Today's Compressed biogas (CBG) is Tomorrow's green hydrogen

 

A developing economy like India Knows the importance of energy as it is the largest resource that will shape our future in the coming years. Looking at fossils import burden and rising prices of fuels in the country will only speed up the drive for renewable fuels like Ethanol, Methanol, ATJ, CBG apart from renewable electricity.

Our strong commitment will lead to more hunger and effort to increase to the production of renewable fuels and energies which will make India clean and self-sufficient to a major extent. The infrastructure is developing at a great pace for the biofuel drive and we have made great progress for liquid and gaseous biofuels. The years to come will witness more robust infrastructure from all aspects apart from production scale, off-take and distribution.

Hydrogen is the fuel of the future and talk of the town in recent past for all good reasons around the globe. India is all set to play a major role in the green hydrogen economy moving forward. At present major section of the industry is focusing on the production of green hydrogen from renewable energy like solar and wind for large scale production. The world green hydrogen industry is also focusing on similar energies and very much aligned to the way India approaches it.

Agriculture is the backbone of the Indian economy and any industry which connect to the ground always had a larger impact on national interest. Doubling farmers income is one of the prime objectives of authorities and most of the national programs have this connection which is our strength.

Biogas to CBG mission was started with this connect in the background in 2018 and going strong. CBG is one of the important biofuels in focus after Ethanol in India at present time. Industry moving very positively to make 5000 CBG plant a reality. To make this happen all part of the industry is playing major roles whether it is technology, engineering, infrastructure, OMC’s, Financial institutions or agriculture teams with a vision for bio-fertilizer.

Once the CBG infrastructure will take a shape across the country alongside the EV boom will become a strong foundation for hydrogen-based transportation. The CBG has methane as a major component and it can be readily converted to hydrogen. These CBG plants will then be all set to transform to decentralized hydrogen generation stations which will fuel our energy and transportation future in years to come. CBG to green hydrogen will be detailed in coming articles soon.  

Tone of refrigeration

A ton of Refrigeration (TR)

A ton of refrigeration (TR)  is a unit of heat extraction capacity of the refrigeration or cooling equipment. Generally, TR is defined as the amount of heat transferred to freeze or melt 1 short ton of ice at 0 deg. C in 24 hours. 

1 TR is approximately equal to 12000 BTU or 3024 Kcal/hr of energy/heat load. 

The heat of the fusion of water is about 335 KJ/kg or 80.01 kCal/kg. 1 short ton is equal to 2000 lb or 907 kg. 

                      

 Example: 1000 kg/hr of air is to be cooled from  45 deg. C to 10 Deg. C in the heat exchanger with chilled water for some process requirement then what will be chiller capacity required. Temp. the difference across the chiller is assumed to be 5 deg. C. The chilling water is pumped through a heat exchanger using a centrifugal pump. The Chiling circuit is as below,

Ans:

TR is the amount of heat to be extracted from the system or process.

Assumption :

1.     Air is 100 % dry at inlet temp.

2.     The system is well insulated and Heat gain from the atmosphere is negligible.

Here cooling duty of the heat exchanger is the amount of heat to be extracted and heat added by a chilling water recirculation pump.

Let's calculate the Chilling duty (Q_a) of the heat exchanger.

Qa     = Air Flow rate x Cp of Air x ( Air in temp – Air out Temp)

          = 1000 x 0.24 x ( 45-10 )

          = 8400 Kcal/hr

Qa = 8400/3024 = 2.78 TR ------------------ I

Let's calculate the chilling water flow rate (Mw) for Qa

Chilling water flow rate (Mw)  = Qa /( Cp x ( Chiller temp. Diff.)

Mw = 8400 /(1*5) =

Mw = 1.7 m3/hr ------------------------ II

Pumping power (Shaft power) with about 30-meter liquid head and 30 % pump efficiency is about 0.44 kWh. Assuming worse case that all pumping power  (Qp) will be added to liquid which is about 0.44 kWh i.e. 378 kCal/hr ( 1 kWh = 860 Kcal).

Total heat load on chiller is,

 Qc    = Qa+Qp

          = 8400 + 378

          = 8778 Kcal/ Hr ------------------------------ III

Chiller Capacity =  8778 Kcal/hr i.e. 2.9 TR.

Note:

1.     If air or gas is saturated or has moisture then the heat of condensation will be added to cooling duty to calculate actual chiller capacity.

         

Nature is full of inspirations and learnings irrespective of situations.

View from Malhar Hills, Dhayari, Pune( PC - Bharat Kadu)

We are been to Malhar hills on the 14th Oct 2018, a beautiful place adjacent to our residence. It's been a great outing for the team which has a member as young as 3 years to 50 years. We had a nice interaction which was full of information and ideas. The place is extremely beautiful and untouched by the urban culture which makes it very refreshing and energizing for young and adults. 

I would like to share a thought that passed by when we were coming down to base camp. It is the similarity between our life and the process of climbing up & down the hill.

Generally, when we climb up we have to fight against gravity and the odds of the place such as rocks, stiff slops, etc. Things are there to pull us down if we don't move up.  These things actually demand a fair amount of energy (physical & Mental) and we get tired. Still, we climb up to the summit. Basically, we prove our mental against all odds. In our life when we are determined for something we exhibit the same efforts to achieve our goals irrespective of situations around us, isn't it? Let me tell you it feels great when we accomplished those goals, right?. We thank all our hard work and supporters for the same. It's awesome, similar to learning from failure.

The situation when we are coming down from top to base. We need not put a lot of effort and energy as now flow is with us. I feel personally this is the most difficult situation one can face in life and it could prove one of the best teachers of all time. It is most difficult to control and keep yourself composed and determined when you succeed in something. It is very much similar to learning from our own success.

" Learning from the success is as important as from the failure"