CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD

The Group

Sugar Cane Bagasse, an Alternative Biofuel

Shawn Chan Jian Xun, Woon Siew Hua, Lim Siu Chen, Chong Jia Wei and Kyle Eng
Kia Liang, Muhammad Nur Shahmi Bin Sazali

Article Information Abstract

Ethanol derived from sugar cane juice has been around for decades and
Submitted: 6th January 2014 have been perfected, however it only constitutes to one third of the energy
sugar cane can offer. The other two third of the energy comes from the
Group Name: The Group leftover cellulosic material called bagasse which are the stalks of the sugar
cane plant. Traditionally, about 75% of the bagasse is burned to fuel the
energy requirements of processing the sugar cane juice into ethanol, while
the other 25% is sent to landfills or dumps. With recent breakthroughs,
scientist have discovered a new technique to produce ethanol from the
leftover bagasse which this process includes hydrolysis and the enzymatic
Keywords: Sugar Cane break down of the lignin which may pave the way to a clean and renewable
Bagasse future. This study will look into the feasibility of sugar cane bagasse as an
Cellulosic alternative fuel. However through our study, ethanol has the lowest amount
Fermentation of calorific values at about 80000btu/gal in comparison to other fuel source
in addition, current processes are still in their research phase and is
economically not viable to produce cellulosic ethanol from bagasse.

1. Introduction dilute acid process

With a power hungry society, the need for fossil fuel is
needed in an ever greater amount. However, fossil fuel
do not last forever, nothing last forever or so they said,
but what if you had access to a source of unlimited
fuel? This is where renewable fuel comes into play,
over the past decade landmark research and
developments have been made and it has brought us a
step closer to sustainable energy usage and as of 2012,
about 10% of the worlds final energy consumption
constitute to the use of biomasses to generate energy.
Sugar cane bagasse is derived from the fibrous matter
that remains after sugar cane has been crushed to
extract the juice. Bagasse usually consists of cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin. Therefore Bagasse can also
be used to manufacture paper.
2. Design of Experiment
i. Converting Bagasse to Bioethanol

The uses of biomasses are vast and broad with many
different processes from conventional combustion eg.
The burning of biomasses to generate electricity, to
fermentation of corn to generate bioethanol or the
cellulosic break down of bagasse to generate
bioethanol and even the trans-esterification process of
using waste cooking oil to generate biodiesel.
In this project, we are studying the feasibility of using
Sugar Cane Bagasse as a source of biofuel.
Biofuel from bagasse can be generated by two
pathways, Enzyme-based process & Two-Staged
Bagasse is first pretreated with steam and 3 wt%
sulfuric acid at 120C and 2 bar. These will hydrolyse
most of the hemicellulose present in the bagasse, after
which the mixture is filtered and the solid fraction is
sent for hydrolysis. Before the hydrolysis process, the
solids are mixed with enzymes and water. Actual
hydrolysis process is carried out in a stirred reactor,
during which glucose is produced. The mixture is then
filtered to obtain the glucose solution, the solid residue
is sent to steam boiler to be used as fuel. The glucose
solution is then further processed to convert into
ethanol.

