Bagasse (sometimes spelled bagass) is the biomass remaining after sugarcane stalks are crushed to extract their juice. Biomass refers to living and recently dead Biological material that can be used as fuel or for industrial production Sugarcane ( Saccharum) is a genus of 6 to 37 species (depending on taxonomic interpretation of tall perennial grasses (family Poaceae tribe Andropogoneae [1]
Agave bagasse is a similar material which consists of the tissue of the blue agave after extraction of the sap. Blue agave, the tequila agave of the Agave tequilana species is an Agave plant that is an important economic product of Jalisco
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Production
A sugar factory produces nearly 30% of bagasse out of its total crushing.
Use
Many research efforts have attempted to use bagasse as a renewable feedstock for power generation and for the production of bio-based materials. Electricity generation is the process of converting non-electrical Energy to Electricity. A bio-based material is simply an Engineering Material made from substances derived from living matter One successful example has been to cultivate edible mushrooms, such as oyster or shiitake, on blocks or bags of chopped up bagasse.
Fuel
Bagasse is often used as a primary fuel source for sugar mills[2]; 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 on to the consumer electricity grid. Energy recycling Cogeneration (also combined heat and power, CHP) is the use of a Heat engine or a Power station to simultaneously generate both Electricity distribution is the penultimate stage in the delivery (before retail) of Electricity to end users
The resulting CO2 emissions are equal to the amount of CO2 that the sugarcane plant used up from the atmosphere during its growing phase, which makes the process of cogeneration appear to be greenhouse gas-neutral. However when a full audit of energy used in production is done, 75% of the energy required to grow and move the sugar cane (including bagasse) is from liquid fuel (petroleum or hydrocarbon based), leading to a 25% net gain from photosynthesis. Ethanol produced from the sugar in sugarcane is a popular fuel in Brazil. |utc_offset = -2 to -4 |time_zone_DST = BRST |utc_offset_DST = -2 to -5 |cctld The cellulose rich bagasse is now being tested for production of commercial quantities of cellulosic ethanol. Cellulosic ethanol also know by the name Ceetol, is a Biofuel produced from wood grasses or the non-edible parts of plants Verenium Corporation (VRNM) is currently building a cellulosic ethanol plant based on cellulosic by-products like bagasse in Jennings LA. They are using a biotech approach to improve ethanol production above and beyond the midwest corn based ethanol production method. This will allow regional cellulosic ethanol production getting around the problem of ethanol transportation. The Verenium approach will get ethanol and E85 fuel to the important markets in California and the Northeast.
Paper
Bagasse is also used as a tree-free alternative for making paper. Paper is thin material mainly used for writing upon printing upon or packaging This process requires no bleaching, is more biodegradable, easier to recycle, and overall has less impact on the environment. Recycling involves processing used materials into new products in order to prevent the waste of potentially useful materials reduce the consumption of fresh raw materials reduce As in sugar production, the sludge left over after removing the cellulose fibers, is used to power the paper-mills. A number of commercial sites advertise such uses. [3][4][5][6]
Food Containers
Bagasse is used to make insulated disposable food containers, replacing materials such as styrofoam, which are increasingly regarded as environmentally unacceptable (see styrofoam bans). Styrofoam is a trademark for polystyrene Thermal insulation, a material manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. Styrofoam is a trademark for polystyrene Thermal insulation, a material manufactured by Dow Chemical Company. Insulated disposable food containers made of bagasse are commercially available. [7]
Medical problems
Workplace exposure to dusts from the processing of Bagasse can cause the chronic lung condition pulmonary fibrosis. Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF, also known as cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis, is a Chronic, progressive interstitial lung disease with an unknown
References
See also
External links
- The Potential of Bagasse-Based Cogeneration in the US, Kevin Ho, Columbia University, 2006.
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