10 - CHP in India
10 - CHP in India
10 - CHP in India
There are significant opportunities in various industrial sectors in India for producing electrical and
thermal energy simultaneously in the co-generation mode. There is a potential of generating electricity
to the extent of about 15,000 MW through cogeneration in core industries such as sugar, breweries/
distilleries, Chlor-alkali, aluminium, fertilizer, paper & pulp, textile, petrochemicals & refineries, rice
mills etc. The fuel used for cogeneration can be conventional like coal, lignite, oil, gas or renewable
sources like bagasse, rice husk, biogas and biomass based fuels. A review of cogeneration / CHP
opportunities in some of energy intensive sectors is presented below.
1. Aluminium
Introduction:
Production of Aluminium from bauxite ore involves purification steps to
produce pure Alumina (Al2O3) and then electrolysis of Alumina. The whole
process is energy intensive. Energy accounts for about 40% of cost of
production.
There are four major aluminium producers in India viz. BALCO, NALCO,
HINDALCO and INDAL. Bayer-Hall-Heroult technology used by all producers
During purification of Alumina from bauxite ore digestion of ore at a
temperature of about 2500 C at a pressure of about 35 bar. Further the heat
is required in calcinations of the alumina at about 1000 to 12000C. Finally the electrolysis process of
producing aluminum requires electricity to the tune of 13000 kWh per MT.
Scope
There is a huge scope for CHP in this sector by recovering the waste heat from the exhaust gases
from calcinations section to produce the steam at high pressure and utilize it to generate electricity
and also provide the required steam for digestion.
All aluminium producing plants in India have their own captive power plants to provide reliable source
of electricity. All the plants are targeting to reduce energy consumption by 1 to 2% every year for next
5 to 8 years. The demand of aluminium is expected to grow by about 9 percent per annum from
present consumption levels. This sector is going through a consolidation phase and existing
producers are in the process of enhancing their production capacity so that a demand supply gap
expected in future is bridged. So CHP has a good scope in achieving reduction in specific energy
consumption of aluminium. The estimated potential for CHP in this sector is about 60 MW.
2. Distilleries
Introduction
There are about 330 distilleries in India, out of which about 250 units are in
operation. The total installed capacity is about 3500 million litres of alchohol.
Distilleries generate a large amount of waste water (spent wash) having high
COD and BOD values. The waste water cannot be discharged directly without
reducing COD/ BOD values below State Pollution Control norms. However, the
waste water can generate biogas through biomethanation and biogas can be
further utilized for the production of electricity and thermal energy through a
technology integration comprising a boiler/ steam turbine or 100% biogas engine.
The distilleries can generate steam at desired pressure and temperature to meet
their process requirements and produce electricity for captive use or for export.
Scope
Estimated potential for CHP is about 2000 MW. It is only next to bagasse cogeneration. Some
distilleries have successfully implemented CHP projects based on biogas generation from spent wash
liquors through anaerobic digestion. Biogas utilized for power and heat generation through gas
engines or steam turbines is now established technology. Some of the biogas based CHP plants in
Distillery sector are:
a) 2 MW biogas based power generation through gas engines by Kanoria Chemicals at
Ankaleshwar, Gujarat.
a) 1.0 MW biogas based power generation by Brihan Sugar Syndicate, Sreepur,
Maharashtra.
a) 2.0 MW power generation based on biogas at Saraya Distillery, UP.
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CHP projects based on biogas from spent wash not only benefits the industry by gainful utilization of
otherwise waste product but also helps in eliminating pollution.
3. Cement Industry
Introduction
India is the second largest producer of cement in the world. The Indian
cement industry is a unique combination of very large to very small capacity
and very modern to very old technology plants. The share of installed
capacity of energy inefficient wet process plants had slowly decreased from
94% in 1960 to 61% till 1980 and thereafter as a result of quantum jump in
production capacities through modern dry process plants as well as
conversion of some of the wet process plants, the share of old wet process
has been reduced to just 5% today. The Indian cement industry comprises of
124 large/medium size cement plants including grinding units and about 300
mini cement plants. The annual installed capacity of the industry is about 146 million tonnes and
production was about 106 million tonnes during 2001-02. The current trend is to install large size
single stream cement plants of 1.2-2.5 million TPA capacity.
Cement plays a vital role in infrastructure development, especially in a developing country like India.