[Type text] Page 1

 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
Bagasse is first pretreated with steam and 3 wt% sulfuric
acid at 120C and 2 bar. These will hydrolyse most of the
hemicellulose present in the bagasse, after which the
mixture is filtered and the solid fraction is sent for
hydrolysis. Before the hydrolysis process, the solids are
mixed with enzymes and water. Actual hydrolysis process
is carried out in a stirred reactor, during which glucose is
produced. The mixture is then filtered to obtain the
glucose solution, the solid residue is sent to steam boiler
to be used as fuel. The glucose solution is then further
processed to convert into ethanol.
The liquid fraction from the first filtration process are
send to a reactor, where xylose present in the solution are
transformed to xylulose and then fermented by yeast
(Saccharomices cerevisiae). Ethanol is produced during
the fermentation process and is subsequently concentrated
by distillation process.
Figure 1: Bagasse to ethanol PFD
ii. Boiling point test
One of the easier way to measure the boiling point of an
unknown concentration ethanol is by measuring of the
temperature of the unknown concentration in a test tube,
which is then placed into a beaker. Firstly, a few drops of
ethanol is added to the test tube. Boiling chip is then
added to allow calm boiling. A rubber stopper with
thermometer is fitted into the test tube. Since ethanol is
flammable, a bent glass tube is linked from the top of the
rubber stopper to the sink to prevent any vapour to reach
the equipment providing the flames. The thermometer is
adjusted to about 1 cm above the liquid. The test tube is
then clamped and immersed into a beaker of water
whereby the water level is in between the thermometer
bulb and the level of unknown concentration of ethanol.
The water is being heated and when bubbles are seen, that
is the boiling point of the unknown concentration of
ethanol.
[Type text]
The Group
iii. Cloud point test
Cloud point is defined as the lowest temperature at
which the fuel can be used. Firstly, place the beaker
into the clamp so it can hold it there when the hot
plate is removed. Stirrer is then placed into the
solution containing the ethanol sample. Heat until
the entire solution becomes cloudy. Remove the hot
plate, and the point where you can see the bulb of
the thermometer, that temperature is the cloud
point.
iv. Flash point test
Flash point is defined as the lowest temperature in
which flammable vapour can vaporised to allow it
ignite in air. There are two methods of testing:
closed cup and open cup. The most popular and
cited method would be the Pensky-Martens closed
cup tester. Sample Container is filled to the volume
capacity requirement specified by the protocol.
Room temperature of the sample is added to the line
of the test jar. The sample is heated and stirred at
90-120 rpm at a downward direction. The
flashpoint will be detected and recorded by the
automated machine.
v. Air to fuel ratio
Air is a mixture of gases, mainly nitrogen (78%),
oxygen (21%) and other gases including carbon
dioxide etc. The oxygen reacts with hydrogen
carbon when burnt to produce byproducts such as
carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide and water under
specific conditions. The composition of byproducts
produced is dependent of the conditions and the air
to fuel ratio, also known as the stoichiometric ratio.
The table below shows the air to fuel ratio of some
common fuels used.
Fuels Air : Fuel Ratio
Petrol 1: 14.7
Diesel 1: 14.6
Methanol 1: 6.4
Ethanol 1: 9
LPG 1: 15.5
The ratios listed above are perfect ratios for a
well-mixed air fuel vapour. In a combustion engine,
the perfect mixing is near impossible.
vi. Bomb calorimeter experiment
The heat of combustion test is to measure the
energy released as heat when a substance undergoes
complete combustion with oxygen under standard
conditions. One of the commonly used methods of
measuring the heat of combustion is by using the
bomb calorimeter. The mass of the sample is
Page 2
 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
determined by weighing the sample holder with
and without the sample using an analytical
balance. Measure and cut 10cm length of fuse wire
and the ends of the wire attached to the electrodes.
Insert the sample holder into the bomb and bend
the fuse wire down so that it touches the samples.
The cover is placed on the bomb and the cap is
screwed tightly. Oxygen is then charged into the
bomb through a connection. Purge of the bomb
with oxygen to displace the air in the bomb. Fill
the bomb with oxygen until it reaches a pressure of
20 35atm and placed it in a metal bucket.
Measure and pour 2-L of water in the volumetric
flask provided, transfer it to the bucket and check
for any leaks in the bomb. Place the cover on the
jacket with the thermometer at the front, attach the
pulley belt and start the motor. Let the stirrer run
for at least two minutes and record the temperature
at one minute intervals under a constant drift rate
