The Hindu Business Line : Briquettes can save fuel cost: Tea Board

Coonoor, July 15 Arising from the experiments conducted by Technology Informatics Design Endeavour (TIDE) under the Tea Board’s energy conservation project, the Board has informed factories that they could save about Re 1 a kg in the cost of manufacturing tea if they use briquettes, instead of wood as fuel.

“To manufacture a kg of tea, 0.90 kg of briquettes is needed. But if firewood is used, 1.35 kg of firewood is required.

Although the cost of briquettes is 40 –50 per cent more than wood, because of its lower consumption, the use of briquettes results in a saving of around Re 1 a kg on the average,” said Mr R.D. Nazeem, Tea Board’s Executive Director.

Lower moisture

Briquettes have lower moisture and higher calorific value than wood. They have better control over fuel fed to the hot air generator.

They are made from agricultural residues and have environmental benefits as wood is not cut, he reasoned.

“TIDE project can assist factories to source briquettes and check quality. Factories can procure briquettes from commercial suppliers after ascertaining quality from approved labs”, Mr N. Radhakrishnan, TIDE Project Engineer, said.

Energy audits

Mr B.J. Ashwini Kumar, TIDE Project Manager, said preliminary energy audits had been conducted in 118 factories in the tea growing regions of Kotagiri, Kundah, Coonoor, Udhagamandalam and Gudalur in Nilgiris district.

“Arising from this, we have identified energy consumption benchmarks,” he said.

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