Development of Biomass Stove for Heating up Die Barrel of Rice Husk Briquette Machine

AbstractIn rice husk briquette production process, electricity is used to drive the screw press and to heat up the die barrel. In the energy-starve countries, electricity consumption for producing biomass briquette fuel is not rationale. To reduce the electricity consumption in biomass briquette production process, a biomass fired stove is developed to use as the replacement of the electric heater. The biomass stove is capable of raising the temperature of die barrel at desired level for making briquette. The stove is made of refractory brick and clay. The stove is fired with rice husk briquette. The stove provides heat to die barrel instead of electric heater. The stove shows satisfactory performance by replacing the 6kW electric-heater in this study. The modified rice husk briquetting machine consumed about 76kg of rice husk briquette and about 80 kWh of electricity to produce one tonne of rice husk briquette instead of 179 kWh of electricity consumption by traditional rice husk briquetting machine for same quantity of rice husk briquette produced. Hence at least 50% of electricity consumption for rice husk briquette production could be replaced by using the modified technology discussed in this paper

Effective renewable energy activities in Bangladesh

Bangladesh is endowed with plentiful supply of renewable sources of energy. Out of the various renewable sources, solar and biomass and to a limited extend, wind and hydro-power are effectively used. This paper, discusses the effective applications of these resources. Bangladesh receives an average daily solar radiation of 4-6.5 kWh/m2. Solar photovoltaic (PV) are gaining acceptance for providing electricity to households and small business enterprises in grid remote rural areas. Under the 'Rural Electrification and Renewable Energy Development (RERED) Programme' a total of 64,000 SHSs will be installed by 2007. So far, a total of 37,000 SHSs with a capacity of about 2.5 MWp have been installed in the country. The next effective source of renewable energy is biomass. Under this category improved stoves, bio-gas plant and bio-mass briquitting are note worthy. The Institute of Fuel Research and Development (IFRD) has developed a number of improved stoves. These stoves save 50-70% fuel as compared to the traditional ones. So far, more than 100,000 stoves have been installed in the users kitchens. The potential of biogas technology is immense. According to an official estimates there is a cattle population of 24 million and poultry population of 75 million. This can produce about 3 billion m3 biogas. The Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) and IFRD are working to install the biogas plants in the rural areas. So far, a total of 19,596 biogas plants have been installed. Khulna University of Engineering and Technology (KUET) has successfully under took a research and development work on biomass briquitting technology with a grant from SIDA. By now, this technology has transferred to private entrepreneurs. Currently, about 60 small private enterprises are producing briquettes from rice husk and saw dust. Because the country is flat, hydropower is not abundant. At present, 230 MW is harnessed from the Kaptai dam. Besides, in the southeastern hilly regions a few micro-hydro sites have been identified. Very recently, one 10 kW micro-hydro plant has been installed by LGED at Bamerchara in Chittagong. Wind energy potential is not encouraging except in the coastal areas of Bangladesh. A few wind turbines have been installed as demonstration units. A project is going on for wind mapping of the country by LGE

Renewable energy powered rural community development centres in the developing countries

People in the developing countries who lack basic services and economic opportunities are primarily concerned with improving their living conditions. At present, unemployment problem in the rural areas of the developing countries are diversifying the moral values and social responsibilities of unemployed youth. To solve the problem, rural development centres (involving vocational training, IT services and other productive activities) can contribute significantly for the upliftment of these rural youths and can transform them into grass-root entrepreneurs. One critical factor hindering the establishment of such rural development centers is access to affordable and reliable energy services. Under this backdrop, environmentally benign renewable energy systems can contribute significantly in providing much needed energy in the unserved or underserved rural development centers in the developing countries to achieve both local and global environmental benefits. The paper demonstrates that energy deficient, economically backward communities in the off-grid areas of the developing countries, can be given an array of opportunities for income generation and social progress through rural development centers with the aid of renewable energy sources (such as wind, solar photovoltaics, solar thermal, biomass and micro-hydro), thereby improving their standard of living. Poverty alleviation in rural areas can be accomplished and the critical role of access to adequate level of energy services, Information Technology (IT) and modern communication facilities in it demonstrated. Furthermore, the production,implementation, operation and maintenance of renewable energy applications being labor-intensive, will also result in job growth in the village context, preventing migration of labor force, especially of young men, from rural areas to overcrowded industrial areas. An appropriately designed renewable energy systems can also have a significant role in reducing the impact of climate change through non production of green house gases

Modified Norris-Reynolds one-equation model

A modified version of Norris–Reynolds (NR) k–equation turbulence model is proposed to account for the distinct effects of low– Reynolds number (LRN) and wall proximity. The turbulent kinetic energy k and the dissipation rate E are evaluated using the k–transport equation in conjunction with the Bradshaw and other empirical relations. The eddy–viscosity formulation maintains the positivity of normal Reynolds stresses and preserves the anisotropic characteristics of turbulence in the sense that they are sensitized to rotational and non–equilibrium flows. The modified NR (MNR) model is validated against well–documented flow cases yielding predictions in good agreement with the direct numerical simulation (DNS) and experimental data. Comparisons indicate that the MNR model offers some improvement over the original NR model and competitiveness with the Spalart–Allmaras one–equation model.Peer reviewe

Impact of supplemental vitamins and natural honey for treatment of COVID-19: a review

The main aim of the paper is to assess whether vitamin C, vitamin D, and natural honey can be administered in the course of the COVID-19 pandemic for promising in line methods with recent evidence. Both systematic literature and clinical trial identification were conducted by searching various databases. A total 58 articles and 29 clinical trials were selected wherein 11 for vitamin C, 16 for vitamin D, and 2 for natural honey were identified for analysis. The high doses of vitamin C (i.e. ‘200 mg/kg body weight/day, divided into 4 doses’) has been found to reduce COVID-19 lung damage, various flu infections. Additionally, the high doses of vitamin C can shorten around 7.8% stay in the intensive care unit. At the same time, vitamin D can effectively protect from lung injury and acute respiratory infections whereas vitamin D deficiency severely affects 75% of the institutionalized people (serum 25(OH) D < 25 nmol/L). Meanwhile, natural honey which contains proteins (0.1-0.4%); ash (0.2%); water (15-17%) has potential antiviral effects and the ability to improve immunity. Therefore, the administration of vitamins and honey is the promising evidence-based approach for reducing fatalities, saving lives, and bringing the COVID-19 pandemic to a rapid end. It is believed that the utilization of vitamin C, vitamin D, and natural honey with the current treatment may be effective in treating COVID-19-caused fatal complications such as pneumonia. Therefore, high-level clinical studies are required on COVID-19 to administrate the effects of vitamins and natural hone