ANNOUNCEMENTS
India is the second largest ceramic tile producing country after China with a share of 8% of total global production. The heart of India’s ceramic industry in Morbi, Gujarat which accounts for ~80% of total domestic production. The industry is dominated mostly by the unorganized sector. As a result, energy consumption pattern of most units remains unaccounted due to the lack of credible information available about the prevailing production technologies, practices and critical parameters.
Major tile manufacturing countries like China and Italy perform better in terms of thermal and electrical energy consumption than India. This provides scope for the Indian ceramic industry to explore and invest in energy efficienct practices and technologies.
The present project report deals with developing Energy Efficiency measures and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for the ceramic tile sector in India. The approach and methodology adopted for this project involved secondary research on ceramic industry, energy audits of selected units, data analysis, identify factors affecting SECs, development of energy specific KPIs, and identification of energy efficient technologies.
Of the different stages in the manufacturing process of ceramic tiles, the Firing process in the Kiln and Drying process in the Spray Dryer consume ~90% of the total thermal energy. Electrical energy consumption only amounts to ~10% of the total energy requirement. Methods for improvement of thermal efficiency for firing and drying processes are put forward in this report.
KPIs are formulated for significant energy consuming processes and are classified into Plant Level and Equipment or Process Level. Factors and parameters which affect the energy consumption pattern are identified and summarized accordingly.
Energy efficient technologies and modifications to the existing machineries are proposed in this report and the energy savings are demonstrated for proper utilisation of these technologies.
Key Words: Energy Efficiency, Ceramic Tiles, Key Performance Indicators