is observed for at least five minutes.
Heat of combustion can then be calculated using
Hesss Law:
The heat of vaporization test is to calculate the
amount of energy required for a change of state
from liquid to vapor at a constant temperature.
There are many available methods for the
determination of heat of vaporization. One of the
easier methods would be through placing the
liquid in the container. The liquid would evaporate
and exert a vapor pressure on the container.
Heat of vaporization can then be calculated using
the Clausius-Clayperon equation:
vii. Octane number
Octane number or octane rating is the
standardized determination of a motor/aviation
fuels ability to resist auto-ignition. Hence, a fuel
with a very high octane number is said to be very
resistant to auto-ignition whilst a lower octane
numbered fuel is more prone.
Despite fuels having high octane numbers being
classified as being of a higher grade or having
higher performance to other fuels with low octane
numbers, the lesser fuels (those who carry a low
octane number) can be utilized as fuel for diesel.
[Type text]
The Group
engines if they possess a high cetane number.
There are two types of Octane Ratings:
Motor Octane which is used in conditions simulated for
severe, sustained high speed, high load driving & research
octane which simulates typical mild driving, without
consistent heavy loads on the engine.
To determine the respective octane numbers, a fixed
engine type, known as a Cooperative Fuels Research engine
can only be utilized as per the ASTM D2699 (Research
Octane) and ASTM D2700 (Motor Octane). A typical
Waukesha CFR Engine as shown below, contains at least
three sample fuel supply bowls.
Figure 1: Waukesha CFR Test Engine Setup
To determine the respective RON (Research Octane
Number) and MON (Motor Octane Number), an operator
will first fill two of the three bowls with reference fuels in
designated air-fuel ratios which usually consists of one
being higher than the expected sample fuel rating and one
below the expected sample rating.
Upon preparation, the test will begin with the fuel samples
in each respective bowls being fed to the engine
sequentially, and the sample Octane number can be
determined via interpolation due to the maximum knock
intensity being measured by a knockmeter found in the
setup.
The octane number/rating can also be displayed as an AKI
(Anti-Knock Index) which is calculated using the following
formula:
+
AKI =
viii. API Gravity
By definition, API Gravity measures how light or heavy a
petroleum liquid is compared to water. A petroleum liquid
will float on water if its API gravity is greater than 10, and
vice-versa if its API is lesser than 10.
Page 3
 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
API Gravity can be used to determine the density
of the petroleum liquid and respectively, water.
However its usage lies in comparing multiple
petroleum liquids. For example, if a petroleum
liquid floats on another petroleum liquid, the
former petroleum liquid has a higher API Gravity
value than the latter.
There are multiple ways to test for a petroleum
liquids API Gravity reading, which are also
known as degrees:
Indirect
If the density of the petroleum liquid is known, its
S.G or specific gravity can then be determined.
The API Gravity reading can then be obtained
using the following formula:
141.5
API gravity = . 131.5
Direct
The API reading of a petroleum liquid can also be
derived directly, with the aid of an API
hydrometer.
The API Hydrometer is dropped into a select
volume of the sample petroleum liquid, and the
API can then be read directly from the hydrometer,
as shown in the figure below.
Figure 2: API Hydrometer
[Type text]
The Group
3. Results and Discussion
Energy Content (Btu/gal)
Gasoline 124,340
Biodiesel 127,960
Diesel 137,380
Propane 91,410
Ethanol(E100) 84,530
Table 1. Energy contents of various fuel
As you can see in the table above ethanol of grade E100 has
a energy content of only 84,530 Btu/gal which is
comparatively lower to biodiesel which is its renewable
counterpart. Thus bioethanol might not be the best source
of renewable fuel in the market.
4. Future Outlook of Sugar Cane Bagasse
i. Economic impacts
Sugar cane is one of the major commercially grown
agriculture crops in the world in countries like Brazil,
United States, India and even in some African Country. It is
one of the plants with the highest bioconversion efficiency
of capturing sunlight through photosynthesis with the
ability to obtain around 55 tonnes of dry matter per hectare
of land under this crop on an annual renewable basis. Under
current practice, 50% of this dry matter is harvested in the
form of cane stalk for sugar recovery with the other half of
the fibrous fraction forming bagasse which of about 75% of
the bagasse undergoes combustion to meet the energy
requirements for the sugar mill process, while the
remainder is usually dumped.
With a total world production of 1 794 359 thousand
metric tons of sugar cane, about 200 000 TMT of sugar
