Bagasse

As bagasse (also: Ampas ) is called the fibrous remains of sugar production from sugar cane and sorghum millet. This is in accordance with a by - or co-product that is produced from the plants during the pressing of the sugar juice.

Production

The harvested sugar cane is processed into sugar mills by the sugary juice is squeezed from the plants ( press extraction ). In some factories, however, are also diffusers in use, extract the sugar by means of the diffusion process. Is conducted during the recovered juice in weanlings, the remaining by-product bagasse is driven on heaps. This fall at 100 tons of sugar from sugar cane about 34 tons of bagasse as a by- product. Worldwide in 1995 60-70 million tons bagasse were produced.

Use

Bagasse is 40 to 60% of cellulose, 20 to 30% of hemicelluloses and about 20% of lignin. It can be used energetically as a solid fuel; this is usually done directly in sugar production for self- supply of electricity and heat. By an appropriate treatment for the removal of lignin and a subsequent mixing with sugar cane molasses and feed proteins can be fed with bagasse and cattle.

Materially bagasse is used primarily in the pulp industry, specifically for the production of cardboard (packaging material, Bagasseschalen ) and building materials. The hemicelluloses present, especially the built up of the C5 sugar xylose polysaccharide xylan can be chemically and enzymatically - technically utilized for the production of basic chemicals, especially furfural and levulinic acid and is accordingly also for use in the integrated biorefinery of interest.