Alternative drying of orange bagasse in vibrofluidized bed for use in combustion

Abstract

Orange is one of the most consumed fruits in the world, part of the production is directed to the production of industrialized juice that generates the orange bagasse. Initially, it was evaluated the influence of virgin and hydrated CaO pre-treatment on the mechanical dewatering stage and on the thermal drying in the vibrofluidized bed. In the mechanical dewatering stage, humidity reduction from 1 to 0.6 (dimensionless) was obtained, probably because of the interaction between the adsorbed water of pectin molecules and the CaO. No significant variations were identified in the type of CaO used in this step, however, the increase in virgin CaO content led to an increase in the flow of the removed moisture. The drying kinetics of the pressed waste in vibrofluidized bed were analyzed with vibration amplitude and frequency of 0.015 m and 6.16 Hz, respectively, at 70 and 80 °C, where the humidity was reduced to approximately 0.1 and only decreasing rate period was identified. The drying kinetics compared the influence of CaO pre-treatment under different conditions and in general the use of CaO improved the drying process. The dry waste was also characterized, where it was identified high higher heating value (HHV) and high volatile matter.