The industry also provides direct and indirect employment to people. Economic liberalisation and
favourable industrial policies, including decontrol of cement, has resulted in enormous growth in
cement production capacities in India. The growth of cement industry in India is likely to be sustained
at the rate of 8% and the cement demand is likely to reach about 164 million tonnes by 2006-07.
Therefore the industry is look out for cheaper and environ friendly source of energy. Average use of
thermal energy is about 725 kcal/kg of clinker and use of electricity is about 82 kWh per MT of cement
production. Cement industry being a continuous process industry requires highly reliable power
supply. Therefore, most of the plants have captive power plants.
Cogeneration of power utilizing waste heat is an attractive proposition for cement plants for energy
conservation and minimizing dependence on the grid. Further, cogeneration of power will also help
reduce environmental pollution as well as strain on the economy because of reduction in consumption
of diesel oil. The present scenario therefore, warrants adoption of cogeneration systems in the Indian
cement industry to make them more economical and to ensure cleaner environment.
However, in Indian cement industry, this technology has not been implemented so far owing to the
following reasons:
• Non-availability of proven technology indigenously
• Non-availability of installation or their operating experience in India resulting in lack of
confidence
• Design of waste heat boiler suiting to high dust load.
• Large capital requirement and financial constraints owing to depressed cement marketing
scenario
Nevertheless, the cement industry is quite keen to adopt the cogeneration system provided its
apprehension with regard to technology and economic risks are alleviated through installation of
demonstration projects, and same financial assistance.
Scope
NCB studies indicate that in the dry process cement plants, nearly 40 percent of the total heat input is
rejected as waste heat from exit gases of pre-heater and grate cooler. The quantity of heat lost from
PH exit gases ranges from 180-250 kcal/kg clinker at temperature range of 300-400 o C. In addition,
80-130 kcal/kg clinker heat is lost at a temperature range of 200-300 o C from grate cooler. This waste
heat can be utilized for electric power generation. There can be many combinations to work out the
best scheme suited to a given situation. In existing plants, cogeneration technologies based on
bottoming cycles have potential to generate up to 25-30 percent of the power requirement of a plant.
The analysis of the data of 20 cement plants by NCB has indicated cogeneration potential ranging
from 3.0 to 5.5 MW in different plants depending upon the temperature and quantity of waste
gases from PH and cooler exhaust, number of PH stages, use of gases for drying of raw
materials and coal etc. There is a total cogeneration potential of about 200 MW in 45 plants of
1 MTPA and more capacity.
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4. Chlor-Alkali Industry
Introduction
The chlor-alkali industry consists of the production of three inorganic
chemicals: caustic soda (NaOH), chlorine (Cl2) and soda ash (Na2CO3).
Caustic soda and chlorine are produced simultaneously while soda ash is
produced during a different process. Hence, the chlor-alkali industry with
respect to CHP is covered in two parts:
a) Caustic Soda
The caustic soda industry in India is approximately 65 years old. There are
40 major caustic soda plants with an average plant size of 150 tons per day
(TPD), which is relatively small compared to sizes found in developed countries (500 TPD). Five
largescale caustic soda units have been commissioned since 1997. During the last 8 years, caustic
soda has increased at an average annual growth of 4%. Production of Caustic Soda during the year
2003-2004 was 1,741 thousands of MT.
The raw material necessary in the production of caustic soda consisting of salt and water is abundant
and inexpensive. Conversely, the electrical energy required to process salt into caustic soda and
chlorine is expensive and occasionally unreliable. Energy costs represent 50 to 65% of the total cost
of production.
The electrolysis phase is the most energy intensive. The thermal energy requirement is null in the
mercury process as the caustic soda solution formed is highly concentrated (50%). The diaphragm
process results in a caustic soda solution with a much lower concentration of around 10%, and
thermal energy is needed to evaporate and concentrate the solution to 50%. The membrane cells
produce a solution of about 30-35%, requiring less thermal energy. Following Table 4-1 gives
electrical and thermal energy required to produce Caustic soda lye of 48.5 % concentration.
Table 4-1. Specific Energy Consumption for Manufacturing Caustic Soda Lye*
Diaphragm (1994) Mercury Membran
(1999) e (1999)
Power Consumption (kWh/t of NaOH)
DC Power 2561 2833 2342
AC/DC losses 107 160 104
Auxiliary 457 307 254
Thermal energy for evaporation 942 0 148
During the last 10 years, production has shifted to membrane cell technology. This shift, combined
with technology improvements in mercury and membrane cell processes and energy conservation
programs intended to reduce auxiliary and rectifiers’ energy consumption, has resulted in an
estimated overall energy savings of more than 10%.
