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The energy scene in the world is a complex picture of a variety of energy sources being used to meet the world's growing energy needs. There is, however, a gap in the demand and supply. It is recognized that decentralized power generation based on the various renewable energy technologies can, to some extent, help in meeting the growing energy needs. The renewable energy landscape has witnessed tremendous changes in the policy framework with accelerated and ambitious plans to increase the contribution of renewable energy such as solar, wind, bio-power, and others. Hybrid renewable energy systems are important for continuous operation and supplements each form of energy seasonally, offering several benefits over a stand-alone system. It can enhance capacity and lead to greater security of continuous electricity supply, among other applications. This book provides a platform for researchers, academics, industry professionals, consultants and designers to discover state-of-the-art developments and challenges in the field of hybrid renewable energy. Written by a team of experts and edited by one of the top researchers in hybrid renewable systems, this volume is a must-have for any engineer, scientist, or student working in this field, providing a valuable reference and guide in a quickly emerging field.
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Cover
Title Page
Copyright
1 Resource Assessment and Implementation of Hybrid Renewable Energy Systems for Food Preservation in Agro-Tropical Areas: A Techno-Economic Approach
1.1 Introduction
1.2 Materials and Methods
1.3 Results and Discussion
1.4 Conclusions
References
2 Implementation of Hybrid Renewable Energy Projects in Rural India—A Case Study
2.1 Introduction
2.2 Overview of Microgrid
2.3 Basic Structure of Hybrid System
2.4 Hybrid Microgrid Control
2.5 Project Location
2.6 Load Profile Study of Proposed Location
2.7 Operation of Hybrid Microgrid System Considered for Current Study
2.8 Technical Specification of Hybrid System
2.9 Modeling of Hybrid Microgrid System
2.10 Last One Year Output of Hybrid Microgrid Plant
2.11 Financial Analysis
2.12 Tariff Calculation
2.13 Conclusion
References
3 Techno-Economic Analysis of Hybrid Renewable Energy System with Energy Storage for Rural Electrification
3.1 Introduction
3.2 HES Components
3.3 Energy Storage Systems
3.4 Hybrid Energy System Configuration
3.5 Component Sizing of Hybrid RE Systems
3.6 Techno-Economical Analysis
3.7 Conclusion
References
4 Modeling and Energy Optimization of Hybrid Energy Storage System
4.1 Introduction
4.2 Modeling of Proposed Topology
4.3 Control Strategies
4.4 Energy Optimization Strategy and Simulation Results
4.5 Conclusion
Acknowledgment
References
5 Techno Commercial Study of Hybrid Systems for the Agriculture Farm Using Homer Software
5.1 Introduction
5.2 Electricity Consumption by Agricultural Sector
5.3 Literature Review
5.4 Study Location
5.5 Load Estimation of the Farm
5.6 Renewable Energy Technology Used in the Hybrid System
5.7 System Design and Analysis
5.8 Conclusion
References
6 Experimental Investigation of Solar Photovoltaic Cold Storage With Thermal Energy Storage
6.1 Introduction
6.2 Scope of Cold Storage in India
6.3 Materials and Method
6.4 Economic Analysis
6.5 Different Business Models for SPV Cold Storage With Thermal Energy Storage
6.6 Result and Discussions
6.7 Conclusions
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
References
7 Estimation of Fault Voltages in Renewable Energy–Based Microgrid
7.1 Introduction
7.2 Problem Formulation
7.3 Pseudo Code/Algorithm for Taylor-RLS
7.4 Experimental Validation
7.5 Conclusion
References
8 Optimization of PV-Wind Hybrid Renewable Energy System for Health Care Buildings in Smart City
8.1 Introduction
8.2 Objectives and Methodology
8.3 Description of the HE
8.4 Results and Discussion
8.5 Conclusion
Nomenclatures
References
9 Hybrid Solar-Biomass Gasifier System for Electricity and Cold Storage Applications for Rural Areas of India
9.1 Introduction
9.2 Literature Review
9.3 Materials and Methods
9.4 Performance Evaluation
9.5 Results and Discussion
9.6 Conclusion & Suggestions for Future Work
Suggestions for Future Work
References
Index
Also of Interest
End User License Agreement
Chapter 1
Figure 1.1 Photographical view of the study region.
