sugarcane bagasse ash waste · oafter burning, ash remains oin brazil, approximately 2.5 million...

Brittany Radke Civil and Environmental Engineering

University of Nevada, Las Vegas UNICAMP, Brazil

June 5, 2012

o Introduction o Biofuel Production o Waste By-Products of Ethanol Production o Concrete o The Use of Bagasse Ash in Concrete o Potential Market o Conclusion o Opinion on Biofuels

o Brazil has been mass producing ethanol from sugarcane since the 1970s1

o Ethanol accounts for over 50% of the fuel used in passenger cars2

1Dias, Marina O.S., Marcelo P. Cunha, et al. "Simulation of Ethanol Production from Sugarcane in Brazil: Economic Study of an Autonomous Distillery." 20 th European Symposium on Computer Aided Process Engineering. (2010): Web. 29 May. 2012. <http://www.aidic.it/escape20/webpapers/549Dias.pdf>. 2Jagger, Anna. "Brazil Invests in Second-Generation Biofuels." Biofuels, Bioproducts, and Biorefining. 3.1 (2009): n. page. Web. 3 Jun. 2012. <http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/bbb.127/pdf>.

http://maggiemcgeegoesgreen.blogspot.com.br/2012/02/learn-about-biofuels.html

o Sugar is extracted from the sugarcane o Bagasse is the main by-product o Bagasse is burned to produce energy and

steam for power3 o What happens after the bagasse is burned?

3"Biofuels and Agriculture- A Technical Overview." State of Food and Agriculture 2008. Web. 29 May. 2012.

o After burning, ash remains o In Brazil, approximately 2.5 million tons of

sugarcane bagasse ash are produced each year4

o Usually the ash is used as a soil fertilizer

4Faria, K.C.P., R.F. Gurgel, and J.N.F. Holanda. "Recycling of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Waste in the Production of Clay Bricks." Journal of Environmental Management. 101. (2012): 7-12. Web. 29 May. 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479712000692>.

http://surabaya.indonetwork.co.id/cvmuliaagropratama/1299919/abu-boiler-tebu-sugar-cane-ash.htm

o One source stated that sugarcane bagasse ash is thought of as a solid waste that is non-biodegradable4

o There are other uses of bagasse ash o Partial cement replacement in concrete

4Faria, K.C.P., R.F. Gurgel, and J.N.F. Holanda. "Recycling of Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Waste in the Production of Clay Bricks." Journal of Environmental Management. 101. (2012): 7-12. Web. 29 May. 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301479712000692>.

o 4 main ingredients o Water o Cement o Coarse Aggregate o Fine Aggregate

o Aggregates act as fillers while the cement and water are the binders that hold everything together

http://explow.com/cement

o Portland Cement: A finely-ground material that is mainly composed of lime, silica, alumina, and iron

o Manufacturing of Portland Cement accounts for 5% of the world’s carbon emissions5

o To reduce environmental impact, pozzolanic materials can be used as a partial cement replacement

5Huntzinger, Deborah N., and Thomas D. Eatmon. "A Life-Cycle Assessment of Portland Cement Manufacturing: Comparing the Traditional Process with Alternative Technologies." Journal of Cleaner Production. (2009): 668-675. Web. 29 May. 2012. <http://webpub.allegheny.edu/employee/t/teatmon/Publications/HuntzingerEatmon 2009.pdf>.

o Properties of Bagasse Ash6 o High silica content: 87%

oCement’s silica content: 22%

o Low specific gravity: 1.80 oCement’s specific gravity: 3.15

o Percent passing 45 μm: 95% oCement percent passing 45 μm: 82%

6Amin, Noor-ul. "Use of Bagasse Ash in Concrete and its Impact on the Strength and Chloride Resistivity."Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering. (2010): n. page. Web. 1 Jun. 2012. <http://scitation.aip.org/getpdf/servlet/GetPDFServlet?filetype=pdf&id=JMCEXX000001000001000194000001&idtype=cvips&doi=10.1061/(ASCE)MT.1943-5533.0000227&prog=normal>.

o Compressive Strength

http://warunathejana.wordpress.com/2009/06/19/tests-on-concrete-compressive-strength

o Compressive Strength6

Cement Replacement (%)

3 Day Strength (MPa)



0 20 27 36

5 22 30 42

10 27 35 43

15 28 35 42

20 27 35 40

25 25 32 35

30 20 25 32


o Tensile Strength

o Tensile Strength6

Cement Replacement (%) 28 Day Tensile Strength (MPa)

0 4.5

5 4.9

10 5

15 4.9

20 4.5

25 4

30 3


o Currently, bagasse ash is not sold as a pozzolanic material

o However, other similar materials sell for these amounts

7"Cement Prices." Construction Economics. Engineering News-Record, 02 Apr 2012. Web. 5 Jun 2012. <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://www.ct.gov/dot/lib/dot/documents/dconstruction/cement.pdf>. 8Copeland, Kevin. "Fly Ash Properties and Uses."Monolithic. Monolithic, 12 Sep 2011. Web. 5 Jun 2012. <http://www.monolithic.com/stories/fly-ash-properties-and-uses>.

9Van Oss, Hendrik G.. "Slag- Iron and Steel." Slag- Iron and Steel. U.S. Geological Survey Minerals Yearbook, 2002. Web. 5 Jun 2012. <http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:http://minerals.usgs.gov/minerals/pubs/commodity/iron_&_steel_slag/islagmyb02.pdf>.

Material Cost

Portland Cement $101.88/ton7

Fly Ash (Coal By-Product) $50/ton8

Slag (Steel By-Product) $38.50/ton9

o Bagasse ash can increase the overall strength of the concrete when used up to a 20% cement replacement level

o Bagasse ash is a valuable pozzolanic material

and it can potentially be sold at a price similar to that of slag and fly ash

o Pro biofuel o Give people the choice of what type of fuel to use o Reduces demand on foreign oil

o Improvements o 2nd generation biofuel o Other technologies for cars: electric vehicles

sugarcane bagasse ash waste · oafter burning, ash remains oin brazil, approximately 2.5 million...

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