Crushed it: Transforming waste into energy with the BHS Biogrinder

Biomass briquettes, made from organic municipal solid waste, are an important substitute for coal and charcoal in India. The briquettes provide energy needed for cooking, heating, and other household functions, as well as industrial heating applications, such as boilers and furnaces. For Mithras Green Technology, an Indian bioenergy company based in Pune, producing high-quality briquettes efficiently without wasting additional resources was a challenge. On their search for a solution, they turned toBHS.

To obtain the ideal mixture for briquettes, the municipal waste must be intensively crushed and defibered. In a second step, the moisture is removed from the resulting material which is then pressed into shape. In Mithras’ previous process, the crushers that were used could not efficiently process the raw materials. Water had to be added constantly during the crushing stage to produce a homogeneous slurry. Afterwards, this mixture entered a dewatering plant and finally a dryer to produce a powder for briquette production – a lengthy and very high energy-consuming process that used to take up to three days.

No extra dewatering station needed thanks to efficient crushing technology

With the crushing technology of the Biogrinder, the experts from BHS not only achieved excellent crushing results but managed to shorten the recycling process: After extensive tests with the organic material on the Biogrinder of type RBG 08 on site, BHS-Sonthofen India customized the machine exactly to meet the customers’ requirements. Since then, the Biogrinder has efficiently processed and homogenized the organic waste material. Due to the high crushing performance, adding water became unnecessary, so the customer removed the downstream dewatering station from the process completely. Overall, this considerably shortens the drying process and therefore saves a significant amount of energy. The entire recycling process from crushing to the final product now takes about two days instead of three – and sometimes even less.

Less energy consumption, more sustainable biofuel

Apart from saving time and water, the customer was also able to reduce its energy consumption: The BHS Biogrinder efficiently crushes 4-5 tons per hour through a 55-kW-motor – by comparison, the previous crushers required 70 kW for the same output.

The plant currently produces a throughput of 40 tons per day. Thanks to the successful implementation and improved results of the Biogrinder, Mithras plans to scale up the briquettes production soon and will continue to rely on technology made in Sonthofen for future projects both domestically and abroad.