Rajesh Verma and Prakhar Verma
Enviropol Engineers Pvt. Ltd., A-50, Sector-65, Noida, India; ceo@enviropolengineers.in; pv@enviropolengineers.in
The concept of drying bagasse with flue gas was introduced to improve the utilization of waste heat from sugar mill boilers, thereby improving boiler performance and fuel saving. A demonstration project of a flash-drying system with a 10.0 t/h capacity was tested in 2009 in India, where bagasse was dried in a co-current flow in the flash tube with part flue gas from a 70 t/h boiler and then passing through cyclonic separators. Due to smaller drying capacity and higher amount of available heat from the flue gas, the drying system achieved a moisture reduction from 50% to 39%, reducing fuel consumption and significantly enhancing the boiler efficiency. The system has proven to be commercially feasible, offering a fast return on investment. Due care is required to avoid choking of bagasse and to prevent fire in the dryer to make operation of the dryer safe and reliable. Bagasse dryers have been installed in the sugar industry during the last 20 years for boilers with capacity of up to 220 t/h. Bagasse dryer technology can be integrated with existing boilers to improve boiler efficiency which helps in decarbonization and optimizing energy usage.