Emission reduction and fuel-saving potentials in jaggery industry via cleaner combustion

Abstract

The unrefined (brown) sugar (jaggery) is a traditional sweetener that is prepared by removing water from the sugarcane juice through continuous heating and stirring process and the sun-dried bagasse, which is a by-product in this process and consumed as the fuel. The jaggery plant being a traditional seasonal rural industry is using an open-hearth furnace, having very poor thermal performance and combustion characteristics, leads to huge emission of harmful pollutants. Among different pollutants that are released into the environment, the most impactful elements to human health are the fine and ultrafine particulate matters (PM2.5, particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter of 2.5 micrometers and lesser) and carbon monoxide. Besides, the lower thermal performance leads to consumption of higher amounts of fuel and emission of larger quantities of carbon dioxide (CO2), a greenhouse gas (GHG) and a potential global warming pollutant. An experimental study in the laboratory on a recently developed combustion device exhibits that the harmful emissions from the jaggery industry could be reduced drastically, namely PM2.5 95–99%, CO 92–97% and CO2 52–66%, while reducing ~35% of bagasse consumption which could generate annual additional revenue of about USD 0.735–1.26 billion to the rural entrepreneurs. Implemented at a national scale, it could correspond to a reduction of nearly 3% of all emissions in the country, which is equally applicable elsewhere. Highlights: Jaggery industry is suffering from poor thermal performance, and combustion characteristics. The harmful emissions from the jaggery industry could be reduced drastically such as, the emission of PM2.5 by ∼97%, CO by ∼94%, and CO2 by ∼60%, respectively. Using a newly designed and experimented biomass combustion, it was found that the bagasse consumption could be reduced by more than 35%, which could generate an additional income of about USD 1.2 billion annually, for the rural intreperneurs. At national scale, the emission reduction potential from the jaggery industry could be nearly 3% of all emissions in the country, which could be equally applicable to other countries in the region. The jaggery industry can play a crucial role in generating the rural employment and increasing farmers' income in the country.