Sugarcane Bagasse Ash Waste · oAfter burning, ash remains oIn Brazil, approximately 2.5 million tons of sugarcane bagasse ash are produced each year4 oUsually the ash is used as

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 tons of sugarcane bagasse ash are produced each year4 oUsually the ash is used as

Documents