MODIFICATIONS IN THE SUGAR INDUSTRY TO INCREASE THE ELECTRICITY GENERATION

Abstract

Sugar Industry is one of the major agro based industry of India and sugar cane is one of the important cash crop. In sugar industry besides sugar crystal, ethanol and electricity are also produced. The sugar cane industry has enormous potential to produce energy by using its byproducts as bagasse (the fibrous residue of cane milling) and trashes (the cane tops and leaves). It has been seen that the electricity generation is generally very less in most of the sugar cane industries as compared to their respective capacity. In view of this it is essential to study about the electricity generation and the factors affecting it. In this regard the Kisan Sahkari Chini Mills Ltd Sultanpur (U.P) has been selected for investigation for the above purpose. This investigation also aims to propose the modification or improvement in the existing technology for more electricity generation. The technology presently used for electricity generation in this sugar industry is Condensing Extraction Steam Turbine (CEST) technique. From the past experience it is observed that CEST technology is not commercial viable. Because in CEST technique, two turbines are used mill turbine and power turbine. Mill turbine is used to transmit motion to the crusher and power turbine is used for the generation of electricity. The efficiency of mill turbine is very less (about 25-30%) as compared to power turbine (about 65-70%). It has been reported that to increase the power output of sugar industry, two modifications should be performed. First modification is the use of biomass integrated gasifier and the second one is the use of DC motor in place of mill turbine. Biomass integrated gasifier increases the electricity generation and use of DC motor reduces the steam consumption which finally increases the power output. By using above two modifications in the CEST technique, the emission of CO2, greenhouse gases and particulates would also be significantly reduced. The significant level of biomass available as byproducts of sugar cane processing, offers a potentially attractive application of gasifier in sugar industry. With the use of above two modification in the CEST technique in sugar factroies, selling additional power to the grid will be possible. This also offers an excellent opportunity for the sugar mills to generate additional revenue.