Bagaço de cana-de-açúcar: investigação do poder calorífico e potencial energético

Abstract

Given the global current energy configuration, there is a tendency for renewable energy resources to take more and more space worldwide. Among these energy sources is biomass. As one of the world's largest producers of sugar and ethanol, Brazil is also a major generator of waste from sugarcane bagasse. This type of waste occupies considerable space in landfills, and not infrequently can cause serious environmental problems when neglected and left out incorrectly in nature. As a solution, a better destination for this waste was sought and this has been reflected in the Brazilian energy matrix, which has approximately 12% of the sugarcane bagasse in its composition. The objective of this study was to evaluate the ash, volatile, moisture and fixed carbon contents for the sugarcane bagasse, as well as the Upper Calorific Power (PCS), so that the energy potential of said residue could be under study. The experimental procedures were performed according to the methodologies described in ABNT NBR 8112 and 8633. According to the results of immediate analysis and PCS, the bagasse used in the experiment had the following composition: 67% volatile content, 18.64% Of ash and a PCS of 16.8719MJ/kg, it can be inferred that sugarcane bagasse presents significant energetic potential for use as biofuel. It is an interesting alternative to fossil fuel energy that is almost 60% of the national energy matrix