Bagasse

Bagasse is the fibrous matter that remains after sugarcane or sorghum stalks are crushed to extract their juice. It is dry pulpy residue left after the extraction of juice from sugar cane. Bagasse is used as a biofuel and in the manufacture of pulp and building materials.

Agave bagasse is a similar material that consists of the tissue of the blue agave after extraction of the sap.

Bagasse can also be very useful to generate electricity. Dry bagasse is burnt to produce steam. The steam is used to rotate turbines to produce power.

The bagasse of barley malt can be used to make bread. It can also be used as food for animals. Also called beer bagasse: By-product of the beer industry resulting from the pressing and filtering process of the must obtained after the saccharification of cereal grain (barley, basically) malting. It is a wet product whose dry matter content is 20-25%. There are no significant differences in chemical composition correlated with the dry matter content, although this is variable. In the market it receives other names such as beer barley, and is the equivalent term to what the Anglo-Saxon world knows as “wet brewers’ grains”.

The bagasse of beer is a byproduct rich in protein, with an average protein content of 24-26% on dry matter. The ether extract represents 6%. It is a by-product also rich in fiber, with a NDF content of 44% and FAD of 20%, although it is a very ineffective fiber (18%). The lignin content is 5% and the ash content is 7%. In the mineral waste, the P content (6 g / kg) stands out, being lower (3 g / kg) the Ca content.

The metabolizable energy content of this by-product is 2.86 Mcal / kg. The effective degradability of the protein is low (50%), with the rate of degradation being 7% / h. It is therefore a high protein content food, being this a protein that escapes, in good part, from ruminal degradation.

Its high degree of humidity around 77-81% and its content of fermentable sugars, make it a very unstable material that can deteriorate rapidly due to its microbial activity. Another kind of bagasse is the woody residue of sugarcane. In fresh state, these bagasse contain 40% water. They are usually used as fuel for the sugar factories themselves. They are also used in the paper and fiber industry, for the cellulose they contain.

Bagasse as a source of paper fibers has limitations similar to those of cereal straw, although it offers greater versatility: fibers

Of the olives, another bagasse is obtained, also called pomace, as well as that of the grape. It is about the bones and remains of the olive once the oil has been extracted. Of which, through the use of extreme pressure and solvents, the pomace oil is obtained, of very inferior quality: to be suitable for consumption it must be refined; Then mix it with virgin oil to give it some flavor.

From the agave plants, bagasse is obtained from the production of distilled beverages such as tequila and mezcal. In Mexico, large quantities of bagasse are produced, which depending on the process can be raw or cooked bagasse; and it is used for the cogeneration of energy in bio-boilers, at the same time it can be used for livestock feed, paper and fiber production.

Production, storage and composition
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.

A typical chemical analysis of washed and dried bagasse might show:

