Design , fabrication and sensitvty testing of an efficient bone pyrolysis kiln and biochar based indigenous fertilizer pelletizing machine for linking renewable energy with climate smart agriculture

Biochar has the potential to improve soil nutrient status, increase crop yield and sequester carbon in the soil. However, storage, transportation and soil application of biochar are challenging because biochar is brittle, and has wide particle size distribution and low density. Its loss could be as high as 30% by wind-blown during handling, transport to the field and soil application.Composting biochar with animal manure and other feed stocks helps in specific soil fertility management However compost itself has high moisture content and to facilitate handling and transportpelletization is required. The objective of this study is design and develop biochar based indigenious fertilizer pelletizing machine and bone pyrolysis kiln to help the small holder farmers in developing countries through organic fertilizer supply, improving the poor soil fertility, and subsequently reduce agricultural carbon emissionand sequastrate atmospheric carbon. Biochar produced from bone pyrolysis combines the advantages of biochar along with phosphorous addition. An experimental investigation has been carried out in this regard for biochar production from bone pyrolysis and subsequent pelletization of the biochar based indigenous fertilizer. A sensitivity testing has been done on the machine to ascertain the effects ofthe moisture content,particle size, binder, operating speed and the drying process on the qulaity and durability of the pellets produced for standardization.The pellets are produced using different moisture content of the compost and 5% water solution activated starch and 15-29% of molasses diluted with 15% of water are used as binder. The results show that the moisture content and lubricant oil addition are critical parameters for pelleting process. The optimum moisture content of the compost for quality pellet production with the builted machine is 20 to 25%. The bone pyrolysis kiln also produces uniformoly heated bone char with low fuel consumption, as well as 15-20Kg of bio char.