Comparison Study of Sugarcane Leaves and Corn Stover as a Potential Energy Source in Pyrolysis Process

AbstractSugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and corn (Zea mays, Linn.) is widely planted in Thailand. The pyrolysis process has been carried out in thermochemical processing of organic decomposition of biomass to increase the value of the biomass. The aim of this study was to research the probability of sugarcane leaves and corn stover for pyrolysis process. The proximate analysis results indicate that corn stover has a volatile content higher than sugarcane leaves. Sugarcane leaves have a higher ash content than corn stover. The heating value was obtained 14.47 and 20.91MJ/kg for sugarcane leaves and corn stover, respectively. TGA results show 4 stages: dehydration, active pyrolysis passive pyrolysis and completed combustion stage. Furthermore, the thermal degradation of biomass could be considered an optimization of temperature for pyrolysis process

Estimation of Sugar Content in Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) Variety Lumpang 92-11 (LK 92-11) and Khon Kaen 3 (KK 3) by Near Infrared Spectroscopy

In this study, a non-destructive measuring method, near-Infrared (NIR) technique was used to evaluate the quality of sugarcane. Two sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) varieties viz., Lumpang 92-11 and Khon Kaen 3 were chosen for the test. The samples were collected for 3 years. The sugar contents were measured in terms of °Brix, %Pol, %Fiber, and Commercial Cane Sugar (CCS) values using the NIR technique and conventional laboratory testing for comparison. The Partial Least Squares Regression (PLSR) model was performed using 400 samples for each variety. The NIR models showed the coefficient of determination (R2) of 0.97, 0.90, 086 and 0.82 for °Brix, %Pol, %Fiber and CCS, respectively with the corresponding root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of 0.246, 0.512, 0.353 and 0.542. The results indicated that the modelling using °Brix gave the best estimation with the highest R2 and lowest RMSEP, indicating high accuracy and reliability. The modelling with %Pol and %Fiber gave the moderate estimations and that with CCS value gave the lowest accuracy. However, all the four modelling predictions were within the acceptable range and could thus be used in crops trading instead of the traditional method. It was more reliable, quicker, more comfortable and more environmentally friendly than the traditional method as it did not involve the use of the chemical

Effect of Temperature on Increasing Biogas Production from Sugar Industrial Wastewater Treatment by UASB Process in Pilot Scale

AbstractAn UASB system is anaerobic wastewater treatment that produces biogas with low operation cost. The main problem of this process is operating at temperatures below 25OC which occurs in the winter season in Thailand. The aim of this work was to improve the efficiency of UASB system by mixing water condensate from electrical power plant with sugar influent before delivery to UASB reactor. The optimized temperature was investigated. The result shows the efficiency of VFA and COD removal was obtained ca. 92% with temperature at 29-40°C. The maximum methane production (0.38 m3CH4/kgCOD) has higher than design parameters about 27.51% at 40OC. The methane production is reduced when the operating temperature is higher than 40OC. Furthermore, the UASB could be considered for decreasing LPG cost in sugar refinery process