Utilisation of By-product of Mahua Fruit (Madhuca indica) for Energy Purposes

Lot of emphasis is being given on conversion of biodiesel from plant oil, which is only about 17–19% of the dry fruit. However, no attention/very less attention is being given to utilise other components of fruit for energy purposes. The utilisation of by-product of Mahua fruit may make self-sustainable biodiesel industry apart from reducing the load on environment. Freshly harvested Mahua dried fruit contains about 60% shell and 40% seed (by weight). Shells are available after de-shelling of the Mahua fruit, whereas Mahua seed husks are available after decortications of Mahua seed, which is being used for oil extraction. Seed contains about 27% husk/hull and 73% kernels. The kernels have about 35–40% oil. If the oil is extracted by solvent method, the oil recovery is more than 30%, but in mechanical oil expeller, the oil recovery is about 20% only. If 100 kg of seed was expelled by expeller, it will give about 25–28 kg oil. At School of Energy and Environmental Studies, DAVV, Indore work was initiated to utilise all by-products of the Mahua fruits. This paper discussed the utilisation of shell and hull/husk for combustion. Combustion studies of Mahua shell and hull/husk shows that 1 kg Mahua shell and hull/husk can sustain about more than 1 h, maintaining combustion flame temperature above 240°C, which is sufficient for cooking of meal having 3–4 family members.