As energy in the form of electricity and heat is required for caustic soda process, CHP is the right
choice to achieve better efficiency. Hydrogen gas is produced as a by-product of caustic soda; it can
be captured and used as a fuel in on-site power co-generation. The heat can be used for the
evaporation of caustic soda and for the preparation of the brine. Moreover hydrogen is clean fuel. The
use of by-product hydrogen gas can substitute up to 35% of the total fuel requirement in a caustic
fusion plant.
b) Soda Ash
The energy needs for the production of soda ash take on different forms: electrical, thermal and
mechanical energy and feedstocks. Coke is used as a source of carbon dioxide in the soda ash
production during the limestone calcination.
Two types of soda ash are produced: “light soda ash” with a specific weight of about 500 kg/m and
“dense soda ash” of about 1000 kg/m. Light soda is directly used in the detergent sector and certain
chemical intermediates. The remainder is transformed by crystallization after drying to produce dense
soda mainly used in the glass industry. This extra step requires further energy. Table 4-2 shows the
energy requirements at different stages in the production of soda ash for the standard Solvay process
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and the dual process. Unfortunately, this level of detail is not available for the dry lime process.
However, the basic advantage of the use of dry lime instead of milk lime is a better steam balance
and the reduction in the raw material inputs, resulting in energy savings. The consumption of steam
and lime is much lower as compared to other processes.
Table 4-2. Specific Final Energy Consumption in Different Sections in a Soda Ash Plant (1994)
Table 4-3 shows the detail of the soda ash industry plants in India. 34% of the total production
capacity consists of the state of the art dry lime process, 4% the dual process and 62% the
standard Solvay process.
‘000 %
t/y
Tata Chemicals Gujarat 1948 Standard 875 33%
Solvay
Saurashtra Chemicals Gujarat 1960 Standard 650 25%
Ltd. Solvay
GHCL Gujarat 1988 Dry lime 525 20%
Nirma Ltd Gujarat 1998 Dry lime 365 14%
Tuticorin Alkalis Tamil 1982 Dual/ 115 4%
Nadu Modified
Dcw Limited Gujarat 1939 Standard 96 4%
Solvay
Scope
Cogeneration: The Solvay process requires a large amount of steam, a big part of which is used as
low pressure steam, injected directly into the process for the recovery of ammonia (steam stripping).
Energy savings can be realized by reducing steam pressure in a set of turbo-generators while
generating electricity. This electricity is produced with a "cogeneration" of steam, with an excellent
efficiency (about 90%) because all the steam leaving the turbines is used in the process. In
comparison, the same quantity of energy will be generated, in a classical power station, with a much
lower efficiency (about 30%) because of the lost released steam. Comparison of the primary energy
needs of a co-generation unit (based on gas) - for a soda ash plant - with that required for the
separate production of steam and electricity (by a classical power station for electricity and boilers for
steam), shows that it is possible to achieve 30% savings with co-generation.
Total estimated potential for CHP in this sector is about 400 MW.
5. Dairy
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Introduction
Dairy industry operation involves milk processing consisting of following steps:
1. Homogenization
2. Pasteurization involving rapid heating and cooling of milk
3. Packaging and
4. Storage
A block flow diagram is shown below:
Further conversion of milk into value added products like yoghurt, cheese, ice cream, milk powder,
condensed milk requires electricity along with heating and cooling at various stages. Therefore,
instead of depending on unreliable state grid electricity (as case may be in the most of the States) to
run plant, CHP can be good and economical option to produce power, heat and refrigeration with
higher overall efficiency. For dairy industry, biogas or other renewable agriculture source of energy
can be easily available at low cost. This can be used to generate power and steam as per
requirement. Steam can be used for Absorption refrigeration.
Total estimated potential in this sector is about 500 MW.
5. Fertilizers
Introduction
Profile of the Fertilizer industry:
Fertilizer sector is very crucial for Indian economy because it provides a
very important input to agriculture. Moreover the fertilizer industry, specially
the ammonia urea plants, are highly energy intensive in their operation.
There are vide variation in the vintage of fertilizer plants in the country. In
terms of feedstock, major feedstocks presently being used in the fertilizer
plant are natural gas, naphtha and fuel oil / LSHS. Over the years, the
majority of industry has improved its performance significantly in terms of
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specific energy consumption and capacity utilization. There are several state-of-the-art fertilizer plants
operating in India. There are around 27 fertilizer plants in the country engaged in the manufacture of
urea.
