Sugar cane bagasse is an agro-based residue that is a very good feedstock for energy recovery processes. The aim of this study was to use ASPEN Plus v8.8 to develop thermodynamic simulation models for energy-recovery from sugar cane bagasse and to predict product yield and composition based on the inherent characteristics of the feedstock and other process factors. Two simulation flowsheets were developed for energy recovery from sugar cane bagasse: one for a pyrolysis process and the other for a combined pyrolysis-steam reforming process. The simulation predictions revealed a very good yield of bio-oil (63.4%) from sugar cane bagasse. The oil was composed of hydrocarbons of different lengths, aromatic compounds, and pyrolytic water (8.1%). For the pyrolysis steam-reforming simulation, the optimal conditions were a temperature range of 600-700 °C, pressure of 1 atm, and steam-to-feed ratio (STFR) of 10 kg kg −1 . Factor interactions were examined from response surface plots. A theoretical model for the prediction of hydrogen yield was also developed by regression, with a good R 2 value. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) results revealed that the model was significant but pressure was not a significant factor in the steam reforming process. AG Adeniyi, JO Ighalo, A Abdulsalam Modeling and Analysis: Modeling of integrated processes AG Adeniyi, JO Ighalo, A Abdulsalam Modeling and Analysis: Modeling of integrated processes 20. Erlich C, Björnbom E, Bolado D, Giner M and Fransson TH, Pyrolysis and gasification of pellets from sugar cane Bagasse and Wood. Fuel 85:1535-1540 (2006). 21. Manish S and Banerjee R, Comparison of biohydrogen production processes. Int J Hydrogen Energy 33:279-286 (2008). 22. Waheed QMK and Williams PT, Hydrogen production from high temperature pyrolysis/steam reforming of waste biomass: rice husk, sugar cane Bagasse, and wheat straw. Energy Fuels 27:6695-6704 (2013).

No abstract

No abstract

No abstract

The kinetics of colour changes of unripe plantain slices dehydrated in a RefractanceWindow Dryer is investigated. Dehydration of 6 mm thick plantain slices was performed at 75, 85, and 95 o C and colour change history data was recorded. Evaluation of the colour of the plantain slices was carried out in terms of Hunter colour parameters L, a, and b, as well as the total colour difference (ΔE) representing the residual deviations from the undehydrated stage. The Refractance Window drying process changed the Hunter colour parameters of L, a, and b, causing a colour shift toward the darker region. The values of colour parameters L and b decreased, whereas values of the colour parameter, a, and total colour change (ΔE) increased during Refractance Window drying. The essence of this study is to characterise the effect of dehydration temperature of the change in colour of unripe plantain colour. The findings of this work contribute to a better understanding of colour change kinetics of plantain during dehydration, and the established change kinetics models are a good tool for predicting, evaluating, and controlling of colour change of unripe plantain during the Refractance Window drying process.