Study on the Potential of Rice Straws as a Supplementary Fuel in Very Small Power Plants in Thailand
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Site Study
2.2. Assessment of Rice Straw Potential
2.3. Assessment of Paddy Harvested Area
2.4. Assessment of Rice Residue per Unit Area
- Rice sample collection: The sample plot at a size of 2 m × 2 m was set in the paddy field, whereby all rice plants were reaped from the sample plot at the ground level.
- Rice sample physical measurement: A cluster of rice was measured from grain to stem in order to determine the overall net weight and height. After that, each rice plant was divided into sections, with each section being 10 cm in length; each section was then measured for weight.
- Rice sample moisture content analysis: The rice sample from step 2 was randomly selected to measure the moisture content on the basis of the American Society of Agricultural Engineers (ASAE) standard 358-1 (the samples were weighed before and after baking at 105 °C for 24 h). The moisture content of the rice stem was then calculated.
- Rice residue determination model development: Information from step 3 was used to develop the rice residue determination model on the basis of regression, which represented the relationship between the mass and height of each rice plant. The best fit of the model was identified from the highest R2 regression value, as illustrated in Table 1. On the basis of the results, the rice plants were approximately 0.9–1.8 m in height and 2–2.5 cm in width, which depended on the rice varieties, the fertility of the soil, and the water abundance [6]. The rice residue determination model demonstrates the relationship between the height and weight in each section of rice stalk; the relationship between each rice variety is summarized in Table 1.
- Rice straw density assessment: Fifteen models, which were representative of each rice variety, were used to assess the density of the rice straw and rice stubble by using the height of the rice and the harvest method of each area. After applying this model to assess the residue density by using the height of the rice stalk of each variety (the height was between 0.90 and 1.50 m) and the harvesting method, which was mainly the machinery method (30 cm) [5], the results indicated that the density of the rice residue lay in the range between 4.18 and 8.02 t/ha (dried weight), with an average value of 5.81 t/ha. There were four varieties that provided more than 6.25 t/ha of residue, which were Suphan buri 1, Gor kor 23, Pitch sa nu lok 60-2, and Chai nat 1 at 8.02, 7.78, 6.52, and 6.33 t/ha, respectively. Each of the four varieties are non-photosensitive and are short and thick in terms of physical characteristics [6]. When dividing the rice plant into stubble and straw at the cutting level of 30 cm above the ground level (which is the height for machinery harvesting), the results indicated that rice stubble was in the range between 1.72 and 3.41 t/ha, with an average of 2.31 t/ha. Meanwhile, rice straw was in the range between 3.09 and 4.63 t/ha, with an average of 3.37 t/ha. It can be inferred from these results that the quantity of rice straw was about 59% of the gross rice residue. Considering the density of rice residue from previous studies, which was found to be approximately 7–19 t/ha [5,9,10], this was higher than the values obtained in this study. The primary reason for this difference is due to the differences in the rice varieties (whereby this study mainly used non-photosensitive varieties in order to reduce the plantation time) and planting methods (which was mainly the broadcasting method).
- Average rice residue by province determination: The obtained density of rice straw of each variety and the average rice straw density from each province were determined using the weighted average method. The percentage share of the planting area for each rice variety, which was obtained from the Agricultural Production Data 2015 from the OAE [4], was multiplied by the rice straw density of each variety in order to identify the average rice straw density of each province, as illustrated in Figure 5. The obtained value of each province was close to the range between 2.75 and 4.50 t/ha, which was due to the similarity of the rice varieties grown in each province. The results demonstrated the unique characteristics of rice cultivation in each area.
