Study on sugarcane waste characteristics as a clean energy source

Abstract

Sugarcane bagasse (SCB) was pyrolyzed in a fixed-bed tubular reactor under different pyrolysis conditions to determine the effects of reactor operating temperature (400 °C to 500 °C), heating rate (50 °C/min to 70 °C/min), holding time (0 min to 1 min), type of feedstock (untreated and treated) and feedstock size (150–300 μm, 300-425 μm, and 425–600 μm) on the pyrolysis product yields. The objective of this research was to study the characteristics of sugarcane waste as a clean energy source. Besides that, high calorific value of SCB has been investigated. Proximate analysis and high calorific value (HCV) were tested for both untreated and treated SCB. The maximum bio-fuel yield obtained is 33.31 % by using untreated SCB size of 425–600 μm at the optimum temperature of 450 °C, heating rate of 50 °C/min, and holding time of 1 min. The results from the pyrolysis show the potential of SCB as a clean energy source of liquid hydrocarbon fuel. Functional group compositions of the pyrolytic product liquid were determined by using Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy. The results show the potential of SCB as a clean energy source of liquid hydrocarbon fuel.