 Jack's Journal
2nd - 25th November 2009
Hi I'm Jack and during the summer of 2009 I worked on a 3-month long project as a Volunteer Engineer in rural India.
This project was organised by the Charity ‘Engineers without Borders-UK’ in conjunction with ARTI, a partner NGO based in Maharashtra, India aimed at improve the quality of life for Communities in rural India through the provision of sustainable, electrical power by the conversion of a diesel generator to run on biogas.
I worked alongside a student from Warwick University on site at ARTI and we shared accommodation in the local town Phaltan. We managed to achieve a diesel combustion saving of around 65% through the introduction of biogas into the system and this means that the communities can now produce a significant amount of fuel through utilising their own organic waste, thus drastically reducing overall cost.
The work is likely to continue into 2010 and I have been appointed Project Manager; responsible for selecting the next Volunteers and liaising with the team at ARTI. It has been suggested that next year’s project will look to develop a steam-based power generation system or improve the current biogas storage capacity.
I have now settled into the Mechanical Team here at Henderson green as a Graduate Sustainability Consultant. My role will assist with the growing workload, in particular BREEAM Assessments, and I am about to undertake the BREEAM Commercial Assessor's Course, which will be a great addition to our already extensive portfolio of Assessments that we are able to offer.
If you would like to read my original Journal from my work throughout the summer, please read on...
Jack's Original Journal
Hi, I’m Jack and I will be joining Henderson Green in November, working in a Sustainability Role. I worked for HG last summer and will soon be graduating from The University of Bath with a degree in Mechanical Engineering.
I am leaving on 1st July not long after Graduation so I better get back to packing as over the summer I will be working in India on a Rural Engineering project at a local NGO called ARTI (www.arti-india.org). This work was organised by the development charity ‘Engineers without Borders UK’ (EWB) www.ewb-uk.org. My work will involve the development of electricity generation in rural communities through the use of a biogas-digester and diesel engine. The aim of this project is to provide local people with cheaply produced power, which will hopefully enable them to sustainably develop their local economy.
The aim of this blog is to keep you updated with the project and hopefully entertain you with some interesting pictures and stories! It will be updated on a regular basis throughout the project and will aim to give an insight as to the kind of work going on in development and engineering in India.
If you want to get in touch feel free to email me at
This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
.
6th - 13th July 2009
Have now been at work for a week having not got off to the best of starts!
First day in the office I felt rough from something I had eaten the night before. I was up most of the night on the toilet and upon arriving at the office I bolted to the nearest loo to throw up. This sudden need to evacuate my stomach meant I had no time to remove my false tooth and so subsequently I had to remove it from the depths of an Indian plumbing system soon after! I spent the rest of the day in bed. I took the next day off to recover and then began work in earnest on Wednesday with minimal appetite.
We managed to get a clear idea of the objectives of the project from one of the more Senior Engineers. Our main aim is to make a large diesel engine run mainly on biogas with clean combustion and minimal diesel consumption (80:20 gas to diesel ratio). Our tests mainly involve altering air and gas intakes and looking for smoke, which indicates incomplete combustion.
The following day I had my first ride on the back of a motorbike to get a part from the Market, which was pretty fun. I then managed to stab myself with a screwdriver in the hand, which prompted a barrage of various antiseptics and bandages from the Office Staff, which seem to have worked so far!
Also encountered a venomous snake in the engine bay whilst looking for a bolt which made me **** myself and let out an unashamed girly scream! Managed to find a place to eat which shows the Ashes live, so I expect they will get a vast majority of our cash in the coming weeks!
Finished work for the week on Saturday with good results so far, more testing to come next week.