2.5. Assessment of Rice Residue Management
2.6. Assessment of Willingness of Farmers to Sell Rice Residue
2.7. Assessment of Baling Rice Straw Efficiency
2.8. Assessment of Spatial and Temporal Distribution of Rice Straw Potential
2.9. Assessment of Efficiency of Supply Materials for Very Small Power Plants in Thailand
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Gross Potential of Rice Straws
3.2. Net Potential of Rice Straws
3.3. Potential of Rice Straws for Electricity Generation in Thailand
3.4. Material Flow Diagram
3.5 Efficiency of Supply Materials for Very Small Power Plants in Thailand
4. Conclusions
Acknowledgments
Author Contributions
Conflicts of Interest
References
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Rice Varieties | Model | (R2) | Rice Height, h (cm) | Rice Residue Density, R (t/ha) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Straw | Stubble | Total | ||||
RD 23 | R = −0.0819(h)2 + 20.31(h) | 0.9972 | 110 | 4.43 | 3.35 | 7.78 |
Suphan buri 60 | R = −0.062(h)2 + 15.32(h) | 0.9994 | 130 | 3.38 | 2.53 | 5.90 |
Pitch sa nu lok 60-2 | R = −0.064h2+ 16.40(h) | 0.9991 | 120 | 3.81 | 2.71 | 6.52 |
Suphan buri 90 | R = −0.046(h)2 + 11.55(h) | 0.9969 | 120 | 2.57 | 1.91 | 4.47 |
Chai nat 1 | R = −0.074(h)2 + 17.37(h) | 0.9981 | 110 | 3.49 | 2.84 | 6.33 |
Suphan buri 1 | R = −0.083(h)2 + 20.69(h) | 0.9978 | 120 | 4.61 | 3.41 | 8.02 |
Suphan buri 2 | R = −0.055(h)2 + 14.52(h) | 0.9954 | 120 | 3.53 | 2.41 | 5.94 |
Khlong Luang 1 | R = −0.048(h)2 + 12.91(h) | 0.9976 | 110 | 3.08 | 2.15 | 5.23 |
Suphan buri | R = −0.040(h)2 + 10.38(h) | 0.9949 | 120 | 2.45 | 1.72 | 4.18 |
Pathum thani 1 | R = −0.060(h)2 + 14.83(h) | 0.9953 | 110 | 3.19 | 2.44 | 5.63 |
Khao Dawk Mali 105 | R = −0.035(h)2 + 10.45(h) | 0.9948 | 140 | 3.04 | 1.76 | 4.80 |
Pitch sa nu lok 1 | R = −0.041(h)2 + 11.68(h) | 0.9984 | 150 | 3.12 | 1.96 | 5.08 |
Khao Tah Haeng 17 | R = −0.036(h)2 + 10.63(h) | 0.9943 | 140 | 3.02 | 1.79 | 4.81 |
RD 27 | R = −0.036(h)2 + 10.69(h) | 0.9958 | 150 | 3.16 | 1.81 | 4.96 |
Pathum thani 60 | R = −0.037(h)2 + 11.14(h) | 0.9953 | 150 | 3.29 | 1.88 | 5.16 |
Rice Straw Management | Percent Share of Rice Straw Management (%) | |||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Northern | Northeastern | Central | Southern | Whole Country | ||||||
Fermentation | 21.6 | (20.1) | 6.9 | (11.9) | 13.9 | (5.4) | 31.0 | (13.0) | 16.5 | (12.9) |
Animal feed | 25.3 | (21.3) | 38.3 | (31.1) | 6.2 | (13.2) | 31.5 | (30.2) | 12.1 | (22.1) |
Mushroom plantation | 6.5 | (4.5) | 5.7 | (9.8) | 0.8 | (1.7) | 17.7 | (6.2) | 3.3 | (5.3) |
Sold to baler operator | 14.1 | (5.5) | 0.0 | (1.7) | 15.9 | (32.9) | 1.0 | (3.2) | 14.1 | (12.5) |
Baling and personal use | 0.8 | (0.9) | 0.2 | (6.8) | 1.5 | (2.2) | 0.0 | (0.0) | 1.2 | (3.1) |
Open-burning | 20.3 | (26.2) | 1.1 | (21.2) | 35.9 | (18.3) | 0.0 | (2.1) | 29.7 | (21.4) |