Figure 1.2 Photographical view of dairy farms and agro preservation centre in th...
Figure 1.3 The proposed hybrid renewable energy–operated refrigeration system.
Figure 1.4 Analysis procedure for the proposed system.
Figure 1.5 Overall efficiency of the system with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.6 Overall efficiency of the system with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.7 Overall efficiency of the system with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.8 Variations in CIC and OC with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.9 Variations in CIC and OC with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.10 Variations in CIC and OC with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.11 Variations in SPBT with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.12 Variations in SPBT with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.13 Variations in SPBT with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.14 Variations in NPV with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.15 Variations in NPV with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.16 Variations in NPV with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.17 Variations in LCC with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.18 Variations in LCC with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.19 Variations in LCC with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.20 Variations in TAC and ACC with the EMR of MR1, MR2 and MR3.
Figure 1.21 Variations in TAC and ACC with the EMR of MR4, MR5 and MR6.
Figure 1.22 Variations in TAC and ACC with the EMR of MR7, MR8 and MR9.
Figure 1.23 Sensitivity analysis of overall efficiency of the system.
Figure 1.24 Sensitivity analysis of capital investment cost of the system.
Figure 1.25 Sensitivity analysis of the operating cost of the system.
Figure 1.26 Sensitivity analysis of simple payback time of the system.
Chapter 2
Figure 2.1 Basic Microgrid structure.
Figure 2.2 Project location for hybrid plant.
Figure 2.3 Average load pattern of household in April.
Figure 2.4 Average demand of power on a yearly basis.
Figure 2.5 Peak load that the hybrid micro-grid caters to over a day.
Chapter 3
Figure 3.1 Hybrid renewable energy system.
Figure 3.2 Energy storage type.
Figure 3.3 Pumped hydro storage [77].
Figure 3.4 Compressed air energy storage [78].
Figure 3.5 Flywheel energy storage [79].
Figure 3.6 Hydrogen-based ESS [78].
Figure 3.7 Battery energy storage [78].
Figure 3.8 Super capacitors [78].
Figure 3.9 Superconducting magnet energy storage [78].
Figure 3.10 Efficiency of different energy storage system.
Figure 3.11 Type of HES.
Figure 3.12 DC-coupled systems.
Figure 3.13 DC-coupled systems.
Figure 3.14 Hybrid-coupled systems.
Figure 3.15 The hourly load curve within study area.
Figure 3.16 The monthly load curve within study area.
Figure 3.17 Monthly average solar radiation and cleanness index for the study ar...
Figure 3.18 Monthly average wind data available.
Figure 3.19 Overall cost summary of all three configurations.
Figure 3.20 Comparison of the economic assessment.
Figure 3.21 Monthly average electricity generation of optimal configuration.
Chapter 4
Figure 4.1 Proposed active hybrid energy storage system model.
Figure 4.2 Equivalent circuit of PV module.
Figure 4.3 IV and PV characteristics of PV module.
Figure 4.4 Li-ion battery First order Equivalent Circuit Model.
Figure 4.5 Ultracapacitor first order equivalent circuit model.
Figure 4.6 Perturb and Observe (P&O) flowchart.
Figure 4.7 (a) Boost Converter Circuit Diagram (b) Selection mode of Duty Cycle ...
Figure 4.8 Buck-boost DC-DC converter model of (a) Li-ion Battery module (b) Ult...
Figure 4.9 Control mode of duty cycle to drive the buck-boost converter of Li-io...
Figure 4.10 Simulation Results of PV Hybrid Energy Storage Topology in different...
Chapter 5
Figure 5.1 Energy consumption in agricultural sector in India.
Figure 5.2 Solar radiation distribution in Dindigul District. Source: Data obtai...
Figure 5.3 Solar radiation profile: Source: National Renewable Energy Lab databa...
