An Energy Audit in a Tea Manufacturing Industry at North Bengal, India

All tea plants in India rely on the national grid for their electrical needs and diesel for their thermal energy and transportation, which are encountering high costs, high emissions, and issues of accessibility. In this paper, hybrid renewable systems based on both standalone and grid-connected technologies have been modeled using HOMER Pro software for supplying power to a tea manufacturing plant in a typical rural area in India, namely, Gudalur village (Nilgiris), geographically located at 11°30.2′N and 76°29.5′E, which is presently run by the state grid to meet their energy requirements. The different configurations comprised of Solar PV, biomass, hydro, electrolyzer, boiler, thermal load controller to utilize excess electricity, and waste heat recovery options, and lead-acid batteries were designed to meet 650 kWh/day of electricity for processing units, 101 kWh/day of electricity for general applications, 4,450 kWh/day of thermal energy, and 86.35 kg/day of hydrogen energy. To determine the most feasible system design among various scenarios, several criteria such as NPC, COE, LCOH, and CO2 emission of the system have been investigated. In the case of off-grid hybrid systems, results show the highest NPC of $7.01 M with an LCOE of $1.06/kWh is obtained for the diesel generator/boiler/reformer/TLC system. It is reduced to $1.75 M with an LCOE of −$.420/kWh for the PV/biomass-CHP/hydro/TLC scenario. In a grid-connected system, the maximum NPC of $6.20 M with an LCOE of $0.835/kWh is obtained for a diesel generator/boiler system, and it is reduced to −$10.5 M with an LCOE of −$.240/kWh for the PV/biomass-CHP/hydro/TLC scenario. Additionally, in the off-grid systems, the PV/biomass-CHP/hydro/TLC system has LCOH of $4.27/kg, which is economical with the highest renewable fraction of 93%. The PV/biomass-CHP/hydro/TLC hybrid system has the lowest LCOH of −$64.5/kg with a maximum renewable fraction of 96% in on-grid systems. The findings show that recovering excess electricity and waste heat would increase renewable fraction, decrease the energy cost and emissions from the system, and emphasize the importance of TLC and CHP in HRES. According to the simulation results, the grid-connected system is more cost-effective than a stand-alone system due to the revenue obtained from selling renewable power to the grid.

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Environmental impact of green house gas emissions from the tea industries of northeastern states of India

Aditya,

Kumar,

Bharti

et al. 2023

Front. Sustain. Food Syst.

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MotivationTea, derived from the Camellia sinensis plant, holds the position of being the most widely consumed manufactured beverage globally. Its cultivation necessitates specific agro-climatic conditions, leading to its production being confined to select regions, notably including India. India contributes about 20.81% to the world’s tea output. The production and processing of tea leaves to final product consume energy in terms of machinery, fertilizer, irrigation etc. The energy consumption involved in tea production is a pressing concern, given the associated high costs and CO2 emissions resulting from fossil fuel usage. To achieve a net-zero carbon balance, there is need to pay attention towards promoting renewable energy technologies as a means to mitigate the CO2 emissions stemming from fossil fuels in India’s tea sector.ObjectivesAligned with the objective of sustainability through the integration of renewable energy sources, a pilot study was conducted in the primary tea-growing regions of northeastern India during 2021–22. The primary aims of this study were twofold: to gauge the quantity of CO2 emissions originating from conventional energy sources and to explore the feasibility of incorporating renewable energy sources as viable substitutes.Data and methodsData on various inputs used in tea production were collected from Assam and West Bengal states of India by using a stratified random sampling method with equal probability and without replacement.ResultsThe findings of this investigation underscore a noteworthy potential for the adoption of renewable energy, particularly solar energy, within the tea estates situated in the north eastern region of India. Such a transition would yield benefits for both the tea estates themselves and the overall environment.

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An Energy Audit in a Tea Manufacturing Industry at North Bengal, India

Cited by 4 publications

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Feasibility assessment of renewable energy resources for tea plantation and industry in India - A review

Feasibility assessment of renewable energy resources for tea plantation and industry in India - A review

An Examination of the Techno-Economic Viability of Hybrid Grid-Integrated and Stand-Alone Generation Systems for an Indian Tea Plant

Environmental impact of green house gas emissions from the tea industries of northeastern states of India

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