Left in the field | 11.3 | (21.5) | 47.7 | (17.6) | 25.8 | (26.4) | 18.8 | (45.4) | 23.2 | (22.6) |
Regions | Willingness of Farmers to Bale and Sell Rice Bales (%) | |
---|---|---|
Farmers Managing Rice Straws by Leaving Them in the Fields | Farmers Managing Rice Straws by Burning Them in the Fields | |
Northern | 92.0 | 96.7 |
Northeastern | 61.2 | 60.2 |
Central | 79.4 | 86.4 |
Southern | 86.5 | 60.0 |
Whole country | 79.4 | 82.3 |
Characteristic | Paddy Field | |
---|---|---|
Irrigated Field | Rain-Fed Field | |
No. of rice bales collected (bale/ha) | 125 | 93 |
Straw collection efficiency (%) | 62 | 46 |
Straw bale size (cm3) | 32 × 80 × 42 | 32 × 80 × 42 |
Straw bale weight (kg/bale) | 18 | 18 |
Moisture content (%) | 9.0 | 9.0 |
Region | Potential of Rice Straws for Electricity Generation (MWe) | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sept. | Oct. | Nov. | Dec. | Jan. | Feb. | Mar. | ||
Central | 3.9 | 35.9 | 37.9 | 9.8 | 2.4 | 8.8 | 30.8 | 129.5 |
Northern | 3.6 | 57.0 | 70.9 | 4.1 | 1.4 | 4.5 | 8.8 | 150.3 |
Northeastern | 25.3 | 101.0 | 46.8 | 0.0 | — | 0.0 | 0.3 | 173.5 |
Southern | 0.3 | 1.3 | 0.7 | 0.6 | 0.1 | 0.6 | 0.6 | 4.2 |
Whole country | 33.1 | 195.2 | 156.3 | 14.5 | 3.9 | 13.8 | 40.6 | 457.4 |
Region | Number of Biomass Power Plants | Capacity (MW) | Rice Straw Residue Demand (Mt) |
---|---|---|---|
Central | 33 | 401 | 3.71 |
Northeastern | 46 | 581 | 5.38 |
Northern | 31 | 327 | 3.03 |
Total | 110 | 1310 | 12.12 |
Region | Efficiency of Supply Materials for Very Small Biomass Power Plants | |||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Radius at 24 km | Radius at 36 km | Radius at 48 km | Radius at 60 km | |||||
(Mt) | (%) | (Mt) | (%) | (Mt) | (%) | (Mt) | (%) | |
Central | 0.52 | 13.9% | 0.73 | 19.6% | 0.82 | 22.0% | 0.85 | 22.9% |
Northeastern | 0.68 | 12.6% | 1.16 | 21.6% | 1.53 | 28.4% | 1.71 | 31.7% |
Northern | 0.52 | 17.2% | 0.72 | 23.9% | 0.85 | 28.0% | 0.96 | 31.6% |
Whole country | 1.72 | 14.2% | 2.62 | 21.6% | 3.19 | 26.3% | 3.52 | 29.0% |
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Cheewaphongphan, P.; Junpen, A.; Kamnoet, O.; Garivait, S. Study on the Potential of Rice Straws as a Supplementary Fuel in Very Small Power Plants in Thailand. Energies 2018, 11, 270. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11020270
Cheewaphongphan P, Junpen A, Kamnoet O, Garivait S. Study on the Potential of Rice Straws as a Supplementary Fuel in Very Small Power Plants in Thailand. Energies. 2018; 11(2):270. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11020270
Chicago/Turabian StyleCheewaphongphan, Penwadee, Agapol Junpen, Orachorn Kamnoet, and Savitri Garivait. 2018. "Study on the Potential of Rice Straws as a Supplementary Fuel in Very Small Power Plants in Thailand" Energies 11, no. 2: 270. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11020270