cane bagasse is thrown away and if it is not managed
properly it can lead to odour nuisance, in addition dumping
of bagasse on land can lead groundwater contamination,
potential breeding ground for disease carrying vectors and
reduces the aesthetic value of the neighbourhood.
However, by implementing the process to convert sugar
cane bagasse into ethanol, we can convert the Waste into
usable ethanol. This can benefit the sugar mill company to
convert their excess bagasse into profits and is definitely
one of the driving factors in developing this method.
Page 4
 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
Sugarcane bagasse has the most positive net
energy balance of the cellulosic feedstocks
discussed today. Currently, 6,000-7,000 liters of
ethanol can be produced from one hectare of
sugarcane not including the bagasse. When
bagasse can be utilized for ethanol production, the
output is likely to double to 12,000-15,000 liters
per hectare. (Bryant & Y. Yassumoto 2009).
However, the conversion of Sugar Cane Bagasse
is not without its set of difficulties, as large amount
of cellulosic material is locked within the lignin
based shell of the bagasse, pre-treatment have to be
done which involves adding acid and steam to the
bagasse to make the cellulosic material available.
This may result in minor losses in cellulosic
material which may affect the yield of ethanol
produced. Therefore it is a rather new process and
much research and development have to be done to
improve the yield of ethanol.
The costs of producing ethanol using bagasse are
dependant of several factors, including the cost of
the feedstock bagasse, the price of the enzymes and
ultimately the price of bioethanol.
In general, all bio refineries were not economically
feasible for 2012 selling prices and costs. This
conclusion was actually validated in practice by
recent governmental actions (April/2013) which
aimed to improve the competitiveness of the
ethanol industry. Additionally, of all parameters
considered in the sensitivity analysis, ethanol prices
were the only ones that could make the bio
refineries economically viable.(Furlan 2013)
i. Environmental impacts
Environmental impacts can be measured
quantitatively and qualitatively.
Quantitative assessment of the emissions of
current gasoline and a blend of bioethanol and
gasoline(Table 2 & 3).
As seen in Table 2, gasoline and E10 blend emits
similar amounts of carbon dioxide at about 2700g
per kg of fuel. There is a 0.02g drop of lead
emission from using gasoline to E10 blend. E10
blend yields higher Nitrogenous oxides emissions
of about 1.6g per kg of fuel however a drop in
Sulphur oxides can be seen of about 0.03g per kg of
fuel when using E10 blend over gasoline. As E10
blend is a low level blend of about 10% ethanol to
90% gasoline, the emission values would be rather
similar.
[Type text]
The Group
With a usage of a higher level blend however,
emissions of carbon monoxide, nitrogenous oxides
and sulphur oxides can be reduced significantly as
seen in Table 3 below. It is important to note that
with the use of bioethanol of 100% grade, it will be
carbon neutral.
Qualitative assessment of sugar cane bagasse:
Sugar cane grows by capturing carbon dioxide
during its life cycle, hence when bioethanol is
burnt, the carbon dioxide emitted would be equal to
the carbon dioxide captured, therefore it will be
carbon neutral with a net carbon emission of 0(only
if pure ethanol blend is used).
As bagasse is the remains of a sugar cane stalk,
the conversion of bagasse to bioethanol would not
be detrimental to its use, in comparison to other
biomasses like corn which is a food crop.
However, with the ever-growing need of sugar,
deforestation to grow sugar cane is an issue. As
seen in figure 3, the area of sugar cane planted
grows yearly which will result in an increase in
deforestation. Hence the zero carbon emission of
using sugar cane as biofuel may be offset by the
ability of the forest to remove carbon dioxide.
5. Conclusion
A lot of research shows us that bioethanol from
bagasse have a great potential as alternative of
biofuel. However, as seen from the results, ethanol
does not have a high calorific value compared to
fuels like diesel and gasoline. In addition, added
production of bioethanol from bagasse can in some
way harm the environment through deforestation to
grow more sugar cane plants , Lastly, as it is still a
fairly new process, where the process has not been
fully optimized, it is not economically viable to
produce bioethanol from bagasse. Thus the cons of
producing ethanol from bagasse outweigh the pros.
However, as sugar cane bagasse is a By-product
of ethanol production in sugar cane juice, it is a
prospectus field where companies can maximise
profits by converting the waste product into gold.
We believe in a decade or so, the process can be
optimized further to improve the yield of ethanol
and cut down on its production cost.
Page 5
 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
The Group

