Design and Development of Renewable Energy based Hybrid Community Cooking System
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Date
2019-10-10
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MPUT, UDAIPUR
Abstract
Energy is the major contributing factor in the economic and social development of any country. The increasing gap between demand and supply of energy necessitates the development of renewable energy technologies. Sun is a huge and promising source of renewable energy. Solar radiations can easily be converted into heat or electric energy which can reduce the dependency on non-conventional sources of energy to a large extent. Biogas is another clean fuel which finds its use in cooking, lighting and power generation. Biogas can be produced from raw materials such as manure, food waste, agricultural waste, plant material, municipal waste, sewage and green wastes. So, there is a need to develop such infrastructures and systems that can effectively convert solar radiations into usable energy. If one system is insufficient to convert the solar radiations efficiently, then other efficient systems can be connected in series for a single application. In other words it can be stated that renewable energy based hybrid system can be used for meeting specific demand of energy; for example in the field of cooking especially in community cooking. A hybrid energy system usually consists of two or more renewable energy sources used simultaneously which increases the efficiency and performance of the system. Hybrid energy systems are an ideal solution as they can offer substantial improvements in performance and cost reduction, and can be tailored to varying end user requirements. To study the scope of renewable energy in community cooking as hybrid community cooking system, community mess of Geetanjali Institute of Technical Studies, Dabok, Udaipur (Raj) was chosen. This community mess serves 400 persons daily. For boiling rice, pulses, and green vegetables daily heat requirement is estimated 321.5 MJ/day. To fulfill aforesaid heat requirement, LPG consumption when conventional cooking was practiced was about 0.565 cylinders (commercial cylinder, 19kg) per day which has cost of Rs.1383. The purpose of this research work was to develop a system which will make maximum use of renewable energy technologies in cooking of food and thus reduce
173 emission of green house gases and dependence on conventional fuel (LPG). Therefore, an attempt was made to design and develop hybrid systems which were an integration of solar water heater, biogas, heat pipe and boiler. The appropriate hybrid renewable energy systems were identified for reduction in consumption of LPG in cooking which is a conventional fuel. These systems were- i) Hybrid system based on solar water heater and boiler. ii) Hybrid system based on solar water heater, heat pipe (ETC with heat pipe) and boiler. iii) Hybrid system based on solar water heater, biogas and boiler. iv) Hybrid system based on solar water heater, heat pipe (ETC with heat pipe), biogas and boiler. Subsequently, these systems were designed, developed and evaluated for their techno economic feasibility. During testing, temperature profiles of systems were measured and the heat supplied into the boiler was calculated in each case. Analysis showed that cooking by these hybrid systems not only reduced the consumption of wood but also reduced dependency on conventional fuels like LPG. In the testing of boiler based system, if cooking was done exclusively with the boiler, then this system will have a payback period of 25 months In the testing of hybrid system of solar water heater with boiler, thermal profile indicated that water was preheated by solar water heater to a minimum of 6°C in morning hours to 20°C in noon hours. Average 14% of heat was added by solar water heater in the water. The economics of this system indicated its feasibility, with payback period of 27 months. Solar heat pipe has high heat transfer capability; and its addition in the system greatly reduced the conventional fuel requirement in the boiler. In hybrid system of Solar water heater, solar heat pipe (ETC with heat pipe) and boiler, required heat input was decreased by about 37% in the boiler. Economics revealed its suitability for
174 heat addition, with payback period of 29.5 months over the LPG (conventional) method of heat generation. In the commercial food houses, the problem of kitchen waste disposal is easily solved by feeding it into biogas plant. Inadequate management of wastes like uncontrolled dumping bears several adverse consequences. It not only leads to polluting surface and groundwater but also promotes the breeding of flies, mosquitoes, rats and other disease bearing vectors. Kitchen waste releases unpleasant odour and methane which is a major greenhouse gas contributing to global warming. Biogas has calorific value about 20MJ/m3 to 24MJ/m3. In the present study constant supply of biogas was taken for preheating of water. Thermal profile of the integrated system of solar water heater, biogas with boiler indicated about 42% reduction in heat input in the boiler. The Economics proved its feasibility with payback period of 22.5 months over LPG based system of cooking. The thermal analysis of hybrid system of solar water heater, solar heat pipe, biogas and boiler indicated preheating of water from 50°C to 95°C, thus reducing heat energy input by about 50% in the boiler. This system made maximum utilization of solar energy as compared to other systems. The economics revealed its feasibility with payback period of 24.5 months over LPG based system of cooking. The renewable energy based hybrid systems so developed not only maintain the nutrients and quality of food during cooking but also reduces the dependence on LPG which is a conventional source of energy.
Description
Design and Development of Renewable Energy based Hybrid Community Cooking System
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Agarwal V. And Jain S.