C Gutierrez, H Zalazar, G del H Zamora Rueda, W Morales, MA Golato and M Ruiz
Laboratory of Tests and Industrial Measurements. Engineering and Agroindustrial Projects Department, Estacion Experimental Agroindustrial Obispo Colombres (EEAOC), Av. William Cross 3150 – Las Talitas – Tucumán – Argentina; cgutierrez@eeaoc.org.ar
During the sugarcane milling process, bagasse is separated and burnt in boilers for steam generation. The incineration generates a residue known as bagasse ash, consisting of two fractions: bottom ash, which settles at the bottom of the boilers, and fly ash, which is carried away by the gases released into the atmosphere through the chimney after the particles are filtered out with gas scrubbers. The gas scrubbing systems that capture the suspended ash present in the combustion gases using continuous water atomization. After the ash is captured, the water is sent to a decantation treatment system to separate the ash and reuse water in the gas scrubbers. The physical, chemical and energetic parameters of the ash from gases collected in 26 scrubbers installed in sugar mills in Tucumán, during the 2022 and 2023 sugarcane harvests were determined. The liquid samples were evaporated to dryness at 105°C in an oven with forced air circulation, from where the ashes were obtained. Subsequently, the ashes were physically characterized by particle size and density analysis, proximal analysis by thermogravimetry, energetic characterization by determining high calorific value on a dry basis and fusibility analysis of the ashes.