Abstract

Executive summary
I want to start a firm ,manufacturing precipitated silica from rice husk ash and providing it to the prospective
customers at highly competitive prices and will slowly diversify into manufacturing green products .
Central Idea--
We will use a novel process for the manufacture of precipitated silica from rice husk ash, having multiple
applications in the field of rubbers and plastics, paints, toothpastes, catalyst, carrier agent, insulation,
stabilizing and desiccants and hence we will aim to become a raw material supplier to these industries and
eventually we will also start manufacturing some of these products. The process method for silica precipitation
is novel, wherein the chemicals used are regenerated making it a closed loop operation. The extraction process
through digestion, precipitation and regeneration are done based on the application specifies, so as to get the
required particle size and densities.
introduction-------
Rice husk ash has a silica content of around 80 % - 90 % most of which is in amorphous nature,
depending on the temperature of combustion. This silica can be extracted economically by the
proposed process, which meets the requirements of the various industries. This novel process
consists of three steps namely :
1. Digestion of rice husk
2. Precipitation of silica from soluble silicate
3. Regeneration of caustic solution
In the process the chemicals used are recycled thus eliminating expensive effluent treatment plant and also
cutting down the plant operation cost.
the final left over is used as activated carbon without involving any further processing.
India alone produces approximately 12 million tons of rice husk annually.
High silica (SiO2) content in rice husk ash is economically feasible to extract silica, which has wide market.
The process also addresses the issue of appropriate disposal of rice husk ash.
The strength of this novel process of extracting silica through precipitation is that with minor changes in the
chemical composition the end product silica could be used for all the following application.
business management
infrastructure required : since we intend to process rice husk ash into various forms of silica ,we will require to
set up a small scale manufacturing plant for this .the various infrastructural facilities required to setup the plant
will be
Apparatus required :
3 metallic containers (capacity 1200L each)
3 agitators (capacity 2HP each)
Metallic pipes (15M)
1 Pump (capacity 2HP)
Manual operators required :
1 skilled technician to supervise the plant
2 laboures to loading & unloading raw & manufactured products
Land required : 400 square metres for plant & inventory
initial capital : it would include following costs
Cost of apparatus: rs 3 lacs
Cost of land & building : rs 5 lacs
Procurement cost & transportation cost : rs 2 lacs (including cost of 2nd hand cargo vehicle)
Hence we will require a total initial cost of rs 10 lacs
place of setup : we will initially set up our plant in West Bengal.. because it has huge rice production as
well as a cluster of industries which need silica as a raw material. Target production : 300 kg precipitated silica
per day
Our business model will consist of :
Step 1 : PROCUREMENT OF RAW MATERIAL
Step 2 : PROCESSING THE RAW MATERIAL ( Digestion Precipitation Regeneration)
Step 3 : SUPPLY TO CONSUMERS
Description of the Apparatus Used for Pilot Scale Studies:
The Apparatus consists of three parts i.e. a digester, a precipitator and a regenerator for carrying out the three
main steps to generate precipitated silica. Each one is provided with a main reaction vessel, with a lid and a
flange through which an agitator is placed inside the Main reaction vessel. The flange is made of stainless
steel. The flange is provided with necessary holes for placing bolts and nuts. The agitator is provided with two
propellers . On lid , a condenser , a temperature measurement slot and feed inlets &
Are provided. The feed inlets are used to send the necessary reactants to the reaction vessel. A
ball value is provided for product evacuation and drain value is provided for sampling. The
reaction vessel and the lid are fully insulated with high quality ceramic wool insulation with 0.5mm stainless
sheet cladding
The precipitator is additionally equipped with a sparger through the inlet , for carbon dioxide.
Working pressure of > 1.75kg/cm2 is applied to prevent blockade of sparger holes , by precipitated silica. In
most of the experiments the hole dia. was
Adjusted to let in the carbon dioxide or mixture of carbon dioxide
OVERVIEW OF MARKETING AND SELLS----
Overview of marketing & sales
MARKET ANALYSIS :
Present cost of silica in market rs 50 per kg
Manufacturing cost by process used at present rs 35 per kg
World demand for speciality silicas which include precipitated silica,silica gel,fumed silica increase at
healthy rate and will reach to 2.7 million metric tons in 2016.
Robust growth in rubber application will drive gains particularly in industrial sectors of developing countries
like India,China.
It also has great demand in food processing ,cosmetics & toiletries industry.
A strong turnaround din the world rubber industry which was hard hit by the 2008-2009 economic
downturn,will benefit silica demand . through 2016,the fastest gains in volume turms will be seen for fumed
silica,used in production of silicone rubber for industrial rubber application.
