Sugar-cane sector to test new processes
Folha de S. Paulo
A new method to process the sugarcane bagasse will be tested in Brazil through a project of the IPT (Institute of Technological Research), an agency connected to the Secretariat of Development of the State of São Paulo. It is a system of gasification of the product that can double the production of energy per hectare of sugar cane planted in relation to the burn of the bagasse, the currently used process.
An application for financing the project in the amount of R$ 110 million (US$ 64 million) has been submitted by the IPT to the BNDES (National Development Bank) on October 2. The funds will be used for the construction of a pilot plant in Ribeirão Preto (SP), according to the Director President of the IPT, João Fernando Gomes de Oliveira.
The raw material shall be provided by the sugar and alcohol plants in the region, but the generated by-products may be tested in the plant by four companies that are taking part in the project. The IPT has not disclosed the names of the companies, but it informed they are companies of the petrochemical, energy and equipment sectors.
Today, the plants burn the bagasse to produce electric energy, a process that is only capable of using 20% of the energy potential of the product. With the gasification system, 40% of the energy potential of the sugarcane may be used for the production of electricity. The process will also allow the production of alcohol, biodiesel and polymers. In other words, it will be possible to produce more alcohol without increasing the planted area, says Oliveira.
The project should last four years and have partnerships with three State universities of São Paulo (USP, Unicamp and Unesp).
The researchers of the IPT are also in touch with Swedish and German institutions that study the gasification for the processing of wood and wheat straw.