Assam tea to opt for LPG, phase out furnace fuels

GUWAHATI, March 3: In the wake of liberalisation of economic and industrial policies, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) is now allowed to be used for commercial purpose. This has made LPG an extremely popular fuel in any industry for the purpose of heating and burning. The tea industry in the State has initiated process to use LPG in the process of tea making in place of conventional fuels like furnace oil, coal, high speed diesel (HSD) and LDO. The industry is going to bank on the Assam Oil Division (AOD) of the Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) for the supply of bulk quantity of LPG to the tea garden factories in the State. As LPG in cylinders is cumbersome for the tea industry it has opted to take LPG in bulk and store it in separate tanks for later use. The AOD, in a presentation made before the tea industry, pointed out that LPG could be supplied in bulk as per the requirement of tea factories. It said for storage purposes two bullets capsules with sophisticated accessories etc. could also be installed. In order to maintain the exact and constant temperature for tea making, a sophisticated instrument system can be installed, depending on desired level of automation required by specific user. Since LPG is a very safe fuel, a tea factory would not require any specially trained educated person to run it. For daily operation, any fitter or mechanic of tea factory can be given the basic training. Hence no extra manpower cost is involved. The tea industry has been attracted to shift to LPG as the fuel replacing the conventional fuels for many reasons. First bulk LPG is more cost effective when the consumption is high. In tea factories, use of bulk commercial LPG will turn out to be cost effective and hassle free. According to the estimates made by the AOD for the tea industry, there will be a saving of Rs 2.45 per kg of made tea when LPG is used as fuel in place of furnace oil. AOD claims that the entire investment made for making the infrastructure for the use of LPG in a tea factory with capacity of 10 lakh kg, will be paid back within the first session as LPG will be proved to be highly cost effective. The tea industry - which is now bracing up to boost the quality of tea made in the country - has welcomed LPG as an alternative fuel as it will ensure constant and uniform heating required for better quality tea. There will be no residual unburnt fuel which will convert tea manufacturing to an almost smokeless affair. There will be also no oil deposit on tea which will result in better quality of tea. Moreover, LPG is easy to handle in all seasons, be it summer, rainy or winter. Another reason which has prompted the tea industry to go for LPG as fuel in tea factories is that it is an eco-friendly and non-polluting fuel. Its low emission of Green House gases will also foster a clean and cool environment in the factories. Use of LPG will forestall any scope by unscrupulous traders for en route adulteration by mixing, watering or any other spurious form. Mentionably, it has become a common practice to mix furnace oil with crude oil, and coal with soil or water. The executives working in the factories will find LPG more suitable to handle. Being the cleanest fuel available, its use will facilitate any tea executive to carry out daily checks in the factory without even dirtying his hands and clothes. Commercial LPG installations are practically maintenance free. Test checks are required to be carried out only during the off season to keep the system tuned for the rest of the period in the year. In the long run, LPG is likely to replace even natural gas considering the fact that the source of LPG as fuel will remain under the control of the tea garden management and there will be no sudden failure of line supplies or drop in line pressure which frequently happens with line gas supply, resulting in production loss or wastage of green leaves. LPG is all set to become the fuel of the millennium for the oldest industry in the State.