How Poha Millers Can Cut Emissions and Save energy Costs?

Summary: What You’ll Learn

1. This case study explains how poha manufacturers in Ujjain addressed black smoke emissions and high fuel consumption by upgrading their roasting systems.
2. It covers Steamax’s Multifuel Poha Roaster Heater, the use of Astillas biomass fuel, reported environmental and operational improvements, and a comparison of fuel consumption and costs before and after the upgrade.

Problem Statement of Poha Industry:

Poha, or flattened rice, is widely consumed in India. Its production requires controlled heating during roasting, so roasting-system efficiency is a key factor in product quality, fuel costs, and environmental performance.
For poha mills around Indore and Ujjain, traditional roasting systems created two major challenges: black smoke emissions and high fuel consumption.

Steamax worked with the Ujjain Poha Association to address these problems through improved combustion technology, automatic fuel feeding, and a cleaner biomass fuel blend.
The experience demonstrates how upgrading an industrial heating system can help manufacturers improve operations while addressing pollution concerns.

Steamax’s Solution: Multifuel Poha Roaster Heater

After reviewing the roasting process, Steamax developed the Multifuel Poha Roaster Heater for poha manufacturing applications.

According to the original case study, Steamax installed the first commercial unit in Ujjain on September 19, 2019, after prototype trials.

The system introduced two key changes:

• Automatic fuel feeding: More consistent fuel delivery helps operators maintain stable combustion conditions and reduces dependence on manual feeding.
• Astillas biomass fuel: Steamax introduced its biomass fuel blend as an alternative to the traditional sawdust-based arrangement.

Automatic feeding alone doesn’t guarantee low emissions. Results depend on how fuel properties, combustion-air supply, furnace design, and operating conditions interact. However, a properly matched system can make combustion easier to control.

Environmental Benefits Reported by Steamax

The original case study reports several improvements following the system upgrade.

1. Reduced Black Smoke

Steamax reported that visible black smoke was eliminated after the installation. Better fuel feeding and combustion control can reduce soot formation when incomplete combustion is the main cause.

However, the absence of visible smoke doesn’t prove that all pollutants have been eliminated. Reliable emissions assessment should include appropriate measurements of particulate matter and other relevant pollutants.

2. Lower Ash and Clinker Generation

The case study reports reducing solid residue from 15–20% of fuel input to about 2%.

For every 1,000 kg of fuel, that would correspond to the following reported comparison:

3. Particulate Emissions

The original article reports that chimney emissions fell below an 800 ppm limit. However, ppm is not the usual standalone unit for reporting particulate matter, which is generally expressed as a mass concentration, such as mg/Nm³.

The applicable limit also depends on the pollutant, equipment category, regulatory requirement, and measurement conditions. The original claim should therefore be checked against the relevant test report and applicable consent conditions before being presented as verified regulatory compliance.

Economic Benefits

• Reduced Fuel Consumption: The new system has resulted in lower fuel consumption, directly reducing the overall cost of the roasting process.
• Improved Product Quality: With better system efficiency and uniform heat distribution, the quality and quantity of the roasted poha have increased.
• Labour Savings: Implementing an automatic fuel-feeding system has reduced the need for manual labour in the roasting process.
• No Equipment Downtime: Since the system upgrade in September 2019, zero reported heater breakdowns have been reported.
• Reduced Ash Disposal Costs: The significant reduction in solid waste has also led to lower costs for ash disposal.