Research Projects

Jaggery, a traditional concentrated sugarcane juice product, is produced in around 25 nations and accounts for 55% of global production. However, incomplete combustion of bagasse leads to higher emissions and lower thermal efficiency, reducing jaggery yield. The proposed project aims to reduce emissions and exhaust flue gas temperature in jaggery making plants, evaluate co-combustion characteristics with bagasse, and optimize the jaggery making process using suitable techniques. Experiments will be conducted with varying inlet area ratios and using different porous media to achieve complete combustion and reduce emissions. A screw feeder will be used to rectify feeding issues in the plant, while cyclone separators will be used to remove soot particles in the chimney exit. Co-combustion experiments will be conducted using different biomasses, such as crop residues and refuse-derived fuel. Saved bagasse will be used for value-added products like acoustic material, cooler mat, photocopier paper, and disposals. Waste heat will be recovered to produce activated biochar by jacketing the chimney, which has potential applications in water filtration, pyrolysis or gasification, and soil amendments. The project is unique in its use of porous media, inlet area ratio, cyclone separator, screw feeder, and chimney jacketing in jaggery producing plants. The combustion chamber design, development, and fabrication will lead to complete combustion of bagasse, resulting in decreased emissions and increased thermal efficiency, ultimately increasing jaggery production yield.

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