Making Bagasse Pellets in Vietnam
China, July 11, 2014 (Newswire.com) - Vietnam, with the tropical monsoon climate and subtropical monsoon climate, is very suitable for the growth of sugarcane. The sugarcane grows fast and can be planted in the whole Vietnam. After harvest, the crop produces sugar juice and bagasse. With the help of wood pellet mill, bagasse, the fibrous dry matter can be recycled into biomass pellets for energy production.
Traditionally, bagasse is used as fuel for the boilers and kilns, a fiber for paper production, agricultural mulch and raw material for chemicals production. Even so, bagasse is still regarded as a burden instead of blessing due to the accumulation of million-ton bagasse each year. Therefore, strategically solve the problem of bagasse transportation and storage is required.
Advantages of Making Bagasse Pellets
Turning the bagasse into pellets not only enhance the value of agricultural production process, but also contribute to environment protection. In the combustion process of bagasse pellets, emissions of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides are lower than conventional fossil fuels due to the low levels of sulfur and nitrogen contained in the bagasse. Besides, the process is dust-free, reducing dust explosion potential and minimizing particle emission.
As sugarcane is a seasonal crop, after the harvest, the supply of bagasse would reach to peak shortly. After pelletizing, the volume is decreased and bulk density is increased greatly. So more BTU contains in per volume unit. Pelletizing can not only solve the problem of storage and transportation economically, but improve the burning efficiency of bagasse efficiently. Besides, the bagasse pellets can be the feed ingredient.
How to Make Bagasse into Pellet Fuel
Vietnam is one of the biggest sugarcane producers, every year large amount of bagasse are accumulated. In Vietnam, the common machine for bagasse pellets in industrial production is the ring die wood pellet mill, which is much more suitable for large-scale production. The moisture content of bagasse is typically 40-50%, so a dryer is necessary. The complete bagasse pellet production process includes crushing, drying, pelletizing, cooling and packaging.