Development of energy-saving technologies for the food processing industry

B. L. Amla and V. H. Potty

Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore, India

ABSTRACT

Awareness of the importance of energy saving in manufacturing processes was kindled only when fossil fuels registered dramatic price increases in 1973. These increases led to evolving strategies to conserve energy resources, especially exhaustible sources, by reducing their consumption and developing renewable sources of energy. To achieve any significant savings in energy consumption in manufacturing processes, the food industry must reliably assess energy consumption at each unit operation. Estimation of gross energy requirement can be used for deciding on technology options. Two approaches for achieving significant savings in energy consumption in the food industry could be: (a) improving the efficiency of each unit operation by design improvement; (b) developing new processes or products that consume less energy than traditional processes. The latter approach may be suitable for developing countries like India, which is promoting its processed food industry on a priority basis. A few technologies that require considerably less energy to process products developed in India are highlighted in this paper.

INTRODUCTION

 

The abilities to control and use energy sources were important milestones in man's progress and civilization. The development from a primitive hunter-gatherer society to the present has progressed through the use of various energy options: fire, animal power, water, wind, fossil fuels, and nuclear energy.
Throughout history the generation of surplus has been the fundamental purpose of any economic activity. The use of newer energy systems also followed this rule and helped to generate surpluses of time, resources, and energy. Curtailing the gross energy expended in the food production and delivery system in developing economies is critically important in any long-term strategy for energy conservation. An intense awareness has been generated in most of the developed countries regarding the acute need for energy conservation in all sectors and has resulted in both voluntary and statutory steps to cut down on energy cost and conserve scarce energy resources. In the developing world, not much activity is evident in this critical area, and even the availability of vital data regarding energy generation and use is doubtful. If any worthwhile practical programme of energy conservation is to be planned and implemented, it is necessary to have (al a reliable database concerning production and consumption of various types of energy sources by different users and (b) energy auditing at various levels to provide a firm basis for identifying options for saving energy.

 

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