RICE HUSK GAS BURNER FOR BAKERY OVEN

Engr. Alexis Belonio
Central Philippine University
Iloilo City, Philippines
Good news to bakers! Instead of spending
hundreds of pesos for LPG, you will now only
spend less for your baking!
A rice husk gas burner for bakery oven is now
commercially available. This rice-husk-fuelled
gas burner significantly reduces the cost of fuel
for baking. In this technology, rice husk is
gasified inside the reactorand the gasgenerated
is ignited at the burner, which produces
luminous bluish flame for heating bakery oven.
The gas burner can be conveniently operated as
compared with other rice-husk-fuelled ovens.
The amount of flame can be uniformly
controlled with the use of a switch.
The Fuel Reactor Assembly
The rice husk gas burner for bakery
ovens is another breakthrough in the
area of rice husk gasification, which
is carried out by the Department of
Agricultural Engineering and
Environmental Management of the
College of Agriculture, Central
Philippine University in Iloilo City,
Philippines. This technology was
developed with the assistance from
the group of undergraduate
agricultural engineering students
Lucio Larano, Daniel Belonio, Yvone
Herbo, and Jeffrey Cocjin.
The Two-12 plate Oven Fired by the Rice
Husk Gas Burner
The rice husk gas burner for bakery
ovens consists of the following
components: (1) Dual Fuel Reactors
- where rice husks are gasified during
operation by burning them with
limited amount of air; (2) Char
Chamber – where burnt fuel is
discharged fromthe reactor after
gasification; (3) Blower – which
supplies the needed amount of air for
gasification; (4) Char Lever – which
discharges burnt rice husk after
gasification; (5) Control Switch –
which intensifies or lowers the
flame; (6) Gas Pipe – which conveys the gas generated fromthe reactor to the burner; (7)
Chimney – which discharges unwanted gases; and (8) Gas Burner - where the gas is
burned.
The Burning Gas Insidethe Oven
The fuel reactors havea diameter of
25 cmand a height of 1 meter. They
are located outside the baking room
for ease of operation. The burners are
extended fromthe reactor to the oven
through a pipeline. Operation is
being done by dual mode so that
continuous firing in the oven can be
achieved.
Flammable gases, primarily of
carbon monoxide and hydrogen, are
produced during operation as the
burning fuel moves down the reactor.
The by-product after gasification is
carbonized rice husk, which is a
good material for composting.
During Baking Operation
The rice husk gas burner supplies
energy to two 12-plate ovens
simultaneously. One or two minutes
is required to start firingthe rice
husks in the reactor. Once the rice
husk are ignited, continuous
operation is achieved for 30 to 40
minutes before shifting to the other
reactor.
Mr. Gil Cordon Owner of the Bakery Shop
The rice husk gas burner featured in this article is owned by Mr. Gil Cordon, a baker
from Jaro, Iloilo City. According to him, heuses LPG fuel for 10 minutes to start-up the
oven and after that shifts to the rice husk gas burner until operation is done. He also uses
LPG fuel as back up in case of power failure. Both ovens are simultaneously used when
baking “Pande leche,” “Pande sal,” and other similar bread. When baking “Mamon” and
“Hopia” either one or two ovensLPG back-up is used.
Cost analysis showed that for an investment of P30,000.00 for the rice husk gas burner,
the cost of operation is only P16.59 per hour. This amount is significantly lower as
compared when using the LPG burner, which is P41.67 per hour. With a difference of
P25.08 per hour in operating cost, a yearly savings of P115,562.65 can be realized when
using the rice husk gas burner instead ofthe LPG burner. The payback period was
computed at 0.25 year, equivalent to 3 months. The return on investment is 385.21% and
the benefit cost ratio is 1.51.
The technology is now in commercialization stage. Interested individuals or
organizations who wish to order this baking technology may contact the Project Director,
Appropriate Technology Center, Department of Agricultural Engineering and
Environmental Management, College of Agriculture, Central Philippine University, Iloilo
City, Philippines. Telephone number 063-33-3291971 loc 1071, email ad
atbelonio@yahoo.com, and mobile phone 063-0916-7115222.
1 USD = 50 PHP