Gujarat has many industries that depend on steam or process heat. Some of them look at biomass pellets and briquettes as an alternative to coal or oil. We do not have verified sector-wise consumption figures, so this article does not give any. Instead, it lists the sectors we most often hear from and what each should check before a trial. Fit depends on your equipment, temperature needs and fuel price.
Sectors and What to Check
| Sector | Typical heat use | What to check |
|---|---|---|
| Textile dyeing and processing | Process steam, thermic fluid heaters | Steam pressure stability, ash handling, your consent conditions |
| Ceramic tiles | Spray dryers, hot air generators | Burner design, temperature profile; roller kilns at very high temperature need case-by-case assessment |
| Chemicals and pharma | Reactor jackets, drying, effluent treatment | Steam quality, fuel records for audits |
| Food and dairy | Cooking, pasteurising, cleaning steam | Direct versus indirect steam use, food-safety review |
| Brick kilns | Firing | Kiln design and local rules |
| Paper and packaging | Drying and corrugating steam | Continuous demand, storage space |
| Steel re-rolling and metal treatment | Reheating, annealing | Temperature requirement, system design |
| Hotels, hospitals and campuses | Hot water, laundry, kitchen steam | Small volumes against a 25 MT minimum order |
A Common Checklist
- Ask for the batch lab report: GCV, moisture, ash and sulphur.
- Calculate cost per million Kcal with your own delivered prices.
- Check your consent conditions before changing fuel.
- Run a trial of at least 25 MT and measure fuel per tonne of steam.
Our main product is biomass briquettes (white coal, 90mm), alongside biomass pellets and premium wood pellets. Read our sourced facts on white coal for the official data behind these comparisons.
Reading the Table Against Your Own Plant
The sector list above is a starting point, not a verdict. Two plants in the same sector can reach opposite conclusions because what matters is the heat-using equipment, not the industry label. Before you shortlist biomass, sort your own heat loads into three groups.
Group 1: Steam and thermic fluid loads (usually the easiest)
Boilers and thermic fluid heaters are designed around a furnace volume, grate and air system. If the unit already burns a solid fuel such as coal or wood, a briquette or pellet trial is largely a question of feed size, grate loading and ash removal. Our coal to biomass boiler retrofitting guide walks through what to inspect first.
Group 2: Direct hot air and drying loads (case by case)
Spray dryers, hot air generators and tray dryers depend on burner design and on what the flue gas touches. If hot gas contacts the product, ash and particulate carry-over matter far more than calorific value. Ceramic spray dryers are a good example; see biomass pellets for the ceramic industry for the points to confirm with your burner supplier.
Group 3: Very high temperature or oil and gas fired processes (often not a fit)
Furnaces that need a precise, high flame temperature, or that run on gas for atmosphere control, are generally not candidates for a simple fuel swap. Solid biomass does not replace every fuel in every process, and saying so openly saves everyone a wasted trial. Plants with a mix of loads often move only the steam side first.
Questions Plant Teams Ask Before Any Trial
- Which single boiler or heater will take the trial, and what is its current fuel feed arrangement?
- Can the existing feeder, grate and ash system handle briquettes (90mm) or pellets without modification?
- Where will 25 MT be stored, and can it be kept dry and off the ground?
- Who will log fuel per tonne of steam, ash quantity and boiler pressure stability during the trial?
- What do our consent conditions say about fuel, and who will confirm with the pollution control board?
Efficiency Comes Before Fuel Price
A fuel with a lower sticker price can still cost more per tonne of steam if the boiler converts it poorly. Establish your current boiler efficiency first, using the method in how to calculate boiler efficiency, then compare fuels on delivered cost per million Kcal using your own invoices. Our fuel cost calculator takes your own prices as inputs, so nothing in the result is assumed on our side.
What a Sensible First Step Looks Like
- Pick one steam or thermic fluid unit with steady demand.
- Request the batch lab report for GCV, moisture, ash and sulphur. BBI briquettes and agro pellets are specified at GCV 3800 to 4200 Kcal/kg, moisture below 10%, ash below 10% (typically 2 to 8% depending on feedstock) and sulphur below 0.1%, confirmed by the batch lab report available on request.
- Order the 25 MT minimum, which is a trial quantity, not a long contract.
- Run for long enough to cover different load conditions and compare against the same unit on its previous fuel.
- Only then discuss a standard bulk contract of 50 MT per month or more.
Also keep in mind that a fuel choice sits inside your compliance picture. Stack test results and your consent conditions decide what is acceptable, which is why our note on Gujarat pollution control board and biomass is worth reading alongside this one.
To discuss a trial for your sector, contact our team.Quick fuel check
About 50.0 MT/month of 90mm Biomass Briquettes (White Coal) matches 50 MT of Indian Coal. Enter both prices for a cost comparison.
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