Clean cane

• Grant number: 15/08507-2
• Support Opportunities: Research Grants - Innovative Research in Small Business - PIPE
• Start date: September 01, 2016
• End date: November 30, 2017
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Mechanical Engineering - Mechanical Engineering Design
• Principal Investigator: Suleiman Jose Hassuani
• Grantee: Suleiman Jose Hassuani
• Company: Techa Engenharia Ltda. - ME
• City: Piracicaba

Abstract

Considerable amount of trash (leaves) comes with the sugarcane load delivered to the industry with the unburned cane harvesting. Processing of this sugarcane with trash leads to several hurdles to the sugar and ethanol production. The development of a system to remove this trash before cane crushing will result in a cleaner cane, and in the separation of a low moisture content biomass (the trash) that can be burnt in the boilers in co-firing with bagasse, with energetic gains. With this separation system, the amount of trash brought with the cane can be increased (by reducing the fan speed in the field harvesters) increasing the quantity of available biomass, making possible the increase of exported electricity to the grid by the mills cogenerating electricity. Important economic benefits can also be achieved even by mills not exporting electricity by the following benefits: i) increase of crushing capacity by reducing the fiber (trash) being processed; ii) reduction in crushing equipment wear; iii) improvement of the quality of the juice with reduction of chemicals; iv) improvement of sugar color. (AU)