Scope
In some modern ammonia/ urea plants, captive power is generated through running of Gas Turbine
and steam is generated through HRSG. The steam generated in HRSG is used in urea plant for
steam turbine.
In nitric acid production, the reaction of oxidation of ammonia to produce nitric acid is exothermic. The
heat of reaction is used to generate medium pressure steam, which is partially used for drive process
air compressor and rest is exported to other process plants.
Through use of CHP along with integrated steam net work, the energy consumption in Indian recent
ammonia plants is near to 7 Gcal/ MT which is comparable to any modern International ammonia
plant.
Estimated CHP potential in this sector is about 1200 MW.
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Recycled energy a good idea even with all the engineering costs, capital costs and operational risks.
These projects have a long list of benefits that must be evaluated for their environmental and or
financial values. These benefits include:
• reduced energy purchases – oil, gas and electricity
• decreased exposure to fuel price volatility n displaced investment in other non-cogeneration
energy facilities
• improved competitive position and reduced costs
• reduced environmental impact
• production of clean power with no incremental fuel emissions or greenhouse gases
• generation of emission credits.
Many companies need to reduce their impact on the environment if they want to increase production
capacity.
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Scope
In many Indian Iron & Steel plants CHP through waste heat recovery have been implemented.
Incidentally, a number of projects of power generation through waste heat recovery are registered as
CDM projects. There is an estimated potential of 1000 MW power generation through CHP in
the Steel industry.
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India’s refineries are relatively simple. Comparing the ratio of primary upgrading capacity to crude
distillation (“cracking to distillation ratio”), most large Indian refineries have a cracking-to-distillation
ratio of less than 40%; only the new large Reliance refinery meets the average of the U.S. refining
industry (56%).
The main fuels used in the refinery are refinery gas, natural gas, and coke. The refinery gas and coke
are by-products of the different processes. The coke is mainly produced in the crackers, while the
refinery gas is the lightest fraction from the distillation and cracking processes. Natural gas and
electricity represents the largest purchased fuels in the refineries. Natural gas is used for the
production of hydrogen, fuel for co-generation of heat and power (CHP), and as supplementary fuel in
furnaces.
Most refineries have some form of onsite power generation. In fact, refineries offer an excellent
opportunity for energy efficient power generation in the form of combined heat and power production
(CHP). CHP provides the opportunity to use internally generated fuels for power production, allowing
greater independence of grip operation and even export to the grid. This increases reliability of supply
as well as the cost-effectiveness. The cost benefits of power export to the grid will depend on the
regulation in the state where the refinery is located. Not all states allow wheeling of power (i.e , sales
of power directly to another customer using the grid for transport) while the regulation may also differ
with respect to the tariff structure for power sales to the grid operator.
Scope
Estimated potential in this sector is about 232 MW.
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Scope
CHP Potential
• Estimated CHP potential of about 850 MW
• Potential may increase, with grid connected cogeneration plants
• Electricity bill 2003 and conducive provisions thereof
• Gasification, Biomass and Fossil fuel combinations possible
Barriers
• Inadequate awareness and poor energy efficiency, particularly in small mills
• Frequent use of DG sets, fluctuations in grid supply & quality
• Pulp & paper industry sector, using 75-85 % energy process heat & 15-25% as electrical
power, qualifies for cogeneration
• Captive / cogeneration plants set up by very few & large paper mills
• High pressure, high efficiency Rankin cycle technology for captive generation of steam and
power yet to be adopted
• Serious attempts for year round captive / cogen power not made across
• Inadequate awareness on technology to be adopted
• Lack of adequate finance for implementing these projects
• Poor capacity for conceiving, designing, implementing & operating energy efficiency
improvement, captive cogen and biogas projects
• Lack of availability of total solution providers
(Ref: Proceedings of National Awareness Workshop, Sept.2006 organized by Cogenindia)
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textile. Higher production cost thin profit margins; tough global competition collectively have posed a
serious problem for survival of Textile Industry. CHP can be effectively used in the textile industry.
Scope
Estimated potential of CHP in this sector is 800 MW.
Scope
As per report by WADE, the CHP potential of about 650 MW is estimated with low growth
scenario. With high growth scenario, the potential will be much more.
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