Figure 5.4 Monthly average temperature distribution in Dindigul District.
Figure 5.5 Layout of HOMER Software [9].
Figure 5.6 Schematic model of the Case-1 PV/Biomass Hybrid system.
Figure 5.7 Optimization results from HOMER software.
Figure 5.8 Total net present cost of the component for the Hybrid system.
Figure 5.9 Monthly average electricity Production PV/ biomass hybrid system.
Figure 5.10 PV power output vs days.
Figure 5.11 Biomass generator power output vs days.
Figure 5.12 Schematic model of the Case-2 PV/Biogas Hybrid system.
Figure 5.13 Optimization results from HOMER software for PV/Biogas.
Figure 5.14 Total net present cost of the component for the Hybrid system.
Figure 5.15 Monthly average electricity production PV/Biogas hybrid system.
Figure 5.16 PV power output vs. days.
Figure 5.17 Biogas generator power output vs. days.
Figure 5.18 Comparison of current and base system.
Chapter 6
Figure 6.1 Schematic of solar-powered cold storage with thermal storage.
Figure 6.2 Thermal energy storage system for providing backup for cooling in col...
Figure 6.3 Variable frequency drive controller at NISE.
Figure 6.4 Testing of variable frequency drive controller through SPV power anal...
Figure 6.5 Solar powered cold storage installed at NISE.
Figure 6.6 Monthly average direct normal irradiance and global horizontal irradi...
Figure 6.7 (a) Global horizontal irradiance, ambient temperature, and PV power o...
Figure 6.8 (a) Global horizontal irradiance, ambient temperature, and PV power o...
Figure 6.9 (a) Global horizontal irradiance, ambient temperature, and PV power o...
Figure 6.10 (a) Global horizontal irradiance, ambient temperature, and PV power ...
Figure 6.11 Cold room temperature variation with ambient and GHI.
Figure 6.12 Energy required for compressor with ambient temperature on different...
Figure 6.13 Energy generation and compressor running hours of 7.5 kW SPV plant.
Figure 6.14 Different parameters of solar VFD controller at different V/F ratio.
Figure 6.15 NPV of different business models.
Figure 6.16 Reliability of non-VFD and VFD-based SPV cold storage.
Chapter 7
Figure 7.1 Smart grid network.
Figure 7.2 Microgrid network.
Figure 7.3 Wind-solar model integration with microgrid.
Figure 7.4 (a) Adaptive desired output with RLS algorithm for wind-solar model. ...
Figure 7.5 Distributed Pi-network transmission line.
Figure 7.6 (a) 3 phase voltage for ll fault, (b) adaptive desired output for ind...
Chapter 8
Figure 8.1 Geographical location of the test site.
Figure 8.2 Hybrid Energy system in HOMER software.
Figure 8.3 Global solar radiation at Chennai 2019.
Figure 8.4 Wind resource assessment at Chennai.
Figure 8.5 Average daily temperature of the site.
Figure 8.6 Output power of the photovoltaic module.
Figure 8.7 Output power from the wind generator.
Figure 8.8 Output power from the DC generator.
Figure 8.9 Battery operation of the hour of the day.
Figure 8.10 Monthly average electricity produced from hybrid energy resources.
Figure 8.11 Summary of the cost of the component of hybrid systems.
Chapter 9
Figure 9.1 Solar Biomass hybrid model for power generation and cold storage mode...
Figure 9.2 Actual setup of Solar Biomass hybrid model for power generation and c...
Figure 9.3 Gas-engine generator.
Figure 9.4 Waste heat recovery unit.
Figure 9.5 Aluminium mirror.
Figure 9.6 Solar Grade mirror.
Figure 9.7 Receiver insulation.
Figure 9.8 Receiver support structure.
Figure 9.9 Tracking system.
Figure 9.10 Storage tank.
Figure 9.11 Storage support system.
Figure 9.12 Scheffler dish collectors.
Figure 9.13 Line diagram of Solar biomass hybrid model for cold storage.
