Abstract
The demand for rubber gloves has significantly increased in both medical and non-medical fields due to the spread of the coronavirus in 2019. It is challenging for rubber glove manufacturing industries to balance the production and demand for the product. Additionally, they must determine techniques to decrease the production costs so as to make rubber gloves more economical for consumers. Generally, natural gas, fossil fuels, and renewable energy sources are used worldwide in the manufacturing of rubber gloves. In addition, Thailand uses biomass energy for rubber glove production, but biomass utilization is not economically friendly. This study used different biomasses as fuel in rubber glove production so as to reduce production costs and make the process more environmentally friendly. Wood chip (WC), palm kernel shells (PKS), and oil palm mesocarp fiber (OPMF) biomass were collected from local regions and used in different ratios. The samples of WC, PKS, and OPMF were prepared in four different ratios, namely, 88:12:0, 85:15:0, 85:13:2, and 85:10:5, for efficient biomass utilization. The 85:10:5 (WC: PKS: OPMF) ratio was found to be the optimal ratio as the annual production costs of rubber gloves significantly decreased to USD 1.64 per 1000 units of gloves. Furthermore, this biomass ratio also showed the best boiler efficiency of 74.87%. Therefore, WC, PKS, and OPMF biomass are recommended as fuel for rubber glove industries to make sustainable and economical production processes.
Subject
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law,Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment,Geography, Planning and Development,Building and Construction
Reference32 articles.
1. A Lack Of Manufacturing Capacity Is Causing A Global Glove Shortage,2022
2. Medical Gloves Market—Global Outlook & Forecast 2021–2026
https://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/5403544/medical-gloves-market-global-outlook-and
3. Empirical analysis of energy management in Danish industry
4. Preventive Maintenance of Boiler: A Case of Kuwait Industry
5. Optimization of an industrial boiler operation;Ranaraja;Jf Res. Technol. Eng.,2020
Cited by
3 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献