Description :
|
A rice mill produces many by-products that can be further utilised
into value-added products. For instance, rice bran can be further
processed to produce rice bran oil. On the other hand, rice husk can
be utilised as biomass in the cyclonic husk furnace or cogeneration
system to supply thermal energy for paddy drying. Alternatively, rice
husk can be the raw material to produce bio-char, bio-oil and biofuel.
This paper presents a framework to synthesise the sustainable pathways
for an Integrated, Resource-Efficient (IRE) rice mill aimed at maximising
its profitability while minimising the environmental impact of its by-product
utilisation. The key factors considered include the availability of resources,
the cost-effectiveness of the available technology options and the trade-off
between profitability and environmental impact such as global warming,
photochemical ozone production and eutrophication. The developed model was
applied on a case study where five different scenarios representing different
economic and environmental objective functions were analysed. The proposed
model allows rice millers to target for the maximum profit and synthesise
the sustainable process pathways prior to the detailed design of the IRE
rice mill complex.
|