Co-pyrolysis under vacuum of bagasse and petroleum residue for the production of bio-fuels

Sugarcane is the world's largest agricultural crop. Sugarcane mills generate bagasse, an important source of biomass throughout the world. The upgrading of this bagasse by vacuum pyrolysis to produce fuels is the focus of this work. Experimental tests on the vacuum pyrolysis of bagasse alone and bagasse mixed with a low grade petroleum residue (PR) are presented. Analysis of the feedstocks (bagasse and PR) and the products obtained has been performed. The kinetics of sugarcane bagasse thermal decomposition is successfully modelled by a scheme consisting of three independent first order reactions corresponding to three constituting components (cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin). The bagasse bio-oil yield is high (30--34 wt. % on a bagasse dry basis). Bagasse bio-oil proved to be a valuable liquid fuel. The activated carbon obtained from the sugarcane bagasse charcoal exhibits a surface area comparable to commercial activated carbons. The kinetics of petroleum residue thermal decomposition is modelled by a scheme consisting of three independent reactions.