SMALL-SIZED BIOREFINERIES AS STRATEGY TO ADD VALUE TO SUGARCANE BAGASSE

CLAUSER, N.M.; GUTIÉRREZ, S.; AREA, M.C.; FELISSIA, F.E.; VALLEJOS, M.E.

CHEMICAL ENGINEERING RESEARCH & DESIGN

INST CHEMICAL ENGINEERS

Año: 2016 vol. 107 p. 137 - 146

0263-8762

Small-sizedbiorefineries are not capital intensive and have lower transportation cost,lesser movements of liquid and solid streams, and lower heat transfer problemsthan high-sized ones. In this work, different scenarios were investigated inorder to determine technical and economic viability of different processes toproduce valuable products from sugarcane bagasse by small-sized biorefineries.Different alternatives were evaluated, as furfural and xylitol production fromhemicelluloses, as well as energy generation and medium-density fibreboard(MDF) production from the residual solid after hemicelluloses hydrolysis.Experimental data obtained by the authors in previous works were used forpretreatment steps, and updated literature data was used for the otherprocesses. A simplified kinetic model was developed for the extraction ofxylose, and unit operations processes were selected and simulated. The mostprofitable option was determined for hemicelluloses use. In addition, costs andbenefits that could be obtained exploiting the residual solid feedstock wereestimated. The economic evaluation shows that recovery periods are extensive inboth scenarios. However, optimization of different steps as liquid to solidratio of pretreatment, evaporation, or fermentation, could represent attractiveand innovative alternatives in order to reduce the recovery periods of capitalcosts.