Bagasse Fire Boiler for Sugarcane Industry

Bagasse fire boiler for cane sugar industry

In the past most boilers were highly efficient multiple pass boilers. An increase in the ash (sand) content of bagasse resulted in a significant increase in tube erosion and now bagasse fired boilers are favoured by cane sugar industry.

Bagasse fuel in boiler for sugar industry

Boiler fuel In the cane sugar industry the predominant boiler fuel is bagasse, the residue of the cane plant after extraction. In South Africa, coal is the main auxiliary fuel when there is a shortfall of bagasse. The composition of the fuel plays a major part in assessing its calorific value and calculating boiler efficiency. Fuel analysis The fuel components are usually divided into ash, moisture and other constituents. The different analyses such as physical, proximate and ultimate analyses concentrate on these other constituents.A physical analysis describes the fuel components in terms of their quantities. It is particularly used to calculate the calorific value.

The composition of bagasse is usually expressed in terms of its fibre, brix and moisture content. For the purpose of analysing bagasse as a boiler fuel, it is important to separate the fibre component into vegetable fibre and ash. Coal can similarly be separated into dry, ash free coal, ash and moisture. Its combustion properties especially the combustion stability. This property is particularly important for coal and is used to a lesser extent for bagasse.

Bagasse fired Boiler efficiency

The efficiency of a boiler is the energy imparted to the boiler feed water in its conversion to super-heated steam as a percentage of the energy in the fuel. It can be expressed either in terms of the net or gross calorific value. To ensure complete combustion allowance must be made for additional or excess air. This excess air is about 25% for bagasse and 30% for coal. Only with a full knowledge of the products of combustion, is it possible to calculate the various losses and the...