A study of large-cardamom curing chambers in Sikkim

India is the largest producer of large cardamom in the world with an annual production of 4000 tons, followed by Nepal (2500 tons/year) and Bhutan (10 00 tons/year). More than 85% of the production within India is from Sikkim. Firewood is used extensively for curing cardamom in small, traditional cur ing chambers called "bhattis". The traditional curing process is not only i nefficient, resulting in an estimated fuelwood wastage of 20000 tons/year, but also yields a poor quality product. An attempt is made in the present w ork to analyze the thermal performance of the traditional "bhattis" through field survey and operational data collection. Based on the experimental ob servations and analysis, options for improvement such as use of a gasifier are suggested. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.