Cellulose 45–55 percent
Hemicellulose 20–25 percent
Lignin 18–24 percent
Ash 1–4 percent
Waxes <1 percent Bagasse is a heterogeneous material containing around 30-40 percent of "pith" fibre, which is derived from the core of the plant and is mainly parenchyma material, and "bast", "rind", or "stem" fibre, which makes up the balance and is largely derived from sclerenchyma material. These properties make bagasse particularly problematic for paper manufacture and have been the subject of a large body of literature. Uses The bagasse can be used in chemistry, industry and livestock.Bagasse consists of 40 to 60% cellulose, 20 to 30% hemicelluloses and about 20% lignin. It can be used energetically as solid fuel. This is usually done in the sugar factory, where the combustion gases can be used to produce the electrical energy and heat needed to produce sugar. By appropriate treatment for the removal of the lignin and a subsequent mixture with sugar cane molasses and protein-containing feed can be fed with bagasse also livestock. Bagasse material is mainly used in the pulp industry for the production of boards (packaging material Bagasseschalen) and building materials used. The hemicelluloses contained, especially the polysaccharide xylan, which is made up of the C5 sugar xylose, can be used chemically-technically and enzymatically to obtain basic chemicals, especially furfural and levulinic acid, and is accordingly also of interest for use in the integrated biorefinery. Many research efforts have explored using bagasse as a renewable power generation source and for the production of bio-based materials. Energy production A ton of cane is considered to produce about 300 kg of bagasse with a calorific value of 7 900 kJ / kg which is certainly lower than that of dry wood (16 000 kJ / kg ) whose production rate is however higher. slow. Bagasse is a bioenergy used in rum or sugar factories. The performance of the installations allows certain factories to operate autonomously. Compared with fossil fuels burned in energy production plants, bagasse has several interests: it is free of sulfur dioxide, it results from another production, and its combustion releases only CO2 fixed by the plant during its growth, a very small quantity because CO2 consumed by the autotrophic metabolism of sugar cane is for the most part stored in sugar. A rational exploitation of the 250 million tons of bagasse produced annually in the world could save 50 million tons of oil or about 1.2% of annual consumption in 2003. This use concerns about 60% of bagasse produced according to FAO. Livestock Feed Bagasse can also be used for cattle feeding. This use does not seem interesting in the case of young cattle but proves profitable for the animals of more than two years old. Construction and furnishings The bagasse makes it possible to manufacture a building material called bagapan. Food packaging Bagasse has been used for a few years for food packaging, plates, bowls, cups, etc. Indeed, this use of bagasse is a good alternative to plastic and polystyrene, because bagasse is not dangerous for health, and it is biodegradable in 45 day. The advantage also of bagasse is its resistance to extreme temperatures, and so it can be frozen or serve as a container for boiling food. Not containing metals, a bagasse product can be used in the microwave oven. Bagasse food packaging is compostable. The use of such a product would have a neutral impact on health or even positive on the environment. Fuel Bagasse is often used as a primary fuel source for sugar mills. When burned in quantity, it produces sufficient heat energy to supply all the needs of a typical sugar mill, with energy to spare. To this end, a secondary use for this waste product is in cogeneration, the use of a fuel source to provide both heat energy, used in the mill, and electricity, which is typically sold on to the consumer electrical grid. The lower calorific value (LCV) of bagasse in kJ/kg may be estimated using the formula: LCV = 18260 - 207.01 × Moisture - 31.14 × Brix - 182.60 × Ash, where the moisture, brix and ash content of the bagasse are expressed as a percentage by mass. Similarly, the higher calorific value (HCV) of bagasse may be estimated using: HCV = 19605 - 196.05 × Moisture - 31.14 × Brix - 196.05 × Ash. The resulting CO2 emissions are less than the amount of CO2 that the sugarcane plant absorbed from the atmosphere during its growing phase, which makes the process of cogeneration greenhouse gas neutral. In countries such as Australia, sugar factories contribute "green" power to the electricity grid. Florida Crystals Corporation, one of America's largest sugar companies, owns and operates the largest biomass power plant in North America. The 140 MW facility uses bagasse and urban wood waste as fuel to generate enough energy to power its milling and refining operations as well as supply enough renewable electricity for nearly 60,000 homes. Hawaiian Electric Industries also burns bagasse for cogeneration. Ethanol produced from the sugar in sugarcane is a popular fuel in Brazil. The cellulose-rich bagasse is being widely investigated for its potential for producing commercial quantities of cellulosic ethanol. For example, until May 2015 BP was operating a cellulosic ethanol demonstration plant based on cellulosic materials in Jennings, Louisiana. Bagasse's potential for advanced biofuels has been shown by several researchers. However, the compatibility with conventional fuels and suitability of these crude fuels in conventional engines have yet to be proven. Pulp, paper, board and feed Bagasse is commonly used as a substitute for wood in many tropical and subtropical countries for the production of pulp, paper and board, such as India, China, Colombia, Iran, Thailand, and Argentina. It produces pulp with physical properties that are well suited for generic printing and writing papers as well as tissue products but it is also widely used for boxes and newspaper production. It can also be used for making boards resembling plywood or particle board, called Bagasse board and Xanita board, and is considered a good substitute for plywood. It has wide usage for making partitions and furniture. The industrial process to convert bagasse into paper was developed in 1937 in a small laboratory in Hacienda Paramonga, a sugar mill in the coast of Peru owned by W.R. Grace Company. With a promising method, the company bought an old paper mill in Whippany, New Jersey and shipped bagasse from Peru to test the viability of the process on an industrial scale. The first paper manufacturing machine were designed in Germany and installed in the Cartavio sugar cane plant in 1938. Sociedad Paramonga was bought in 1997 by Quimpac and in 2015 produced 90,000 metric tons of office paper, toilet paper and cardboard for the Peruvian market. K-Much Industry has patented a method of converting bagasse into cattle feed by mixing it with molasses and enzymes (such as bromelain) and fermenting it. It is marketed in Thailand, Japan, Malaysia, Korea, Taiwan and Middle East and Australia as "fiber rich". Xanita, a South African company, mixes 30 percent bagasse cellulose fibres in with recycled kraft paper fibre to make ultra lightweight composite boards. These are sold as an environmentally-friendly, formaldehyde-free alternative to MDF and particle board. Tableware and dinnerware Being socially responsible some caterers and cafeteria in the world have started using dinnerware made from bagasse. Health impact Workplace exposure to dust from the processing of bagasse can cause the chronic lung condition pulmonary fibrosis, more specifically referred to as bagassosis. Human consumption Processed bagasse is added to human food as sugar cane fiber. It is a soluble fiber but can help promote intestinal regularity. One animal study suggests that sugar cane fiber combined with a high fat diet may help control type 2 diabetes. Bagasse are good sources of lignoceric and cerotic acids. Source from Wikipedia