Abstract
The effluents of the sugar and bio-ethanol industry, mainly vinasse as well as lignocellulosic waste, are produced in high volumes. Therefore, their treatment and valorization would reduce the environmental impact and make this industry more productive and competitive. The purpose of this study was to determine the potential use of press mud (lignocellulosic waste), vinasse powder, and vinasse sludge from an extraction process with ethanol, as raw materials for conventional pyrolysis evaluating the physicochemical characteristics that affect this thermochemical process, such as calorific power, density, ash content, volatile material, moisture and nitrogen, sulfur, carbon and hydrogen content, thermogravimetric profile, and quantification of lignin cellulose and hemicellulose. The batch pyrolysis experiments showed that all three wastes could be converted successfully into more valuable products. The powder vinasse led to the formation of the lowest content of bio-char (42.7%), the highest production of volatiles (61.6 wt.%), and the lowest ash content (20.5 wt.%). Besides, it showed the high heating value of 15.63 MJ/kg. Meanwhile, the extraction sludge presented the highest liquid yield (32%) with the lowest gas formation (18.2 wt.%) and the lowest heating value of 8.57 MJ/kg. Thus, the sludge could be a good feedstock for production of bio-oil and bio-char.
Highlights
IntroductionThe productive process of the sugar industry is intensive in the generation of solid and liquid sub-streams
According to the most recent report of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), the world’s sugar production was 178.926 million metric tons for the marketing year 2018/19, with a Energies 2019, 12, 4145; doi:10.3390/en12214145 www.mdpi.com/journal/energiesEnergies 2019, 12, 4145 stable trend for the past four years [1]
Its low ash content leads to a larger high heating value
Summary
The productive process of the sugar industry is intensive in the generation of solid and liquid sub-streams. The bagasse, which is the residue that remains after the sugarcane milling, is produced in a proportion of 0.30–0.34 tons per 1 ton of sugar cane processed [3] and has a high content of cellulose (23%–45%), hemicellulose (12%–28%), and lignin (10%–20%) [3,4]. It is composed of sugar (5%) and minerals (1%) [3]. The remaining 85% is used in energy cogeneration in the sugar mills [6]
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