IMPORTANT ACHIEVEMENTS:
Paddy straw bale combustor/geyser for heating water has been developed. A paddy straw bale is combusted inside it for heating water in annular space. About 100 litres of water can be heated to 45-500C in 3-4 hours. The water once filled in the geyser remains hot for up to 24 hours or even more. The most convenient use of the paddy straw bale geyser would be starting the geyser at night and hot water can be used in the morning time. The fuel, i.e. paddy straw bales, is not big problem for a moderate level farmer in the state. A farmer can easily stock enough paddy straw bales (about 100), in small shed, for full winter season without much of cost and efforts. A provisional patent has already been filed (Indian Patent Application No. 2038/DEL/2015) in Indian patent office. The paddy straw bale combustor/geyser has been approved by PAU research evaluation committee in its 248th meeting held on 14-12-2015 for commercialization
Paddy straw can be utilized for production of Binderless Briquettes from Chopped Paddy Straw which can be used in various thermal applications for cooking, boiling, heating low temperature furnaces and steam generation in boilers as a substitute of wood preferably in co-firing mode. This will provide energy security, self-reliance in energy, help in creating rural employment and generation of rural income.
PAU, Ludhiana designed and developed this biogas plant during the year 2005 to cater to the needs of individual’s families. This, essentially, is a mixture of Janta and Deenbandhu design of biogas plants. The gas-holder is hemispherical in shape and is structurally safe & crack-resistant. The construction of this type of plant is easy and is not very difficult from the method for the Deenbandhu Biogas Plant. This plant can be constructed with around 60 – 70% cost as compared to the cost of other conventional floating drum type (KVIC) biogas plant. These plants have been constructing by skilled workers / masons trained by PAU, Ludhiana. The ICAR has approved this design and has recommended for the” Transfer of Technology to the farmers / end-users. The MNRE has accepted this design for the extensive adoption by end-users for the production of biogas and cogeneration. Till date, 10,000 such biogas plants have been installed in Punjab State.
PAU, Ludhiana designed and developed this biogas plant during the year 2005 to cater to the needs of dairy farms, poultry farms, pig farms, industries, institutes like gaushalas, educational institutions, religious institutions, NGO’s, societies etc. This, essentially, is a mixture of Janta and Deenbandhu design of biogas plants. The gas-holder is hemispherical in shape and is structurally safe & crack-resistant. The construction of this type of plant is easy and is not very difficult from the method for the Deenbandhu Biogas Plant. This plant can be constructed with around 60 – 70% cost as compared to the cost of other conventional floating drum type (KVIC) biogas plant. These plants have been constructing by skilled workers / masons trained by PAU, Ludhiana. The ICAR has approved this design and has recommended for the” Transfer of Technology to the farmers / end-users. The MNRE has accepted this design for the extensive adoption by end-users for the production of biogas and cogeneration. Till date, 130 such biogas plants have been installed in Punjab State and 35 biogas plants have been installed in other 13 States of India.
PAU has designed biogas plant made up of M.S. sheet (digester above the ground and floating drum gas holder) during the year 2017 for anaerobic digestion of paddy straw for biogas production. The life of this structure is around 15 years and the advantage of this structure is that the whole structure will be above the ground due to which the vacating of the plant is very easy. This process of Dry Fermentation is a batch process, once the digester is loaded and activated, would produce sufficient gas for a period of 3 months. The digested material so produced from such anaerobic digestion is good quality manure ready for use in the fields. Till date, 20 such biogas plants have been installed in Punjab State.
The ‘Forced Circulation Solar Dryer’ is a large capacity solar dryer suitable for commercial drying and has been developed by Department of Renewable Energy Engineering, Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana under All India Coordinated Research Project on Energy in Agriculture and Agro-based Industries funded by Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR). It can be designed for any capacity requirement above 100 kg. It can be used for drying vegetables, spices, fruits etc. in the form of small solid pieces. A few examples are, turmeric (curcuma longa), fenugreek leaves (trigonellafoenum-graecum), amla (phyllanthus emblica), harad (terminalia chebula) chilly (capsicum frutescens), jamun (syzygium cumini), bittergourd (momordica charantia), ginger (zingiber officinale), lantil doughnut (wadian) etc. The dryer overcomes the limitation associated with traditional drying method i.e. open sun drying (OSD). The dryer requires electric energy for its operation, which can be met from main grid or solar photovoltaic modules. For manufacturing and marketing of this technology, the Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana has signed an MoA with M/s Vishivkarma Solar Energy Corporation, Phillaur, Distt. Jalandhar.
It is a medium capacity solar dryer capable of drying upto 40 kg of fresh product in about 2-5 sunny days. Its aperture area is 1.4 m2 and is made of highly efficient evacuated tubes that are open at both ends/one end. It has fan powered with solar photovoltaic panel. It needs shadow free area of 2m x 2.5m. It can be used for drying vegetables, spices, fruits etc. in the form of small solid pieces. Drying product is loaded in six perforated stainless-steel trays each of size 66.5cm x 51cm x 7cm high. In comparison to open sun, drying in this solar dryer results in better quality and reduces drying time by 72%. This dryer has payback period of about 360 drying days.
The Advanced Domestic Solar Dryer has separate solar air heater and drying chamber. It has aperture area of 0.40 m2. The drying chamber is open-able at the top and has two trays placed one above the other. It can be used for drying vegetables, spices, fruits etc. in the form of small solid pieces.The product to be dried is placed in the trays. For drying, the dryer is placed facing south, at a location where sunshine is available throughout the day. The drying time in solar dryer depends on drying product and season. Generally, the product gets dried in 1-4 days. In comparison to open sun, the drying time in solar dryer reduces to 25-35%. The quality of product dried in this dryer is superior to Open Sun drying.
It can be used to dry various products (vegetables, spices etc.) under hygienic conditions for commercial purpose. It works in controlled recirculation air loop and utilizes maximum heating capacity of the unspent air leaving the dehydration chamber. The relative humidity of air in recirculation air loop is kept below the set value by automatically mixing of ambient air into recirculation air loop by opening and closing of dampers for air inlet and outlet. When dampers open, recirculation air is thrown out of the loop and same amount of ambient air mixes with recirculation drying air, thereby maintaining drying capability of air. There is 30% reduction in drying time as compared to conventional open loop solar dryer. It is suitable for commercial establishments.
The solar powered air heater is an innovative evacauted tube type air heating device. It employs solar photovolattic modules and DC fans for air flow. This air heater does not require conventional energy input and has zero running cost as compared to the earlier design of solar air heater. It be used in Forced Circulation Solar Dryer (FCSD) that makes the FCSD fully solar powered thereby making the FCSD suitable for even remote locations with erratic/no power supply. The cost of this heater is also less than the earlier design.
List of Patents
