Hydrothermal carbonization of sugarcane bagasse via wet torrefaction in association with microwave heating

Hydrothermal carbonization of sugarcane bagasse using wet torrefaction is studied. The biomass is torrefied in water or dilute sulfuric acid solution and microwaves are employed to heat the solutions where the reaction temperature is fixed at 180 degrees C. The effects of acid concentration, heating time and solid-to-liquid ratio on the performance of wet torrefaction are investigated. It is found that the addition of sulfuric acid and increasing heating time are conducive to carbonizing bagasse. The calorific value of bagasse can be increased up to 20.3% from wet torrefaction. With the same improvement in calorific value, the temperature of wet torrefaction is lower than that of dry torrefaction around 100 degrees C, revealing that wet torrefaction is a promising method to upgrade biomass as fuel. The calorific value of torrefied biomass can be predicted well based on proximate, elemental or fiber analysis, and the last one gives the best estimation. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.