A Negrense has created a power generator that runs on rice hulls and produces multiple by-products.
Joel Katalbas, 38, of Bago City has manufactured his unique power generator at RU Foundry & Machine Shop in Barangay Pahanocoy, Bacolod City, with the help of businessman Ramon Uy Sr., who is also an inventor.
Uy said Katalbas’ generator could be the answer to power needs in remote areas in the countryside.
Katalbas said he started building his own power generator in 2018 that runs on rice husks because he was paying P25,000 a month in electricity bills for his computer shop.
He said his research led him to study the gasification process using rice hulls that is a WW II invention and on his own he constructed a crude power generator using scrap materials.
Katalbas, a Visayas Maritime Academy marine transportation graduate, said he learned that Uy was willing to help fund inventions so he approached him last year to go into a joint venture.
One sack of rice husks weighing 13 to 14 kilos can power his 10-kilowatt generator for an hour, he said. The generator can run for a longer period depending on the amount of rice husks used, he said.
Katalbas said on top of producing electricity, the carbonized rice husks can then be used for fertilizer and soil conditioner, or turned into pellets to be used as high grade charcoal for cooking.
The pellets can also be used as water purifiers or mixed into pig feeds, he added.
The moisture from the machine also creates rice hull vinegar that when fermented can also be used as pesticide, he said.
The heat from his generator can be used for drying palay, Katalbas added.
Uy said Katalbas’ generator can run a rice mill and its excess power can be used for welding and lighting up of homes in rural areas in the evenings.
It could be the answer to the needs of farmers in rural areas, Uy said.*