How to Buy Rice Hull Ash

Since much of the world's population relies on rice as a staple food, massive quantities of rice hulls are created as a waste byproduct. When rice hulls are burned an ash high in carbon and silica is left behind. This rice hull ash, or RHA, can then be used as an environmentally-friendly component of cement and construction materials, insulation for steel mills, silica products, filters and chemical adsorbents.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

1. Determine how much RHA you need and what you intend to use it for. RHA is sold in large quantities but is inexpensive since it is an industrial byproduct. RHA comes in powdered, flaked or pellet form.
2. Contact a nearby rice farm or mill if you live in an area that grows or processes rice on a significant scale. Someone takes all their waste hulls and ash off their hands, and if they can't sell you any directly, you can find out who is buying all of it. In turn, those companies may be producing excess RHA which they must also dispose of somehow.
3. Look for biofuel power plants. Some plants use rice hulls as a fuel source, creating huge amounts of RHA. Also, some rice mills burn the hulls on-site as an energy source.
4. Search TradeKey or Alibaba, two online directories of global importers and exporters (see Resources below). Do a search for "rice hull" or "rice husk" ash. The two terms are interchangeable. Check frequently, since the suppliers might not have a continuous stock on hand, and some buyers purchase very large quantities at one time, eating up the supply.

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