Straw Power to Fuel Unilever's Washing Powder Production   

By Teresa Zheng   

On June 22nd, Unilever China announced it started using straw materials instead of natural gas in the laundry detergent production. This marks the revolutionary step for the energy using in detergent powder industry.
   Unilever China biomass fuel project uses the straw logs from corn stalks, peanut shells, rape straws and other agricultural waste, and burns them completely to generate heating air for washing powder blower. No solid waste will be left as the ashes can be further manufactured to make construction materials. And no waste water will be generated in the whole process, for the cooling water is clean and circulated in the system.
   Traditionally, the detergent powder industry uses coal, heavy oil, or natural gas to fuel the powder blowing procedure, which usually leads to problems like air polluting and energy wasting.
   The biomass fuel solutions in Hefei manufacturing base would bring to consume 20 to 25 thousand tons of agricultural straws within the first year and reduce emission of 15 thousand tons of carbon dioxide every year. At the same time, the company saves its cost in energy, and helps peasants increase their income.
   It is estimated that every year China produces more than 700 million tons of agricultural straws, which is rarely reused.