Adoption of green tires to boost speciality silica value and volume demand.
PROCUREMENT OF RAW MATERIALS :
Raw material ,rice husk ash is procured from nearby rice processing plants.
Caustic solution ,CO2 and calcium hydroxide are procured from nearby large market.
We will also make sure of an uninterrupted supply of raw materials by giving technological know how to the
rice mills from which we will procure rice husk ash
TARGET CUSTOMERS
The market includes both the growing Indian Market as well as the lucrative exports market. Unlike the export
dependent units currently present in India, we plan to capitalize on the Indian Market significantly. The
domestic market has huge untapped potential and is growing at a fast clip. There are huge application of silica
as raw material in many industries so we target the industries like tire, rubber, plastics,cosmetics,toiletries,&
food processing industries e.t.c.
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Initially we will require a capital of 10 lac INR , and our production capacity will be 300 kg of precipitated
silica per day then we will ramp up its capacity by a CAGR Cumulative Annual Growth Rate ) of 35% in
subsequent years.
In the beginning the required capital will be arranged from the venture capitalists who are interested in
investing their money in relatively unexplored sector with more or less no competition and getting high rate of
return.
We intend to set up 5 such production plants in West Bengal in the initial phase. Thereafter we will expand our
business in the states of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh , establishing 4 & 8 production plants respectively.
We will also employ Total Productivity Management in our plants to minimize the idle time of employees &
equipment and we intent to increase the infrastructural facilities at each plant so that we get an average output
of 1000 kg of silica per day from each plant.
Application of silica:
Reinforcement of rubbers and plastics
Thickening and thixotropy of coatings and paints, printing inks, plastic and cosmetics
Matting of lacquers, coating, paints and plastics
Anti-blocking of plastic foils
Free running and free flow of sticky solid or liquid substances
Carrier for pesticides, catalysts
High temperature insulation
Stabilizing (eg of beer, silicon rubbers)
Desiccants
Non eutrophic water softening (eg "builder" materials in washing).
SALES PROJECTION :
PHASE 1 :
This phase will start after we will set up our first production plant. The salient features of this phase will be
In the first month , we will try to establish contract aggrement with various rice mills spread across West
Bengal to provide us with rice husk ash in required quantity.
We will also market our product i.e. Precipitated Silica & Silica Gel in the nearby industrial are of Kolkata ,
Durgapur & Jamshedpur.
Hence productivity in first 3 months will be low.
Then in the 4th month we will intiate establishment of 2 new plants at different areas of West Bengal(the
areas will be chosen based on demand of silica)
Hence the productivity will triple in 5th month
In 5th month we will again establish another 2 plants thereby increasing the total productivity to five times
Thus phase 1 will end with our company establishing its firm base in the state of West Bengal.
PHASE 2:
After expanding our base in West Bengal we will then head to the states of Bihar & Andhra Pradesh and then
rice producing country of the world .The salient features of this phase will be
For 1st three months , we will establish 2 plants in each of these states, and make them operational.
We will also predict the future demand of silica in these states & the best suited procurement & supply chain
in these states based on the experience gained in the 1st 3 months of business .
Then we will start establishing one plant in Bihar and 2 in Andhra. This will be completed in one month .
Hence our production will increase to 49 tonnes of precipitated silica & 24 tonnes of silica gel by 5th month
in Bihar and Andhra.
We will also continue establishing one plant in Bihar & two in Andhra in both 5th & 6th month
Thus in the end we wil have 4 plants in bihar & 8 plants in Andhra Pradesh,and total production of 80 tonnes
of precipitated silica & 40 tonnes of silica gel from the states of Bihar & Andhra Pradesh.
and then moves to other countries.
Competition analysis
Since our company will use a novel process in manufacturing silica, it will be one of its kind in India. Hence
we will have huge competitive advantage over our competitiors OVER SILICA manufacturing company (one
of the leading manufacturer of precipitated silica) from the very beginning, which include -
existed company--
sand is used as raw material that will lead to devastation of pretty beaches which is a matter of environmental
concern.pretreatment is need before ejecting into river stream so it should always be established near the river
bank.cost of production is about $0.5/kg
MY COMPANY--
Rice husk ash which is considered as waste material is used for producing silica .chemical is regenerated so no
need of pretreatment.cost of production is about $0.3/kg
- See more at: http://istart.org/startup-idea/business/bio-silica-manufacturing/19761#sthash.KfAF2fVn.dpuf