Decentralized energy systems for dairy industry

The objective of this paper is to explore the technical feasibility of decentralized energy systems along with associated energy saving opportunities for a commercial milk processing plant in India, which is the largest producing country of milk in the world. Some energy saving methods are already employed in the existing plant so as to make it more energy-efficient. However, this paper focuses on some energy system alternatives that may replace the existing system with a different configuration, with a view to make the dairy industry grid-independent and more energy efficient. The various alternatives were developed by taking into consideration approaches to energy management as applied in the process industry. For the dairy industry to flourish in rural areas with dairy farming (but without grid electricity), the proposed idea is that the plant should have its own power generating unit along with heat recovery for energy efficiency. Hence, a CCHP (combined cooling, heating and power) system is proposed utilizing a compression chiller or an absorption chiller. Three different configurations of the CCHP system were analysed. The processing energy and the running cost of various alternative systems has been evaluated and is followed by a comparative study of these with the existing system so as to indicate energy saving possibilities (ranging between 20-50%) depending on the requirement, location and various other factors. © Common Ground, Ravi Prakash, Alex Henham, All Rights Reserved