Figure 9.14 Cold storage unit (outside view).
Figure 9.15 Cold storage (inside view).
Figure 9.16 Effect of COP on generator temperature.
Figure 9.17 Effect of condenser temperature on COP.
Figure 9.18 Effect of evaporator temperature on COP.
Figure 9.19 Mass of Wood used in auxiliary firing v/s Power generation.
Figure 9.20 Specific fuel consumption vs. load.
Figure 9.21 Variation of COP with required cooling area temp.
Figure 9.22 Effect of COP with Condenser pressure (bar).
Figure 9.23 Variation of exhaust heat vs. electrical load.
Figure 9.24 Monthly energy demand (KW/hr) to run vapor absorption machine.
Figure 9.25 Energy optimization during daytime.
Cover
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright
Begin Reading
Index
Also of Interest
End User License Agreement
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Scrivener Publishing100 Cummings Center, Suite 541JBeverly, MA 01915-6106
Advances in Renewable Energy
Series Editor: Umakanta Sahoo
Scope: The global warming phenomenon as a significant sustainability issue is gaining worldwide support for development of renewable energy technologies. Advance in Renewable Energy covers the recent development on solar energy technologies (Solar Photovoltaic & Solar Thermal) for various applications like power generation, process heat etc., Design development of hybrid renewable energy systems i.e. wind-photovoltaic, solar thermal with biomass, bagasse, bio gas and New development of energy storage for continuous generation of power, various industrial process heat applications, cooling, desalination, and other areas.
Submission to the series:Contact Publisher Phil [email protected](512)203-2236
Publishers at ScrivenerMartin Scrivener ([email protected])Phillip Carmical ([email protected])
Edited by
Umakanta Sahoo
This edition first published 2021 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, USA and Scrivener Publishing LLC, 100 Cummings Center, Suite 541J, Beverly, MA 01915, USA
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
ISBN 9781119555575
Cover image: Green Energy Source Icons | Pop Nukoonrat, dreamstime.comCover design by Kris Hackerott
Set in size of 11pt and Minion Pro by Manila Typesetting Company, Makati, Philippines
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10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
M. Edwin1*, M. Saranya Nair2 and S. Joseph Sekhar3
1Department of Mechanical Engineering, University College of Engineering, Nagercoil, Anna University Constituent College, Nagercoil, India
2School of Electronics Engineering, Vellore Institute of Technology, Chennai Campus, Chennai, India
3Mechanical Section, Department of Engineering, Shinas College of Technology, Shinas, Sultanate of Oman
Abstract
In tropical countries, approximately 75% of people are involved in the production of dairy and agricultural goods. About 45% of agricultural produce loses its value in rural areas due to the lack of adequate storage and transport facilities. Therefore, cooling systems that work with locally available renewable energy resources are essential to preserving the perishable agricultural products in isolated tropical regions. By implementing a suitable vapour absorption cooling system, the heat energy from the available renewable energy resources can be used to satisfy the cooling demand. This chapter examines the techno-economic viability of the number of configurations of producer gas, biogas and gobar gas energy sources that operate a chilling system. The analysis has been performed with the use of MATLAB software, and the suitable hybrid energy systems have been predicted for serving a community in tropical regions. The results indicate that producer gas/biogas/gobar gas combinations in hybrid renewable energy-operated 35 kW vapour absorption cooling system shows the minimum operating cost (INR 0.81–0.88 million), simple payback time (2.8–3.2 years) and life cycle cost (INR 44.5–48.4 million), and effectively achieves a positive net present cost and the maximum overall efficiency (0.19–0.24).
