A comparative study of the use of a diesel fired boiler to the use of a biomass fired boiler for the minimization of the cost of production at Kampala Pharmacuetical Industries (1996) Ltd.

Abstract

Kampala pharmaceutical industries (1996) limited is one of biggest manufacturing companies in Uganda known for producing pharmaceutical products mostly tablets, capsules, creams and ointments.

The company focuses on providing reliable and consistent services to its customers thus it employs the use of different utilities to enhance its facilities. For instance, Steam which is generated in boilers is used to dry the granules in the granulation rooms for production of tablets. The company uses a water tube diesel fired boiler to generate steam.

With the current prevailing competition in the pharmaceutical industrial sector, the cost of production is a key factor. As the prices of petroleum fuels especially diesel is growing at a steeper rate than the solid fuels, currently a liter going for 5850ugx many areas of the country. The energy cost component contributes highly on the cost of production therefore there is need to minimize the energy costs so as to reduce the cost of production by identifying and implementing viable alternatives such as biomass.

Biomass is dominating Uganda’s energy mix, about 94% of the total primary energy consumption is generated from biomass. This makes it a very suitable substitute for diesel. This research project report clearly shows and explains in details the potential, feasibility and economic benefits associated with the use of biomass as fuel for steam generation in the boiler at Kampala pharmaceutical industries ltd (1996) instead of diesel fuel.

The research employed observations, interviews, documents and records data collection methods to obtain steam pressure and temperature of the boiler, financial information associated with the boiler and technical specifications respectively for three consecutive days. It further discusses the obtained results such as the calculated efficiency of the boiler from the collected data as 75.9% which was less than the design boiler efficiency of 88%, and its comparison with the efficiency of a biomass fired boiler of 90%. It also compares the capacities of 520kg/hr. and 4500kg/hr. for the both the diesel fired and biomass fired boilers respectively with the industries steam demand of 600kg/h.

The report also gives a clear cost benefit and cost minimization analysis of the two boilers where it indicates an increase in the company’s daily and monthly savings by 399USD and 11214USD respectively within a payback period of 5 months if the project is implemented.

The last chapter entails the conclusions and recommendations from the research findings

The last three chapters entail the results, discussions, recommendation and conclusions of the research findings where it commends the implementation of the project because it is economically beneficial and viable. As well as considering the use of a closed loop system for boiler to reduce on the water consumption by the boiler which ensure cleaner production.