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Panchayat saves power through gasifier

By Our Staff Reporter

The biomass gasifier gas 40 plant that generates power for water supply at Kadachanallur near Pallipalayam in Namakkal district.

PALLIPALAYAM, JAN. 25 . The Kadachanallur Panchayat in Namakkal district is blazing the trail in saving power bill especially after the new biomass gasifier was installed for generating power to aid water supply to the residents. It has been observed that the bimonthly power bill has slimmed by a whopping Rs. 30,000, which otherwise would have been a drain on the resources of the panchayat.

Established at an estimated cost of Rs. 24.69 lakhs, the plant, biomass gasifier gas - 40, powers the overhead water tank for supply of potable water to the public at Taj Nagar, a developing residential locality in the Kadachanallur Panchayat in the Pallipalayam Union.

The Union Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources has extended a subsidy of Rs. 6 lakhs while the panchayat secured a loan of Rs. 16.80 lakhs from the banks.

Stated as the first of its kind at that capacity set up by a local body, the gasifier consumes, on an average, 985 kg of wood (or biomass) to generate 756 units in 21 hours of operation a day. The average gas calorific value is put at 1,000 Kcal/Nm{circ}3. The gasification temperature is around 1,050-1,100 degree Celsius.

Ash removal

The biomass of small pieces of chopped wood is fed into the gasifier where it burns to generate steam in a boiler. The hot steam is then allowed to pass through a coarse filter containing wood pieces before being fed into a finer filter that contains wood powder. The by-now-cooled steam is then led through a safety filter filled with cotton bags and into the gas blower that allows it to power the generator set. The significant feature of the gasifier version is continuous removal of ash through flushing of recyclable water.

The generator feeds motors with a combined power capacity of 55 HP that haul water to the overhead tank from the bore wells. The gasifier generates roughly around 32,400 units in a month at an estimated cost of Rs. 1.90 per unit after providing for manual supervision and assistance in running.

"Previously, we used to pay around Rs. 1.20 lakhs towards the bimonthly power bill for supplying water to the public. But after the gasifier was established sometime back, the expenditure has come down to Rs. 90,000, giving us a monthly saving of Rs. 15,000'', says a proud president of the Kadachanallur Panchayat, K.M. Muniappan.

But Kadachanallur Panchayat is not courting stardom for the first time. The Panchayat did well to bag an award of Rs. 5 lakhs last year after being adjudged the best panchayat for achieving 100 per cent sanitation under the Total Sanitation Campaign, notes the Pallipalayam Panchayat Union Chairman, P. Thangamani, satisfied as he is with the development of the star panchayat in his Union.

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