Keywords: Hybrid energy system, bioenergy, absorption chiller, payback time, net present cost, life cycle cost
Energy demand is increasing at an unprecedented rate all over the world. A major part of the world’s current energy generation is from fossil fuels, resulting in the continuous depletion of this resource. In tropical countries, approximately 75% of the population is engaged in the production of milk and agro products. About 25-45% of agricultural produce loses its value in rural areas due to the lack of adequate storage and transport facilities. At the local village level, this spoilage can be avoided by providing suitable cooling systems for short-term preservation [1]. Integration of available renewable energy sources for energy systems in remote tropical areas has become an area of current interest in the renewable energy sector. A major part of India’s population lives in rural areas and many such villages in those areas are disconnected from the grid connectivity. The extension of grid power to these villages may not be feasible due to real-time situations; however, a stand-alone hybrid renewable energy system can be implemented to overcome such issues [2]. Cleaner energy in the electricity grid is necessary to mitigate the rising greenhouse gases. Due to the fluctuating nature of renewable energy, its outputs are subject to variation and hence it is important to plan as much buffer as possible in the portion of renewable energy in any energy system [3]. Several works have been carried out regarding the feasibility of hybrid renewable energy-operated refrigeration systems, and its implementation issues, capacity, efficiency, optimisation and combinations with other renewable energy technologies. Normally hybrid energy is considered the working of primary renewable energy systems with conventional energy sources. The renewable energy hybrid system will be cost-competitive for rural areas, instead of stand-alone systems [4]. Moreover, their optimum combination would reduce environmental pollution, capital and operating expenses [5]. The combined impacts of several variables, including expense, productivity, social impact, acceptance, reliability and demand are the essential parameters for the implementation of a hybrid energy system [6]. Synergistic advantages can be obtained by integrating multiple forms of energy resources in the generation of heat and electricity. When settling on the viability of a given arrangement, close attention must be paid to many crucial considerations such as the origin of the source, access to different renewable energy sources, co-location of the sources, handling issues in the energy source, etc. While deciding the feasibility of a hybrid system, the possibility of combining the different energy sources in a particular area of the application is more essential [7].
It is noted that the suitable mixtures of solar, biomass and biogas system would improve the techno-economic and socio-economic status in remote areas. The integration of a biomass and biogas energy system can reduce the accessibility issues of the solar energy conversion system, and reduce the implementation cost of the hybrid energy system. This shows that the integration of two or more forms of energy systems can balance the strength and weakness of each other [8]. The proper integration of available bio-energy sources can overcome the solar dependency issues caused by the peculiar climatic and geographical conditions of remote places [9]. The integration of solar and biogas to supply heat to a vapour absorption chiller is economically viable and the excess biogas in this process can be used to operate the electrical accessories, including pumps, in the cooling system [10]. This combination of these two types of renewable energy sources gives the COP of chiller and overall system as 0.7 and 0.11, respectively [11]. The study also shows that the solar-biomass hybrid system is capable to act with better precision and efficiency than traditional systems with more than 65% savings in operation time [12]. Even though the hybrid solar-biomass system has environmental benefits, a long payback period is reported as the major issue [13]. Biomass gasifier is integrated with the wind energy conversion system to mitigate the prediction uncertainties in stand-alone wind power systems [14]. The mixed linear programming model for the demand side management has been used to efficiently use renewable energy sources such as solar, biomass, biogas and hydro with a diesel generator to reduce the system’s capital cost [15].
In a conventional power plant, the integration of renewable energy sources can lower 30% of the net present cost and 16t of CO2 emission [16]. The energy cost biomass/hydro/solar based hybrid energy system has been reported as INR 7.5/kWh, which is lower than that of an existing hybrid system working with hydro and diesel energy sources [17]. A similar reduction in electricity cost is observed when a hybrid power system works with fuel cells, which leads to the low operating cost and favourable payback time [18].
