Moisture Reduction in Sugarcane

Bagasse By using Solar Dryer

Department of Mechanical Engineering (2015-19)
Major Project Report
Presented by :

Guided by:  Ashish Gupta

 Rohit Sen
 Arun Sharma.  Arya Ajeet
 Yogesh Yadav
 Renu Gupta.  Neelesh Thakur
 Aarfin Akhtar
 INTRODUCTION
 Bagasse is the dry pulpy fibrous residue that remains
after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice.
 It is used as a biofuel for the production of heat, energy, and electricity, and in
the manufacture of pulp and building materials. For every 10 tonnes of
sugarcane crushed, a sugar factory produces nearly three tonnes of wet
bagasse.
 Since bagasse is a by-product of the cane sugar industry, the quantity of
production in each country is in line with the quantity of sugarcane produced.
The high moisture content of bagasse, typically 40–50 percent, is detrimental to
its use as a fuel.
 In general, bagasse is stored prior to further processing. For electricity
production, it is stored under moist conditions, and the mild exothermic
process that results from the degradation of residual sugars dries the bagasse
pile slightly.
 For paper and pulp production, it is normally stored wet in order to assist in
removal of the short pith fibres, which impede the paper making process, as
well as to remove any remaining sugar.
 FFF
 One ton of bagasse at 50% moisture produces about 2.15 tons of steam, and 5.8 tons of
bagasse (50% moisture) equals 1 ton of oil.
 For every 10 tonnes of sugarcane crushed, a sugar factory produces nearly three tonnes of
wet bagasse.
 The Group has 6 power plants, 3 in up and 3 in bihar with combined capacity to produce
112 mw of power.
Revakripa Sugar Pvt. Ltd.

 Akriti Group.

 Non Govt.

 1600 MT/ Day.

 4 mill tandem 620 *

1220 with TRPF at
mill 1&4.
There are two main types of bagasse:
1. Factory bagasse comes from industrial
processes involving repeated extraction steps.
The bagasse is the fibrous by-product of
sugarcane stalks milled for juice extraction. The
fibre is passed through sieves to remove fine
particles which may be used as a filter aid later in
the process, or as a feedstuff (“pith bagasse”).

2.Pressed cane stalks, or "farm bagasse" is

obtained from on-farm or small factory cane
fractionation that uses only 2 or 3 crushers. Due to
the reduced efficiency of the extraction process
(50% vs. 70% extraction rate), it contains higher
amounts of sugar-rich juice and is more valuable
for ruminant.
Revakripa Sugar Pvt.
Ltd
Sugar processing plant
Solar Dryer:
A device for removing moisture of bagasses, called
solar dryer, is developed. It cantains a wooden box
with its top opening covered with plane glass. Glass
is prepared with lenses. Circular holes has made in
glass and then lenses are fitted in it. On one face of
box, fan is connected. Tubes connect both faces of
box and make passes for bagasses.

Parts and Components:

Box: It is a wooden box with covering of glass at top
and two slots for input and exit of bagasses.
Tube: Four tubes having square cross section is
employed for passing of bagasses.
Lens: Convex lenses of 20cm focal length are used
to concentrate the solar radiation onto tubes.
Glass Cover: It is covering at top to reduce the heat
loss to environment.
Fan: Fan is used to make flow of air which then carry
bagasses with it
 Experimental procedure

Solar dryer

A considerable amount of bagasse is taken

from sample for preparation of sample. Sample
is prepared by using solar dryer. Bagasse is
dried in it for 1 hour by passing it several times
from dryer, after drying small amount is taken
for properties measurement.

I. Moisture content determination.

II. Ash content determination.

III. Volatile matter content determination.

IV. Fixed carbon content determination.

Moisture Removing

Equipment Requirement:
 Sample of bagasse.

 Muffle furnace.

 Crucible.

 Electronic mass balance

Metal tong.

 Desiccator.
 Experimental Results for Bagasse
Samples of the same homogenous lot

Properties Sample 1 Sample 2 Sample 3 Sample 4

Moisture 35.78 32.92 31.86 31.44

Ash 4.96 7.4 7.62 7.70

content
Volatile 50.47 50.24 51.43 51.58
matter

Fixed 8.79 9.14 9.09 9.28

carbon %
 Result and discussion

 Initially the moisture content in (sample 1) is more as compared with other samples
because this sample was not prepared in solar dryer, wet sample was taken and dried up
to a temperature of 115°c for 3 hours in muffle furnace and cooled in desiccator

 There is significant amount of difference between moisture content in sample 1 and other 4
samples this is due to the fact that Sample 2 was firstly dried up in solar dryer by passing
bagasse several times in the dryer for one hour.

 There is very little difference in the moisture percentage in sample 3 and 4 almost (0.42) this
is because a proportion of sample 2 is taken for calculation of moisture content in sample
(3) and like wise for sample 3 is taken for sample (4).

 When bagasse moisture content increases, the calorific values decrease. This is because
the calorific values depend on moisture, brix, and ash , thus the calorific values GCV and
NCV decrease, due to the increased moisture content.