India has a major agribusiness sector which has achieved remarkable successes over the last three and a half decades. Agricultural waste or residue is made up of organic compounds from organic sources such as rice straw, oil palm empty fruit bunch, sugar cane bagasse, coconut shell, and others.

Rice husk from paddy (Oryza sativa) is one example of alternative material that has a great potential. Rice husk a major by-product of the rice milling industry, is one of the most commonly available lignocellulosic materials that can be converted to different types of fuels and chemical feedstocks through a variety of thermochemical conversion processes. Rice husk is an agricultural residue abundantly available in rice producing countries.

The husk surrounds the paddy grain. During milling of paddy about 78 % of weight is received as rice, broken rice and bran. Rest 22 % of the weight of paddy is received as husk. This husk is used as fuel in the rice mills to generate steam for the parboiling process. This husk contains about 75 % organic volatile matter and the balance 25 % of the weight of this husk is converted into ash during the firing process, is known as rice husk ash.  This RHA in turn contains around 85 % - 90 % amorphous silica.The moisture content ranged from 8·68 to 10·44%, and the bulk density ranged from 86 to 114 kg/ m³.  

Rice husk is unusually high in ash, which is 92 to 95% silica, highly porous and lightweight, with a very high external surface area. Its absorbent and insulating properties are useful to many industrial applications, such as acting as a strengthening agent in building materials. Rice husks are processed into rectangular shaped particle boards.

Construction industry is one of the fastest growing sectors in India. Rapid construction activity and growing demand of houses has lead to the short fall of traditional building materials. Bricks, Cement, sand, and wood are now becoming scares materials. Demand of good quality of building materials to replace the traditional materials and the need for cost effective and durable materials for the low cost housing has necessitated the researchers to develop variety of new and innovative building materials.

Construction materials of special requirements for the houses in different geographical region to overcome the risk of natural hazard and for protection from sever climatic conditions has also emphasised the need for development of lightweight, insulating, cost effective, durable and environment friendly building materials. Rice hulls can be put to use as building material, fertilizer, insulation material or fuel. Rice hulls uses include aggregates and fillers for concrete and board production, economical substitute for microsilica, absorbents for oils and chemicals, soil ameliorants, as a source of silicon, as insulation powder in steel mills so as to name a few.

India is a major rice producing country, and the husk generated during milling is mostly used as a fuel in the boilers for processing paddy, producing energy through direct combustion and / or by gasification. About 20 million tones of RHA are produced annually. This RHA is a great environment threat causing damage to the land and the surrounding area in which it is dumped. Lots of ways are being thought of for disposing them by making commercial use of this RHA.

The annual rice husk produce in India amounts is generally approximately 120 million tons. Rice husk is generally not recommended as cattle feed since its cellulose and other sugar contents are low. Furfural and rice bran oil are extracted from rice husk. Industries use rice husk as fuel in boilers and for power generation.

Among the different types of biomass used for gasification, rice husk has a high ash content varying from 18 – 20 %. Silica is the major constituent of rice husk ash and the following tables gives typical composition of rice husk and rice husk ash. With such a large ash content and silica content in the ash it becomes economical to extract silica from the ash, which has wide market and also takes care of ash disposal.

A number of rice-producing countries, (e.g. Thailand), are currently conducting research on industrial uses of rice hulls.

How to Prepare Agricultural Waste Management Project Report?

A good agricultural waste management project is a reliable source of extra income for farmers and agricultural waste marketers. Instead of dumping them, you can generate energy, fertilizers, and even animal feeds from a good agro-waste management plan.

If you have ever interacted with farmers, you know that waste management in agricultural fields is a complex problem. Designing an agricultural waste management system must begin with a feasibility study report for the project.

The findings of the feasibility report for the project are important in deciding whether to proceed with your agricultural waste management project report. This report should address necessary for the implementation of the project. Some of these aspects include but are not limited to the following. 

1. How to Choose the Appropriate Technology?

Among the popular waste management option you may consider are:

• Disposal site technologies
• Compositing technologies
• Thermal technologies
• Anaerobic digestion technologies

2. Biogas Yield and Greenhouse Emissions

The project report needs to give an overview of the amount of biogas the plant will produce. You will also need to know how much electricity this will yield if you intend to produce it.

3. Assessment of the Waste Treatment Plant

Let us assume your business plan involves setting up a waste treatment plant. You, in that case, need to develop a business plan for the project. Economies of scale will, therefore, be an important aspect of your agricultural waste management project report.

The report should weigh investment costs against expected revenues from biogas, electricity generation, and fertilizer and compost sales.

4. Environmental performance

Look at the intensity of the agricultural waste management problem and gauge the plant's size to address it effectively. Additionally, you need to assess the effects of the plant on air, soil, and water reservoir pollution.

Steps involved in the Sodium Silicate Manufacturing Process

You at one time, if not all the time, used soaps, detergents, and silica adhesives. These and many others are familiar products of sodium silicate. It serves me right to give you a few hints on the manufacture of this important industrial material.

Sodium silicate manufacturing plants make it is from sand and caustic soda in three simple steps. The steps are:

Step 1: Making Cullet and Soda

Cullet is a non-crystalline form of solid glass. It primarily contains sodium oxide and silicon dioxide. All you need to make cullet is first to mix sand (silicon dioxide) and soda (sodium carbonate). You then roast this mixture in a furnace, usually at 1000^oC. What you get at the end of this simple process is cullet.

Step 2: Conversion of cullet to sodium silicate

If you dissolve cullet in the water at high temperature and pressure, the product is aqueous sodium silicate, also called water glass.

Step 3: Customizing ratios

Depending on the properties of a water glass that your customers need, you can vary the ratio of silicon dioxide to sodium oxide by adding sodium hydroxide. 

How to Start a Rice Husk Ash Business?

Have you ever wondered where husks from milled rice go? Well, nearly 30% of raw rice ends up as husks after milling. Quite often, millers sell rice husks to factories where they burn it as fuel, yielding lots of rice husk ash (RHA).

Rice husk ash can be a major environmental pollutant if not appropriately disposed of. If you start a rice husk ash business, you do not only make profits. You also help to solve a thorny environmental conservation problem. Here are some rice husk ash business ideas you might want to explore further.

• Cement manufacturing
• Silica production
• Ceramics and refractory plant
• Steel industry
• Rubber manufacturing

If you think starting a manufacturing plant that uses RHA is beyond your financial muscles, there is a cheaper option. Simply buy RHA from industries that burn rice husks for fuel. Do some surveys and find a market for the ash. Sell your RHA at a profit, and you have your rice husk business on the move.

Feasibility Study Report on Rice Processing Business Plan

Rice is among the most popular foods globally. Among the top rice-producing countries are China, India, Indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand, Burma, and the Philippines.

A feasibility analysis report will clearly show you the possibility of your business thriving in your selected location. Rice processing can give you different products. Therefore, you may need to do various types of feasibility reports for each of the anticipated outcomes.

An ideal feasibility project report for rice processing should cover, among other aspects, the following:

• Current and future rice production
• Rice imports into the country
• Number and production capacity of existing rice millers
• Ideal plant production capacity
• Drying and storage options
• Overall project cost implications

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