A positive return of investment and 95% reduction in carbon emissions can be obtained in a wind/solar/diesel hybrid system besides a positive net present value, good return on investment and a Levelized cost of 0.387 $/kWh [19]. It is found that the wind-solar hybrid energy system gives an optimal net present cost and energy cost of $676,500 and 0.274 $/kWh, respectively. Moreover, it prevents 6,100 tons of CO2 to enter the air and also saves $121,600 over 25 years of its lifetime [20]. The energy cost of INR10.18/kWh is reported for a solar/wind/bioenergy-based hybrid power generation for a remote area in the southern part of India. When the bio-energy sources are integrated with solar and wind energy conversion systems, the capital investment cost of the system can be minimised [21]. The non-uniform availability of these energy sources throughout a year leads to fluctuation in the power output, and such issues can be tackled by introducing an appropriate hybrid system with one-hundred present renewable energy sources [22, 23]. Selection of wind power among all renewables may not be the best economic decision, because biomass emerges as an essential attribute to an efficient hybrid system [24]. As a renewable energy source, biomass waste will dramatically increase the techno-economic efficiency of local hybrid renewable energy systems and support the government agencies to overcome the issues related to dumping of waste and its impacts on soil quality. Further, the reliability of such systems is proved by the sensitivity analysis on its critical factors [25]. Biogas/biomass/solar/wind/fuel-cell hybrid energy system can supply energy at a low cost of $0.163 per kWh [26]. It is observed that the biogas conversion contributes up to a 65% share of electricity production, thereby providing a reliable community-scale energy generation capacity along with reducing the disposal costs of local solid waste. The net present cost of biomass integrated hybrid system shows its advantage during the operation [27]. However, sufficient studies are needed to optimise the contributions of individual energy sources in a hybrid system to improve the overall efficiency, cost advantages, reliability and the impact of economic indicators to match the capacity [28].
It is seen from the review of the literature that most of the works on the hybrid renewable energy systems focus on power generation. The implementation of the hybrid-energy concept in thermal applications is also essential to further widen the application of renewable energy sources in remote places. Therefore, this study is focused on the assessment of renewable energy sources and the thermal energy requirements for food preservation in isolated places and identify a suitable combination of bioenergy sources for maximum system efficiency, economic advantage and environmental benefits. Since the total energy needed for a particular application is taken from renewable energy sources, the mitigation of environmental issues is expected.
Most of the food preservation technologies prevailing today use electricity from either grid or fossil fuel–operated engines to run the vapour compression cooling systems. A few solar power–operated systems are also installed in some places. These systems have issues either with environmental impacts or high initial investment. Many hurdles are experienced in using multiple renewable energy sources since the vapour compression systems need electrical power as input energy. However, the advantage of renewable energy sources can be utilized by operating a vapour absorption system from the low-grade heat which is taken from the renewable energy sources with high conversion efficiency. Therefore, the bioenergy conversion technology was considered for the efficient installation of an absorption cooling system to conserve the agricultural produce of some remote locations in the southern part of India, where grid connectivity and transport facilities are limited. To accomplish this task the major objectives are defined as follows.
To assess the cooling needs and the potential of renewable energy sources based on the data collected in the field survey.
To find the performance parameters of the selected vapour absorption chilling system working with different combinations of producer gas, biogas and gobar gas in an agrotropical area.
To predict the economic parameters for the implementation of the proposed system.
To identify the suitable combination of renewable energy sources for food preservation in the selected area, with optimum overall efficiency, financial advantages and risk parameters.
The energy-efficient and eco-friendly preservation of agricultural products including milk at the production area itself can improve the quality and reduce the spoilage perishable produce. This can also contribute to the world’s growth because its essential connection and growth opportunities enhance the two economic pillars, agriculture and manufacturing. Since agriculturally based activities are clustered mainly in a rural area, proper care should be given to those areas in applying renewable energy technologies with economic benefits. Therefore, some villages of such area in the Western Ghats of India have been taken for the study and the available energy sources, and their demands for preservation needs are studied to identify the appropriate mix of energy sources to run a vapour absorption system to meet the cooling need.
In this section, the procedure used to identify the critical factors considered to survey local households, the energy needed to run a vapour absorption cooling system to meet the preservation needs and the possible mix of energy sources are discussed. A load/demand analysis was also performed to identify the appropriate capacity of the cooling system.
