Due to limited coverage, the electricity power supply in Uganda is an obstacle to the country’s economic development. Utility firms in Uganda either lack the financial capacity to expand their grids to isolated rural areas or choose not to do so due to the low return on investment. Therefore, connecting households to mini-grids represents an effective solution to providing power to remote/rural areas. This study evaluates the resource and technology of generating electrical energy from cocoa pod husks (CPHs), an agricultural residue/waste, generated in Uganda. The use of agricultural waste for energy generation is the most suitable option for the rural population in Uganda because of the availability of a raw material (biomass) for its production, which is pollution-free (renewable and clean) and does not have competition for use. The inability to convert these solid wastes into useful products culminates into environmental related challenges, such as landfilling, climate change, pests, and diseases. Therefore, the aim of this study is to quantify the amount of generated CPHs and evaluate its potential for electricity generation in Uganda. Subsequently, we have been looking into the potential of CPHs as a feedstock for a thermochemical conversion process and the feasibility of a direct combustion technology. The amount of CPHs generated in Uganda has been estimated. The physiochemical analysis has shown that the proportion of CPHs in the fresh pods is about 74%, which is nearly the same as in other studies. The dry matter content of CPHs has been found to be on an average of 19%, whereas ash content, moisture content, and the gross caloric value have been recorded to be 12.3%, 12.58%, and 17.5%, respectively. It seems therefore likely that 41.7 GJ of energy might be produced each year from CPHs in Uganda. This study has demonstrated that the CPHs are an important energy source. As there is an increasing trend in cocoa and CPH production in Uganda per year, the electricity production based on CPHs is sustainable and can be upgraded. The use of CPHs for energy conversion is therefore feasible, cost-efficient, and a solution to some environmental challenges.

中文翻译：

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乌干达用于发电的可可豆荚的量化和表征

由于覆盖范围有限，乌干达的电力供应成为该国经济发展的障碍。乌干达的公用事业公司缺乏将电网扩展到偏远农村地区的财务能力，或者由于投资回报率低而选择不这样做。因此，将家庭连接到微型电网代表了向偏远/农村地区供电的有效解决方案。这项研究评估了在乌干达产生的可可豆荚（CPH）（一种农业残留物/废物）产生电能的资源和技术。将农业废物用于能源生产是乌干达农村人口最合适的选择，因为其生产所用的原材料（生物质）无污染（可再生和清洁），并且没有竞争优势。使用。无法将这些固体废物转化为有用的产品，最终导致了与环境相关的挑战，例如垃圾填埋，气候变化，病虫害和疾病。因此，本研究的目的是量化产生的CPH数量，并评估其在乌干达的发电潜力。随后，我们一直在研究CPH作为热化学转化过程的原料的潜力以及直接燃烧技术的可行性。乌干达产生的CPH数量已估算。物理化学分析表明，新鲜豆荚中CPH的比例约为74％，与其他研究几乎相同。已发现CPH的干物质平均含量为19％，而灰分，水分和总热值记录为12。分别为3％，12.58％和17.5％。因此，似乎乌干达的CPH每年可能产生41.7 GJ的能量。这项研究表明，CPH是一种重要的能源。由于乌干达每年的可可和CPH生产呈增长趋势，因此基于CPH的电力生产是可持续的，可以升级。因此，将CPH用于能量转换是可行的，具有成本效益的，并且可以解决一些环境挑战。