
get sustainable livelihood options. FAO Bangkok
Hood A (2010) Biomass Briquetting in Sudan: A Feasibility
study. Women’s Refugee Commission. UN Agency for
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT International Development, New York.
International Energy Agency (2002) Energy and Poverty.
I am highly thankful to Mr Jairaj, Head of Forest Force, World Energy Outlook, Paris: IEA Publication.
Uttarakhand Forest Department, Mr S.T.S. Lepcha Ex. Kaliyan N, Morey R V (2009) Factors affecting strength
Managing Director, Uttarakhand Forest Development and durability of densified biomass products. Biomass
Corporation and Mr. Monish Mullick, Managing Director, Bio ener. 33(3), 337–359
Uttarakhand Forest Development Corporation for Karekezi S, Kimani J, Onguru O (2008) Energy access
extending their full support in developing these machines among the urban poor in Kenya. Energy for Sustainable
at Alternate Hydro Energy Centre, IIT Roorkee. I am also Development 12(4) 38-48
grateful to Dr. R.P.Saini and Dr. M.P.Sharma , AHC, IIT Kimothi M M (1998) Forest fire in the central Himalaya: An
Roorkee for providing very useful technical inputs while extent, direction and spread using IRS LISS-1 data.
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Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan Region
Int. J. For. Wood Sci. 075
Remodeling a Manually Operated Bio Briquetting Machine for Bio Briquetting of Dry Chir Pine Needles in Western Himalayan Region