I am writing to ask a question regarding biorefinery (bioethanol, steam and electricity production) annexed to sugar mill. Considering sugarcane bagasse and tops/trash as feedstock, and steam explosion as pretreatment method, is biorefinery capable to supply steam and electricity demand of sugar mill as well as biorefinery process? Literature data is not clear about it.
Moshen,
The question of energy production is dependent upon the location of the sugar producing facility. In some places, the electricity generated from burning is has more economic value to the community than alternative uses. This is a local issue.
We have proposed using the bagasse and vinasse produced from a sugar mill to produce biochemicals. Attached is a engineering estimate that these waste streams are worth more than the sugar produced. Also attached is a paper that is scheduled for publication in June in the Journal of Sustainable Development titled "Products From Organic Waste Using Managed Ecosystem Fermentation"
Dear Edward
Thank you so much for disclosing your results. I found some literature which proves my results as well. I means that, biorefinery (production of bioethnol and electricity) annexed sugar mill is not energy sufficient and a portion of feed should directly goes to the boiler to establish an energy sufficient biorefinery plant.
Dear Moshen,
This depends on a myriad of issues including:
1.Your energy source, associated cost and the extent to which you are for example off-setting energy from fossil fuel with biomass energy.
2. It is a question of co-allocation and whether you intend to channel the bigger chuck of your biomass to bioethanol or to electricity production as end products
3. The energy balance will depend (and is indeed influenced) also on where you set your system boundary. For example are you just looking at only the bioconversion (bioethanol or bio-electricity) stages or do you want to extend your system boundary to include the energy inputs that go into the production/cultivation of the biomass material.
You might find the following publications listed below useful.
Regards,
Dr. Emmanuel Ackom
UNEP DTU Partnership
Denmark
Book Backgrounder: major environmental criteria of biofuel sustainability
Book Biofuel Sustainability: Case Studies and Practical Lessons f...
Article Sustainability standards for Canada's bioethanol industry
Article Industrial Sustainability of Competing Wood Energy Options in Canada
Article Modern bioenergy from agricultural and forestry residues in ...
Book Bioenergy: The potential for rural development and poverty alleviation
Dear Emmanuel,
Many thanks for your answer.
I have already overcome the problem by bypassing 35% of biomass to the boiler to keep the complex of sugar mill and biorefinery self-energy sufficient.
The following paper is about our approach and the results.
Regards
Mohsen
Article Economic and Environmental Assessment of Cellulosic Ethanol ...
http://slideplayer.com/slide/7852506/
https://books.google.com.tr/books?id=iwJQCwAAQBAJ&pg=PA199&lpg=PA199&dq=Biorefinery+(bioethanol,+steam+and+electricity+production)+annexed+to+sugar+mill+is+energy&source=bl&ots=C_I2bE09RA&sig=D6Ln2-UI1P0lba11tFaIRMaXNYw&hl=tr&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwivs6PPyZPYAhWBEVAKHcywCSQQ6AEIQzAE#v=onepage&q=Biorefinery%20(bioethanol%2C%20steam%20and%20electricity%20production)%20annexed%20to%20sugar%20mill%20is%20energy&f=false
