Modeling of extraction process of sucrose in industrial diffusers: studies with sugar cane and energy cane

• Grant number: 14/08402-3
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Doctorate (Direct)
• Start date: August 01, 2014
• End date: April 30, 2019
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Paulo Seleghim Júnior
• Grantee: Larissa de Souza Noel Simas Barbosa
• Host Institution: Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALQ). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Piracicaba , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Not only in Brazil but in many countries of the world, the use of biomass appears as the main alternative to the diversification of energy sources and reduce dependence on fossil fuels. Since the mid-1970s, Brazil has consolidated itself as a pioneer in ethanol production from sugar cane and, in recent years, showed a significant production of biodiesel, standing out as a major biofuels producer. Since then, the sugarcane industries in the country have traditionally been using tandem mills to extract the juice by crushing and soaking the sugar cane. In recent years, however, the use of diffusers, whose operating principle is based on leaching, has shown good results with respect to the extraction efficiency and the specific power consumption. Diffusers are able to extract larger amounts of sucrose from biomass, consume much less energy and have a lower MTTR (mean time to repair) when compared to mills. Furthermore, it is important to highlight that diffusers are able to generate bagasse with lower levels of residual sugar, less than 1% for example. This condition is critical to the viability of second generation ethanol produced by thermal pre-treatment followed by acid or enzymatic hydrolysis. It happens that, in these cases, the residual sugar is converted into highly toxic compounds, seriously compromising the fermentation of bagasse after saccharification. Thus, the use of diffusers in Brazil appears as a great opportunity not only to increase efficiency and capacity of the sugar industry, both first and second generation, but also to use other raw materials from biomass that have high energy content such as energy cane (Saccharum sponteneum) and species of eucalyptus and acacia. This work aims at the development of an extraction process in industrial diffusers that can be applied to any type of biomass. Relations between the thermal pretreatment, mechanical preparation of the raw material and extraction efficiency will be mathematically modeled and analyzed through numerical experimentation. In this context, the specific objective is the multiobjetctive optimization of performance, according to simultaneous criteria such as extraction (maximum), specific energy consumption (minimum) and index preparation (minimum). Experimental tests will be conducted on a pilot scale aimed to compare numerical and experimental results for the validation of the developed model. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

BARBOSA, L. S. N. S.; SANTIAGO, P. A.; JUNIOR, P. S.. Multi-objective optimization of biomass diffusers for solving operational problems. BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY, JUL 2020. (14/08402-3)

BARBOSA, L. S. N. S.; SANTIAGO, P. A.; JUNIOR, P. S.. Multi-objective optimization of biomass diffusers for solving operational problems. BIOMASS CONVERSION AND BIOREFINERY, v. 12, n. 7, p. 19-pg., 2020-07-07. (14/08402-3)

Academic Publications

(References retrieved automatically from State of São Paulo Research Institutions)

BARBOSA, Larissa de Souza Noel Simas. Modeling, simulation and optimization of biomass diffusers. 2019. Doctoral Thesis - Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (ESALA/BC) Piracicaba.