Jatropha: Possibilities And Obstacles

Many experts sense that Jatropha as the possibility to India energy problem. Jatropha has the capability to free India from prevailing fuel crises. India is constantly looking for alternative sources of energy like the briquetting plants and others for its energy needs. Many feel that Jatropha has all the ingredients to be bio fuel for the fuel starved country. This plant has the huge capacity to make India as energy independence in the future.  There will be a sharp rise in the demand of the fuel in the coming future. The rate at which the burning of fuel is taking place is alarming. Rise in the number of automobiles and two wheelers in the last once decade also contributed a lot in the consumption.

Now let’s see how the Jatropha plant has advantage over other feedstock.

• The Jatropha is most suited for Indian tropical climate. The plant requires less water in comparison to other plants. It can easily be grown on wetlands. This is the great advantage as it does not require land which is reserve for the production of grains.

• The plant seeds yields more oil than any other plants like sugarcane, wheat et

• Jatropha plantation solves the problem of food security. Jatropha is non edible compare to material like sugarcane and wheat. Diversion of food grains to produce bio fuels can have adverse effects on the food security.

We have seen the benefits of the jatropha plants and how crucial role it plays to produce bio fuels

The plant has huge potential to meet the fuel requirements. It has all the positive attributes. But the decision makers lack the important information about the jatropha. Jatropha is a wild plant and experts should have all the important questions before cultivating it for bio fuel requirements. How much water is needed for its irrigation and does the plant require more water during its growth. There is a question regarding its yield as the plant has never been grown domestically. So there is a proper need to study the cultivation of plant for its proper utilization and to increase its growing potential.

Many experts are uncertain to invest in the Jatropha plant due to their lack of information. They are in doubt for commercial use of the plant for the bio fuel production. So, it becomes important to domesticate cultivation of plant before going any future. Lack of information could result in heavy economic loss due the huge amount of investment. Therefore a proper investigation is required before taking any further step.

Expert can find different types of seeds for cultivation of the plant. It requires a great amount of research before growing it as a regular crop. The Plant has got a huge potential. Beside that the plant can be used for increase water storage and to stop soil erosion.

Procedure for Biomass Pelletization

Biomass pellets are considered as an important type of biomass fuel that is manufactured mainly from agricultural biomass, wood waste, forestry residues, and commercial wastes. These biomass pellets are of great advantage as they are easy to transport and store. In addition, they make best use of wood waste and waste coming from forest and agriculture industry. It also facilitates easy and cost effective handling.

Dense cubic and cylindrical shaped both the pallets have flow ability characteristic as that of cereal grains. This high density of pallets makes them suitable for transporting over long distances. Extremely dense pellets can be created with low moisture content that enhance their capability to be burned with very high combustion efficiency.

Biomass pelletization is the standard way of producing solid and high density pellet from biomass. It is also one of the efficient methods of biomass waste management. To be used in different industries, these pellets are manufactured in several types and supplied as a fuel for electric power plants, homes and other such applications. That is why pellet making equipments are available in variety of sizes and scales.

Selection of small or bug pellet making equipments also depends upon the scale of industry. In general, pellets are of cylindrical shape and are about 6-25 mm in diameter and 3-50 mm in length. Production of pellets consists of a series of steps including collection of raw material (wood shaving, saw dust, agricultural residue, and wood wastes) and its pre-treatment, pelletization, and post treatment. The first step is the preparation of feedstock includes choosing a feedstock suitable for this process, its filtration, storage, and protection.

Filtration is done to remove impurities like metal and stone. Main attention is paid on the storage of this feedstock so to prevent it from the impurities. For this, a blending process is used. If the moisture content in biomass exceeds 50-60% then the equipment named rotary drum dryer is used. In addition, flash dryers, superheated steam dryers, belt dryers, and spouted bed dryers can also be used.

Drying increases the efficiency of biomass and makes it smokeless at the time of combustion. The process of drying takes around 70% of the total energy used in the entire process of pelletization which is used for converting waste into fuel sources. But, the feedstock should never be over dried, as low content of moisture helps in effective binding of biomass.

Before feeding biomass to the pellet mills, it should be reduce to particle size of 3mm as wrong size can affect the quality of pellets and causes high consumption of energy. In the next step of pelletization biomass is compressed against heated metal plate using a roller. This metal plate is commonly known as die and consists of holes of fixed diameter through which biomass is passed under pressure.

Due to rise in pressure, frictional force increases and leads to high temperature which causes lignin & resins present in the biomass to soften to act as a binding agent between the biomass fibers. In this way biomass particles fuse to form pellets.

Jay Khodiyar Machine Tools is manufacturing biofuel machine and briquetting machinery for biomass waste management. These machines help to convert waste into fuel so to protect the environment.

How to be Wise with Waste?

Air, land, and water pollution are the major issues we are facing today. Main reason behind all these environmental issues is waste material coming out from different souces. Waste is generally categorized into three types. These types are as follows:

Commercial Waste- it includes pellets and sawdust, wood, woodchips; construction, demolition and other debris; wooden pallets; other wood waste including discarded furniture, crates and boxes; cardboard; paper; discarded fruits and vegetables; and other types of plastic including bottles, pallets containers.

Agricultural Waste- It includes crop waste like sugar cane bagasse and oil palm waste; coconut, pistachio, nutmeg, almond, peanut, walnut shells, coffee bean; olive and peach pits; corn stover (stalks, cobs); nuisance plant materials such as bark beetle-infected trees; invader and thorn bush; rapidly growing renewable fuel crops including jatropha, poplars, willows and switchgrass etc.

It also includes forest residuals including tree and vine trimmings and clippings; bark and brush; and most other types of agricultural and animal waste materials including many types of manure (from poultry, cattle, dairy cows, and horses) and from municipal waste facilities.

Municipal and Utility Waste- It incorporates highway department and utility tree, tree waste and brush from municipal landfills, and tower trimming and gardening activities for use as fuel in hospitals, schools, universities, colleges, town halls and other municipal buildings.

You might have seen heaps of garbage around the streets and roads. This garbage comes from houses as well as different industries. In industries, activities like manufacturing of different products, constructions results into considerable amount of waste which is either burnt openly or dumped into rivers and seas.

In first case, when the waste is burnt openly, it results into the emission of greenhouses gases which causes global warming and depletion of ozone layer.  In second case, when the waste is dumped into seas or rivers, it harms the environment in two ways. The one is when it kept on the land for a long time, chemicals involved in the waste gets absorbed by the land and causes ground water pollution. When it is dumped into rivers it not only pollutes sea water but also harms aquatic life.

So, there should be some ways for managing the waste material. With the advent of briquetting machinery, it has become easy to deal with all kinds of waste. Briquetting machines are the machines that take organic waste as input and provide briquettes as output which are used to produce energy and fuel. These briquettes have been proved as a great alternative to non-renewable resources which are gradually decreasing and are one of the prime reasons of increasing environmental pollution.

You might be shocked but it is true that by properly managing the garbage you can also generate electricity. In addition, other fuels may also generate with the help of waste management. Biomass generation is the best example of it. Rice husks, saw dust, paper, wood chips etc. are also major waste material. They can also be treated in a beneficial way. Waste material like paper can be easily recycled at waste recycling plant. So, treat the waste material properly to save environment and Mother Nature.