Analysis of sugarcane bagasse particles by X-ray microtomography

Full text: Sugarcane bagasse is well-suited for bio ethanol production purposes. The use of this biomass as a raw material is highly attractive due to the vast available amounts at the processing site besides its low-cost. A challenge for bagasse valorization is the presence of mineral particles in the biomass, which causes problems such as corrosion, sintering, and vitrification in boilers, gasifiers, and combustors because of the presence of inorganic constituents. In this work, we employed the LNLS IMX beamline to obtain X-ray microtomography images of dry and fresh wet bagasse fibrous particles. Such images were analyzed to quantify 3D morphological features and analyze the cellular structure of the bagasse. Furthermore, the 3D images served as input to construct 3D computational models of the sugarcane bagasse particles, which will have useful applications in future simulations studies of biomass conversion processes. Results show the sizes, shapes and preferred location of mineral particles within the bagasse structure and demonstrate the potential use of the microtomography to support the development of novel biomass technologies to improve ethanol production processes. (author)