References

1. Letha D. & Raj B.. 2014. CELLULOSIC ETHANOL PRODUCTION FROM SUGARCANE
BAGASSE WITHOUT ENZYMATIC SACCHARIFICATION. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.ncsu.edu/bioresources/BioRes_03/BioRes_03_2_0452_Dawson_B_Cellulosic_Et
hanol_Bagasse.pdf. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
2. Kassiap D.. 2014. Sugar Cane Bagasse Energy Cogeneration - Lessons from Mauritius.
[ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.un.org/esa/sustdev/sdissues/energy/op/parliamentarian_forum/deepchand_bagasse
.pdf. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
3. Making Bagasse | World Centric. 2014. Making Bagasse [ONLINE] Available at:
http://worldcentric.org/sustainability/manufacturing/bagasse. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
4. Nelson L. Nemerow, Franklin J. Agardy - Google Books. 2014. Strategies of Industrial and
Hazardous Waste Management - Nelson L. Nemerow, Franklin J. Agardy - Google Books.
[ONLINE] Available at:
http://books.google.com.sg/books?id=NVztrpi9W9gC&pg=PA207&lpg=PA207&dq=bagasse
+disposal&source=bl&ots=3cb5i1d2Nx&sig=FYRZ7U-
r8FSmNThV9TKzD6IJVYU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=rETIUtDeB4Kzrge0uYCYDw&ved=0CDU
Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=bagasse%20disposal&f=false. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
5. Kiran L. Kadam. 2014. Environmental Life Cycle Implications of Using Bagasse - Derived
Ethanol as a Gasoline Oxygenate in Mumbai (Bombay) . [ONLINE] Available at:
http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/Pnadj195.pdf. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
6. Entec UK Ltd, Erm. 2014. Cleaner Production Fact Sheet. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.ripecap.net/Uploads/477.pdf. [Accessed 05 January 2014]
7. Isaias C. & Joaquim E.A.. 2014. Mitigation of GHG emissions using sugarcane bioethanol.
[ONLINE] Available at: http://sugarcane.org/resource-library/studies/Wageningen%20-
%20Chapter%204.pdf. [Accessed 05 January 2014].
8. ASTM Flashpoint Standards. 2014. ASTM Flashpoint Standards. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.astm.org/SNEWS/JUNE_2004/collier2_jun04.html. [Accessed 02 January 2014].

9. Lab3: Indentification of an unknown liquid. 2014. Lab3: Indentification of an unknown

liquid. [ONLINE] Available at:
http://www.chemistryland.com/CHM151Lab/Lab03IDliquid/Lab03Help.html. [Accessed 02
January 2014].

10. Michigan State University, Department of Chemistry. 2014. Bomb Calorimetry. [online]
Available at: http://www.cem.msu.edu/~cem472/bomb.pdf [Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].
11. Wikipedia. 2014. Hess's law. [online] Available at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hess's_law
[Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].
12. Vernier.com. 2014. Vapor Pressure and Heat of Vaporization [online] Available at:
http://www.vernier.com/experiments/chem-a/34/vapor_pressure_and_heat_of_vaporization/
[Accessed: 2 Jan 2014].

[Type text] Page 6

 CP5054 Fuel Cell and Biomass Energy MAD
The Group

Appendix

Table 2. Overall emission for current gasoline vs E10 blend

Table 3. Overall change in emission from low level to high level blend

Figure 3. Area of sugar cane planted.

[Type text] Page 7