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Enhancement of Energy Efficiency at an Indian Milk Processing Plant Using Exergy Analysis

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Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies

Part of the book series: Green Energy and Technology ((GREEN))

Abstract

The dairy sector in India is the largest milk producer in the world. Substantial amounts of freshwater and energy are consumed during milk processing with concomitant impacts on sustainability. In this chapter, we study the energy efficiency at India’s largest milk processing plant and propose retrofits for improving the plant’s sustainability. Specifically, we report on exergy analysis of a milk powder manufacturing unit. Exergy of a system at a certain thermodynamic state is the maximum amount of work that can be obtained when the system moves from that state to one of equilibrium with its surroundings. In contrast to a conventional energy analysis, which maps the energy flows of the system and suggests opportunities for process integration, an exergy analysis pinpoints the locations, causes, and magnitudes of thermodynamic losses. The milk powder plant that is the focus of the current study consists of two sections—an evaporation section and a drying section. Our results reveal that exergy efficiency of certain units is very low (<20%). Significant improvements in energy efficiencies can be achieved through simple, low-cost retrofits to these units.

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Abbreviations

C p :

Specific heat capacity at constant pressure (in kJ/kg K)

e x :

Specific exergy (in kJ/kg)

h :

Specific enthalpy (in kJ/kg)

\( {\dot{\text{m}}}\)̇:

Mass flow rate (in kg/s)

p :

Pressure of a system (in bar)

\({\dot{{Q}}}\) :

Heat flow (in kJ/s or kW)

R :

Mass-based (substance dependent) gas constant (in kJ/kg K)

s :

Specific entropy (in kJ/kg K)

t :

Time (in s)

T :

Temperature of a system (in °C or K)

\( {\dot{{W}}}\) :

Power (or work per time) (in kW)

Δ:

Change in property

η :

Exergy efficiency

P:

Pressure

T:

Temperature

0:

Thermodynamic state with ambient conditions

1:

Thermodynamic state

2:

Thermodynamic state

a:

Fluid a

b:

Fluid b

cv:

Control volume

ex:

Exergy

i:

Initial

in:

Inlet stream

f:

Final

out:

Outlet stream

p:

Constant pressure

vap:

Vaporization

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Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge Mr. S.S. Sundaran (OSD, Public Relations) and Mr. Deepak R. Sharma (Deputy Manager, Production) of Amul Dairy, Anand, for their constant support in this project.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gandhinagar, India

    Babji Srinivasan, Jaideep Pal & Rajagopalan Srinivasan

  2. Department of Chemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Madras, Chennai, 600036, India

    Rajagopalan Srinivasan

Authors
  1. Babji Srinivasan
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  2. Jaideep Pal
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  3. Rajagopalan Srinivasan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Rajagopalan Srinivasan .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Sudipta De

  2. Department of Energy Science and Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

    Santanu Bandyopadhyay

  3. Natural Gas Technology, University of Stavanger, Stavanger, Norway

    Mohsen Assadi

  4. Energy and Environment Committee, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kolkata, West Bengal, India

    Deb A Mukherjee

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Srinivasan, B., Pal, J., Srinivasan, R. (2018). Enhancement of Energy Efficiency at an Indian Milk Processing Plant Using Exergy Analysis. In: De, S., Bandyopadhyay, S., Assadi, M., Mukherjee, D. (eds) Sustainable Energy Technology and Policies. Green Energy and Technology. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7188-1_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-7188-1_19

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