Reference FSDPs
(EC-ASEAN COGEN Programme Phase II)
Cogeneration at one of the largest rice mills
in ASEAN: How Chia Meng does it
BACKGROUND
 The rice milling industry in Thailand is definitely the most developed in South-East Asia.
Around 50 mills have individual capacities of more than 100 tonnes of paddy per day, each of them producing more than 20 tonnes of rice husk per day. Chia Meng, among the biggest rice mills in Thailand with a milling capacity of 500 tonnes of paddy per day, have implemented a 2.5 MW cogeneration plant which utilises rice husk as a fuel. The plant was commissioned in March 1997.
LOCATION
The 2.5 MW power plant is located in Chakkaraj, Nakorn Ratchasima (Thailand).
TECHNOLOGY
The plant consists of:
- a rice husk storage, conveying and automatic boiler feeding system;
- a furnace/boiler producing 17 tonnes of superheated steam at 35 bar and equipped with automatic ash removal system;
- a 2.5 MW multistage fully condensing turbo-generator with condenser;
- heat exchangers using boiler flue gas and/or superheated steam to generate hot water for paddy dryers.
ECONOMICS
The total investment costs amount to ECU 3,605,505 (USD 3,930,000) excluding civil works and building structures. The revenues coming from fuel oil, electricity and rice husk disposal savings and from excess power sales could reach ECU 912,381 (USD 994,494) per year. Additional income from ash sales amounts to ECU 278,931 (USD 304,035). The payback time of this project is expected to be shorter than 4 years after implementation of the plant.
CONTACTS
Customer |
European Supplier |
Chia Meng Co. Ltd. (Thailand)
Tel: (66-44) 207080-6; Fax: (66-44) 207339 |
Bertrams Konus GmbH (Germany)
Tel: (49-6202)2070;
Fax: (49-6202) 207100 |
CUSTOMER'S VIEW POINT
 "Despite some problems with the fine tuning of the rice husk combustion, we believe that we took the right decision to invest in such a plant," con firms Taval Manathanya, Director of Chia Meng. "Previously, the daily disposal of more than 100 tonnes of rice husk was causing us a lot of headaches. Now, we have no disposal problems and are self-sufficient in power, which gives us additional security in terms of power supply. We also export power to the grid. In the future, because of the expansion of our milling business, we will probably consume all the power produced by the plant."
 "Other substantial revenues come from the sale of ash. We were quite sceptical about this source of revenue," comments Prapit Mananthanya, Production Manager. "However since the plant has been in operation, we have continuously sold containers of ash to Europe."The COGEN Programme and the Energy Conservation Center of Thailand (ECCT) have played a key role in the success of the project and helped in the communication between us and the suppliers.
"We are proud to be part of the COGEN Programme and will be pleased to welcome visitors from South-East Asia to show tem a good example of what can be done with rice husk," ends Prapit Mananthanya.
SUPPLIER'S VIEW POINT
 "Bertrams-KONUS is specialised in combustion and high temperature heat supply technology," comments Norbert Classen, General Manager of Bertrams-KONUS. "However, the special incineration characteristics of rice husks raise a number of technical challenges in this project, especially regarding fuel injection, combustion and de-ashing.
"From the environmental point of view, it must be said that the normal disposal of rice husks through dumping causes methane emissions by fermentation. Furthermore, controlled combustion of rice husk in a boiler saves using fossil fuels. So the system shows environmental and economic advantages. Knowing that a project needs local partners in manufacturing and project handling, we got the support of our long-term partner Hansa International, based in Thailand, who were able to manufacture essential plant components in their own workshops according to our drawings. Investment costs and risks for a first reference plant of this kind have been high. It must be stated that local rice mills would have been unwilling to take such a risk without the involvement of independent experts, such as COGEN Programme and the Energy Conservation Center of Thailand (ECCT), who have been involved in this project right from the start. They supported both parties in contract negotiations and assisted whenever needed in meeting. It was important to use this "bridge" between the two continents." Back to Reference FSDP List | To top
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