Commercial Sugarcane Dry Cleaning Systems in Brazil: Progress and Challenges

Abstract

Separation of extraneous matter (EM) from sugarcane stalks to prevent yield losses during extraction, detrimental impacts on sugar manufacture, and to provide separated extraneous matter (SEM) for energy generation in mills requires an effective dry cleaning system (DCS). This study evaluated different types of DCS operating in Brazilian sugar-energy plants, located in the states of São Paulo (SP) and Goiás (GO), using a standard methodology. The separation efficiency of leafy extraneous matter (LEM), i.e., brown and green leaves, measured for DCS operating at full ventilation capacity varied from 17 to 49 wt% (kg LEM separated per 100 kg LEM fed, wet basis). The efficiency for inorganic extraneous matter (IEM) varied from 18 to 78 wt% (kg IEM separated per 100 kg IEM fed, wet basis). These DCS efficiencies are lower than those reported in literature, presumably because of differences in methodologies and system processing capacity. This commercial-scale study also identified deficiencies during the trials associated with design, operation, and maintenance parameters of the various DCSs. These commercial-scale results are important for improving future DCS operation because even with moderate efficiencies, the systems are important for the integrated sugarcane green-harvesting system.