A cluster of villages in south Tamil Nadu, which was an industrial-backward district in India, was selected for the study. Relevant data was gathered through a comprehensive field-level survey of the information available from census and other sources. A schedule for house listing was developed and distributed to all households in the study area. The house listing plan included all households in the villages selected and specific details, such as the number of families, profession, the scale of the landholdings in operation, etc. The photographs taken from the study region are shown in Figure 1.1. A systematic procedure for primary field survey about rural energy use is employed by taking into account the most important criteria affecting the trend and strength of energy usage.
Based on the past research, samples have been collected regarding the domestic energy consumption, energy consumption in agriculture, milk production and preservation needs, the economic viability of technologies in the rural systems and impact of technology on rural systems. Households were mentioned in alphabetical order in the study region for the family head numbers, including 10–15 households chosen by systematic random sampling process from the study region. Based on this, 60 sample houses in each area are chosen, and the comprehensive household-level analysis is performed.
Figure 1.1 Photographical view of the study region.
Field studies on household and direct interview approach in the study region are carried out to gather the data on the accessibility of renewable energy sources, current energy consumption, etc. This study uses a questionnaire as a method for collecting specific knowledge from the field which consists of well-written questions and spaces given for the respondent to fill in with remarks or make checkmarks. This survey inquires more about the reality and opinions of participants in the study, through personal interactions, statements, and feedback. As seen below, the survey questionnaires are split into two sections, as current energy consumption and the personal information about the people. Survey about the current energy consumption includes existing preservation methods, fuels, transportation facilities, capacity and specification about the diesel Genset and information about the skill of the operators. The personal information questionnaire encompasses the daily household usage of various forms of energy, its potential and the utilisation of bioenergy resources. Each family’s detailed information is gathered by personal interaction with the individuals. The accuracy of the data has been verified from the census data collected from government and non-government organizations, state and district administrations, veterinary dispensaries, etc.
Among perishable agriculture products, milk is highly sensitive to time and temperature, and it needs immediate cooling to avoid spoilage in the supply chain. Moreover, small-scale dairy farming is popular in the study region. Therefore, this study is focused on this commodity for the analysis. The dairy industry sector primarily involves the dairy cooperative societies and corporate and government dairy farms which collect, refine, and sell milk and dairy products. To collect the milk from small-scale farming houses milkmen are employed, and the collected milk is processed by the milk cooperative societies situated in many spots. In a conventional method, it is sold directly to customers at the plant.
Normally farmers milk their livestock 2-3 times a day and they take the milk to nearby collecting centres where it is either processed or preserved.
Figure 1.2 Photographical view of dairy farms and agro preservation centre in the study region.
In this process, the milk produced is collected at the community level and immediately transported to the chilling centres or the bulk milk cooling units (BMC) available in selected places, where the milk is cooled to 4°C. The procurement of milk from farmers is conducted as per the design capacity of storage resources of the rural cooperative societies. Villages with BMC facilities have their milk obtained at 6- to 7-hour intervals twice a day, and it is chilled by the small-scale conventional cooling system. The capacity of the tank is 5,000 litres which can store the milk collected in one full-day storage or two milking cycles. One milking process yields between 2,000-3,500 litres of milk. Since the milk temperature in BMCs is kept at 4-6°C, the fermentation of milk is controlled, and the milk stays fresh and free from acidity and alcohol. The photographic view of a dairy farm and the milk chilling systems available in the study region is given in Figure 1.2.
There are different types of biomass such as woody biomass, municipal waste and cow dung, which are available in the study region in a reasonable quantity. These types of biomass have the high potential to generate gaseous fuel either through thermochemical or the biochemical conversion process. Since the quality of gaseous fuels from these biowastes are different, they are grouped into three fuels such as producer gas, biogas and gobar gas which are obtained from biomass gasifier, municipal waste digester and cobra gas plant, respectively. This is also the reason for studying the potential for these wastes.
The main sources of Producer Gas Energy Sources (PGES) is tapioca stalk, Paddy straw, coconut shell, coconut rachises, wood chips, etc. The main BioGas Energy Sources (BGES) are Municipal Solid Waste, which is collected from domestic sectors. The amount of household waste produced from each family is 4 to 7 kg per day, and the quantity of waste needed to produce 1m3
