Читать книгу Encyclopedia of Renewable Energy - James Speight G., James G. Speight - Страница 124

Bagasse is the dry pulpy residue left after the extraction of juice from sugar cane, used as fuel for electricity generators and other forms of energy. In addition, bagasse is 100% compostable, and if it does enter our environment, it will break down into soil entirely naturally, without any human intervention or additional processing.

More specifically, bagasse is the fibrous residue remaining after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice and is currently used as a renewable resource in the manufacture of pulp and paper products and building materials. Bagasse is often used as a primary fuel source for sugar mills; when burned in quantity, it produces sufficient heat energy to supply all the needs of a typical sugar mill, with energy to spare. To this end, a secondary use for this waste product is in cogeneration, the use of a fuel source to provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically sold to the consumer electricity grid.

Sugarcane bagasse is the major by-product of the sugar cane industry and contains approximately 50% w/w cellulose, 25% w/w hemicellulose, and 25% w/w lignin. Due to its abundant availability, the bagasse can serve as an ideal substrate for microbial processes for the production of value-added products such as protein-enriched animal feed, enzymes, amino acids, organic acids, and compounds of pharmaceutical importance.

The utilization of organic and agricultural residues such as bagasse for energy production is considered an important part in any strategy to achieve renewable energy goals and to reduce waste disposal and environmental pollution. For energy production, bagasse can be burned as a raw product or in the form of briquettes. Currently, most sugar cane bagasse is burned in boilers to produce steam which is utilized in factories and to power turbines for the production of electricity (cogeneration).

The combustion of sugar cane bagasse yields ash (bottom ash and fly ash) that contains high amounts of organic matter (charcoal and sugar cane bagasse debris) and inorganic components (on the order of 65% w/w).

One of the significant applications of bagasse is the production of protein-enriched cattle feed and enzymes. Bagasse could also be used for the production of industrially important enzymes and biofuel.

See also: Agave Bagasse, Bagasse Briquettes, Biomass, Sugarcane, Sugar Crops, Sugars and Starch.