# How much husk would an economiser save in a Bargarh rice mill boiler?

Canonical: https://senseible.earth/answers/bargarh-rice-mill-boiler-economiser-husk-saving

About a tenth of your husk. TERI's rule of thumb: every 6 degrees of feedwater preheat saves 1% of fuel, and preheating to 90 degrees with better condensate return saves about 10%. For a 2 tph Bargarh mill burning 1,610 t of husk a year, that is about 160 t.

## Why the boiler is the place to start

Most Bargarh mills run three-pass husk boilers of about 4 tph at 10 kg/cm2, with no economiser beyond a locally made feedwater preheater and no instruments except a pressure gauge. Steam goes to hot water for soaking, direct steaming and the paddy dryer, so every percent of boiler loss shows up as husk you could have sold.

## Across the cluster

- About 86 small and medium mills could fit waste heat recovery on their boilers.
- Together they would save about 16,900 t of husk a year (5,070 toe), worth about Rs 20.3 million at the husk selling price.
- Solar water heaters for soaking water would save about 20,000 t more.
- Only 3 mills above 10 tph have cogeneration; the other 6 large mills could add about 6 MW.

## What it does for your carbon number

Little, honestly. Husk CO2 is biogenic, so burning less husk barely moves the fossil figure a buyer sees; your grid kWh does that. The economiser's case is money: husk freed for sale, and steam you can measure. If you want the fossil line to fall too, pair it with efficient motors, plastic elevator buckets and pump upgrades.

## Evidence a lender will want

1. Husk burnt per tonne of paddy for a few months before, from your stock register.
2. The economiser quote and its rated outlet temperature.
3. Feedwater temperature and husk per tonne for the same months after.

## Husk saved at 10% (estimate)

- Husk value in the cluster: Rs 290 million / 2,41,445 t = about Rs 1,200 a tonne
- 2 tph mill: 1,610 t x 10% = 161 t, about Rs 1.9 lakh a year
- 4 tph mill: 3,219 t x 10% = 322 t, about Rs 3.9 lakh a year
- 10 tph mill: 8,048 t x 10% = 805 t, about Rs 9.7 lakh a year

Husk use per mill, the 10% saving and husk value from TERI's Bargarh profile (2014-15 prices). Today's husk price will differ; use yours.

## What Senseible does here

Senseible's green loan readiness check shows what evidence a lender will look for, and your electricity bills read into monthly records give the before-and-after line for the motor and pump side of the upgrade.

- [Green loan readiness check](https://senseible.earth/green-loan-check)
- [Bargarh mills: husk, power and CO2](https://senseible.earth/answers/bargarh-rice-mills-husk-energy-and-co2)
- [Rice mill energy benchmark](https://senseible.earth/answers/rice-mill-energy-per-tonne-benchmark)

Sources: [TERI, Cluster profile: Bargarh rice mills (2014-15 data)](https://sameeeksha.org/pdf/clusterprofile/Bargarh_Rice_Mills_Orissa.pdf), [GHG Protocol Corporate Standard](https://ghgprotocol.org/corporate-standard)

Last reviewed 2026-10-31.