USE OF AGRO-INDUSTRIAL WASTE LIKE BIOFUEL AND BIOREFINERY

SUMMARY
1: The use of residues generated in the process agro-industrials are interest worldwide. At
present, research is this in lignocellulosic biomass for energy, fuels, chemicals and
biomaterials through clean technologies and closed systems that conserve the
environment.

2: In the article, the authors based on the characteristics of the typical agro-industrial
residues of Cauca Department analyse sugarcane bagasse, sisal dust, cassava bran and the
mixtures, for a possible application in a biorefinery.
INTRODUCTION

3. At the global level there is interest in the conservation of the environment, renewable
and non-renewable resources, and the use of waste generated in agro-industrial processes.

4. The residues of lignocellulosic have hemicellulose and cellulose content around 75-80%,
can be degraded by chemical, physical and / or biological processes to obtain sugars and
the subsequent conversion to a biofuel

5. Biomass research, suggest that lignocellulosic materials have uses in animal production
and human consumption. Efforts are focused on the development of technologies that use
agroindustrial waste as a renewable source in the manufacture of food and biofuels,

6. In biomass, the elemental analysis reports typical values of 50% in carbon, 5.5% in
hydrogen, values lower than 1% in nitrogen, 40% in oxygen and negligible values in sulfur.
In the immediate analysis, the typical values of ash or unburned solid waste vary between
2 and 5%, when it is higher than 15% negatively affects the energy performance because it
is not possible to use useful energy and generates problems of sintering.
The values of the superficial free moisture and the retained in the pores of the biomass, are
around 8% to 50% and for the volatile matter, the value is greater than 65%

7. In fibrous materials the energetic properties, the physical structure, chemical and
morphological composition vary according to the plant and the crop, these remain
homogeneous in the majority of the residues and preserve the original characteristics of
the materials of origin. Therefore, the typical characteristic of each lignocellulosic material,
indicates which should be the most suitable application, such as textiles, packaging, steroid
extraction, paper pulp, construction material, fertilizers and food.

8. The particle size is one of the physical characteristics of the biomass, of greater relevance,
when it is going to be subjected to subsequent treatments. In the pretreatment (grinding)
stage of the waste to obtain bioethanol, the reduction of the particle size decreases the
digestion time of the biomass between 23-59%. The chemical properties of a lignocellulosic
material are generally divided into three main components: 30 to 50% cellulose, 15 to 35%
hemicellulose, 10 to 20% lignin. Cellulose and hemicellulose correspond to approximately
70% of the total biomass. The morphological properties provide information on the physical
changes that occur during the pre-treatment processes of a material.

9: In Europe, thermal applications with production of heat and hot water are the most
common in the biomass sector. Pre-treatment technologies produce physical and / or
chemical changes in the biomass with the purpose of breaking the lignin coating, solubilizing
the hemicellulose and alter the crystalline structure of cellulose.
The alternatives for transforming lignocellulosic biomass are: combustion, gasification,
synthesis and pyrolysis, hydrolysis, fermentation

10. The biorefinery is an industrial facility that seeks the integral use of biomass in a
sustainable way for the production of biofuels, energy, materials and chemical products
with added value. Considering that it is a national policy to know the energy potential of
waste from regional sectors, the purpose of this work is to evaluate, from the characteristics
of the agroindustrial waste, bagacillo de caña, fique dust, cassava bran and mixtures from
the department del Cauca, the use as a biofuel and biorefinery.

METHOD
11. Biomass source
The residual biomass samples used correspond to the one generated in the fiber
transformation process of the sugarcane, fique and cassava crops. In the case of sugarcane,
the bagasse generated from the stage of cane milling and filtering, from the Rio-paila
Castilla S.A. sugar mill was used. In the case of the fique, the dust generated in the process
of transformation of the fiber to products, of the company Empaques del Cauca and in the
case of cassava, the cassava bran generated in the obtaining of the starch of the Rayanderia
The new Zealand .

12. Preparation of samples for characterization tests

In the adaptation of the three agroindustrial residues, bagasse of cane, fique dust and
cassava bran, operations were applied: drying at 70ºC until constant weight in Binder
dehumidifier, reduction in size with a Penagos hammer mill, and sifting. A size smaller than
sieve No. was established as optimum. 40

13. Specific properties related to the combustion and energy generation processes were
determined: the percentage of humidity, carbon ash, hydrogen, nitrogen, higher and lower
calorific value through elemental and proximal analysis. The procedures of ASTM D-7582,
ASTM D-5373, ASTM D-5865 and ASTM D-6054 were applied and the participation of these
characteristics in the generation of thermal energy was analyzed. The amounts of cellulose,
hemicellulose and lignin in each of the samples without and with pre-treatment (autoclave
or autoclave plus sodium bisulfite), were quantified with the Van Soest method, by means
of neutral detergent fiber analysis (% NDF), acid detergent fiber (% FDA) and% lignin. The
morphological characterization was carried out with the staining technique for plant cells.
The samples were taken without and with pre-treatment 10X and 40X micrographs, with
the high resolution optical microscope. It was analyzed if the cell wall underwent any
modification, such as opening of the cell wall, delignification, exposure of cellulose and
hemicellulose.

RESULTS
14. M1: Highest % of C, thermal uses (biofuel or bio refinery).
M2: %H 61% higher compared with charcoal (biofuel or bio refinery)
M6: Highest moisture content (gasified for similarities with carob wood).

15. M2, M7: Highest content in ashes, useful in a combustion process.

M1, M3: Have an appropriate particle size for the chemical and enzymatic pre-treatment
and hydrolysis.
M2: It’s expected to obtain theoretical yields in hydrolysis around of 90%.

16. The biorefinery proposed to take advantage of the agroindustrial waste from the Cauca
region, such as cane bagasse, fique dust, cassava bran and mixtures, (figure 1), involves
mechanical and physical processes, separation, pre-treatments , distillation and
pelletization; in chemistries, chemical reactions, methanization, hydrolysis and
hydrogenation; in the biochemist, fermentation; in thermochemicals, gasification, pyrolysis
and combustion.

17. CONCLUSIONS Due to the thermal, physical, chemical and morphological characteristics,
all samples M1 to M7 have the possibility of being hydrolyzed, M1, M2 and M3 densified
and M1, M2 and M6 exploited as biofuel and / or biorefinery. The values of the constituents
of the biomass give it appropriate energy characteristics for the production of thermal
energy to the combustion processes and to the generation of energy in a controlled
manner. According to the physical characteristics of M1, M2 and M3, milling as a physical
pre-treatment is a necessary preliminary stage to continue with the chemical pre-
treatment, enzymatic and enzymatic hydrolysis. The study concludes, as recommended by
other researchers, to apply chemical pre-treatments in lignocellulosic biomass, with
maximum lignin contents of 18% and physicochemical maximum 15%.