13th - 27th July 2009
Having established a way of quantifying the diesel consumption of the engine, we have now begun to conduct a set of tests to measure how much the use of the biogas affects the engine performance. We are primarily concerned about the rate of the diesel consumption as this is the main driver behind the project. Results so far have suggested that we can produce a diesel consumption reduction of around 40%, which is a lot less than then predicted value of 80%. I suspect that this is due to the quality of the gas we are using. Having spoken to people who have done similar projects, the best feedstock for the production of gas is human waste or abattoir waste due to its high energy content. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions, then let us know! ARTI currently uses a starch solution as it is cleaner and easier to transport. I think this is something we will have to look into in the next few weeks or it could be a project for next year. The rainy season is also a bad time for biogas production and 2 half hour runs of the engine uses the entire 5 cubic metre tank, which takes 2 days minimum to refill with gas! Not sure if it’s particularly economically sustainable at the moment. Life outside of work is fairly routine now and I am regularly going to the local gym although the low protein diet isn’t really complimenting the long hours pumping iron!
Went to the annual Kite Festival at the weekend, where kids from all around the City make kites and try to cut the lines of others (if anyone has read or seen the kite-runner it’s like that). Lots of music and dancing too, which was fun! We also stumbled on a film shooting at the local temple and I had my picture taken with a Indian movie megastar; needless to say, I had no idea who he was! Also had my hand painted with henna (not out of choice!) by a friend’s wife, which shows my name in Marathi. Hopefully heading to a place in the mountains at the weekend (if it isn’t too wet) called Mahableshwar, which is meant to be pretty cool.
27th July - 10th August 2009
We have now managed to establish a diesel saving of around 50% which is still quite a lot shy of the predicted 80%. In order to improve this further we have begun increasing the diameter of the pipe from the tank to the engine. Currently the pipe diameter is fairly narrow and I think the flow is being choked which limits the mass flow rate of the gas to the engine. We have tried applying pressure to the gas which does improve the mass flow rate and reduces the consumption rate however this is still limited by the narrow pipe (think of sucking a drink through a very thin straw). We have begun to install a larger pipe to the tank which will hope fully yield some good results in the coming week. Testing is getting a bit frustrating as well as we have to wait 2-3 days before there is enough high quality gas to use enough for one hour’s worth of testing!
We spent last weekend visiting a hill station called Mahableshwar about 130km away. Was nice to get a change of scenery although it was very cloudy and the views were mainly white outs! Visited Pune on Sunday and indulged in buying some cheap Levi's and even sampled the delights of McDonalds! Also had a tour around (didn’t partake in!) a place called the Osho Ashram which is marketed as a plush meditation centre but is rumoured to be one big (and expensive) orgy! Spent this weekend in Phaltan as we worked Saturday but we’re planning to visit some impressive caves next weekend near a city called Aurangabad in the North of the state.
12th September 2009
We have now finished the main scope of the project and I’m now tying up the loose ends before I head to Rajasthan at the weekend. Jon left for the UK last week so I am spending the week finishing the report and visiting local sights. We found a really secluded waterfall last week where you can swim and dive off rocks so I think I’ll go back there. Some friends from home are visiting and are being shown the sights and sounds of Phaltan too; that’ll be the local shop and the cricket field then!
The guys at ARTI are very happy with our results and, although we didn’t achieve the target we set out for in terms of fuel saving, I think we did the best we could. I am still a bit sceptical about the merit of the other reports that have suggested an 80% saving. There is definitely scope for a project next year, which I will hopefully be managing. I think it would involve designing and building a large (100 cubic metre) digester so that the engine can meet the demands of a village for a day, not just one hour.
I think after two and a half months here I have come to appreciate the Indian way of life a lot more and I’m sort of beginning to understand how things work amongst the chaos and frustration! The people in Phaltan are really friendly and genuine and, although I won’t miss the town that much, I think the friends that I have made and the faces that I recognise everyday will be missed. I am really looking forward to seeing a bit more of India in the coming weeks. I am hoping to explore the North a bit more then head to Darjeeling before visiting Nepal and returning home. I’ll keep updating the blog with pictures and (hopefully entertaining!) stories.
|
