case study on micro grid power in rural area

7/29/2019 Case Study on Micro Grid Power in Rural Area

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Ankur Scientic, a company ounded by Dr B C Jain, situated in an eco-

riendly environment in Savli, Vadodara, the industrial city o Gujarat, is a

global technology leader dealing in renewable energy technologies or

over 25 years. They have created an enviable position or themselves in the areao biomass gasication systems. Ankur Scientic, apart rom having credits o ISO

9000, ISO 14000, OHSAS 18000 and CE certications, also exports its systems to

about 30 countries. It also has numerous installations within the wide crosssection

o Indian industries.

The MNRE (Ministry o New and Renewable Energy), Government o India, is

exploring the possibility o generating 10,000 MW (megawatt) o power in the next

10 years rom surplus biomass, both agro and orest residues and also by way o

dedicated energy plantations. In addition to this, lower capacity biomass power

plants could be set up or eeding power at the tail end o the grid (11 kV [kilovolt]line). These plants would ensure that power reaches many villages in rural India. It

would also have several other benets such as the ones listed below.

Biomass gasifcation-based power plantan Ankur Scientific experience

Case study 1


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Small plants o up to 2 MW help in improving the voltage o the 11-kV grid as

also the power actor. The grid requency stabilizes and limits transmission and

distribution losses to a large extent (about 7% losses are prevented).

Much greater probability o success and long-term sustenance.

Creation o large-scale employment or unemployed/partially employed rural

people.Likely creation o a large number o small entrepreneurs in rural areas.

Rural 11-kVA (kilovolt-ampere) grids become net producers o electricity thus

ensuring uninterrupted power supply to rural areas.

Round-the-clock/on-demand generation o electricity and hence ability to

meet peak demand.

Very short gestation periods o a ew months.

Almost 80% o the cost o generation is returned to the local economy through

purchase o biomass and local jobs.

Perennial and sustainable green power and, thereore, mitigation o global

warming.Increased, long-term sel suciency on the energy ront.

Potential or cogeneration through inclusion o cold chains in the power

projects.

Greening o barren and waste lands through production o sturdy energy

species as small plants are conducive to energy plantations, leading to

aorestation.

The power plant at Sankheda, Vadodara

Recognizing the above benets, Ankur Scientic has set up a 1.2-MW, grid-

connected, biomass power plant based on its own gasication technology in

Sankheda Taluka o Vadodara district. This project is the rst o its kind in Gujarat

and also the rst project to be set up under the status o Model Investment Project

implemented by MNRE and UNDP (United Nations Development Programme) with

partial nancial assistance rom both.

Dr B C Jain (Chairman, Ankur Scientifc), Mr D P Joshi (Director, GEDA), and Mr V K Jain (Director, MNRE) with Mr Deepak

Gupta (ormer Secretary, MNRE) at Ankurs Sankheda Plant


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The project was commissioned in a record time o about six months, including

identication o land, biomass surveys, acquiring permissions, manuacturing, and

import o state-o-the-art equipment, and so on . This would not have been possible

without the unstinted support o the local villagers and armers, panchayats, the

taluka oces, the collectorate and departments o land conversion and town

planning, the District Industries Centre, the pollution control board, the GujaratEnergy Development Agency (the state nodal agency o MNRE), the Madhya

Gujarat Vij Company Ltd, the Gujarat Energy Transmission Corporation Ltd, and

MNRE. The project includes many innovations as listed below.

Fuel supply linkage

The major reliance o biomass is on crop residues o the common crops available

near the project site, mainly cotton, tur, and astor stalks, mango seeds, and corn

cobs. The surrounding area o the project site is rich in cotton, tur, and maize

cultivation. The armers and villagers very willingly give their agri-residues, which,in turn, provide them with some added revenue or these otherwise wasted

products that were generally burnt.

Development of entrepreneurs for secured and sustained fuel supply

Ankur Scientic is also developing entrepreneurs out o these armers and villagers

or secured and sustained uel supply. This is because the villagers and armers are

taking interest in the project and getting some additional revenue out o the waste

eedstock.

A ew young enthusiasts amongst the villagers and the armers have been identiedand trained into becoming entrepreneurs. They then manage the supply chain on

a sustainable basis.

Technology

Ankur Scientic has installed two woody biomass-based gasiers designed and

manuactured by them and coupled to three units o 400-kWe each running on

100% producer gas engine gensets.

The ollowing innovations have been included in the power plant.


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Waste heat recovery for biomass drying

The waste heat/fuegas rom the exhaust

o the two engines is

being used or biomass

drying. The fue gas

is being used in the

two bin dryers with a

total capacity o 16 m3,

which is sucient to

meet the dried biomass

requirement o the two

gasiers. The bin dryers

reduce the moisture content in the biomass to less than 20% as that is preerable

in Ankur systems.

Waste heat recovery for VAM chiller

The Ankur biomass gasication system requires

chilled water or the heat exchanger to cool the

producer gas and condense the moisture in theproducer gas. A normal scroll-type chiller is used or

this purpose wherein the power consumption o the

chiller is about 45 kWh.

To reduce the power requirement or the overall

auxiliaries, Ankur is recovering the waste heat/fue

gas rom one o the engine exhausts transerring

it to hot water through a heat exchanger. This hot

water is then ed into a VAM chiller to generate 36 TR

chilling with a temperature prole o 138 0C. In thiscase, the total power requirement or the VAM chiller

including its auxiliaries would be about 17 kWh.

Biomass-based gasifers


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Utilization of charcoal/biochar

The quantity o char produced is approximately 5% o the weight o the biomass

used. Further, the char is discharged through the dry ash char removal system and

collected in bags. Hence, no fy ash is generated.

Char rom Ankur gasier has a reasonably high caloric value and is useul as auel or small-scale industries requiring thermal energy. It can also be used as ller-

cum-uel by brick kilns ller in concrete hollow bricks, or as a raw material in the

manuacture o precipitate silica. Thereore, part o this is sold o to such units at

a nominal price.

Briquetting of char

The char discharged rom the systems is segregated as ollows.

Sizes above 10 mm are partly sold and partly

given to the villagers or cooking. Ankur Scientic,

as a part o its corporate social responsibility,

has developed a special charcoal stove and

distributed the same to the local villagers or

smokeless cooking.

Sizes between 1 mm and 10 mm are used orbriquetting. A separate briquetting machine

has been installed at the project site and the

briquettes thus made are partly sold to industries

or their thermal application and partly given to

the local villagers or smokeless cooking.

Biochar from Ankur gasifiers: a boon

Char o size less than 1 mm is used as biochar. Biochar is the carbon-rich product

when biomass is heated with little or no available oxygen.

The properties o biochar and its potential impact on soilare listed below.

Char rom Ankur gasifer


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Has 7%10% ash and 70%75% xed carbon

Caloric value ranges rom 5500 kcal/kg to 6500 kcal/kg

Enhances the health o the soil

Increases the pH o acidic soils (as biochar is typically alkaline)

Increases water and nutrient retention

Biochar carbon is chemically altered during gasication and is thus resistant to

attack by micro-organisms

Biochar carbon can remain stable or long periods o time (100 to 1000 years)

It is an important way o storing carbon that has been scavenged rom the

atmosphere during photosynthesis

Snapshots rom the feld

case study on micro grid power in rural area

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