Comparative analysis of characteristics of the various sugarcane bagasse types in terms of gasification

• Main Author: Kula, Mpumezo
• Format: Others
• Language: English
• Published: University of Fort Hare 2016
• Subjects: Bagasse; Bioenergetics; Sugarcane > Breeding; Solar energy
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/1929

The insight that the fossil fuel reserves are limited, together with concerns over security of supply (i.e. the oil crises), initiated the first raise of interest in biomass and all other renewable energy forms. However, the concern grew that global warming and the resulting climate change were enhanced by carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions resulting from fossil fuel consumption. Meanwhile, biomass energy is thought to account for 14–15% of total world energy consumption. Hence, the exploitation and utilization of biomass energy are effective and necessary for relieving the pressures caused by environmental pollution and fossil fuel shortage (Lv et al., 2010). Recently, extensive research aimed at converting biomass to useful energy have been carried out, especially pyrolysis and gasification, which are particularly suitable for the effective and efficient utilization of biomass. Sugarcane bagasse is the main byproduct of sugarcane mill, ready available at the production site so that it may be a suitable raw material for the production of biofuels, chemicals, and electricity. Among the methods that have been previously studied, is this particular study we explore thermochemical process, gasification. The properties of sugarcane bagasse relevant to gasification are briefly reviewed. The compositions of the bagasse as a fuel are variable, especially with respect to inorganic constituents important to the critical problems of sintering, fouling and slagging. Alkali and alkaline earth metals, in combination with other fuel elements such as silica and sulfur, are responsible for many undesirable reactions in a gasifier system.