Sugarcane vinasse: Environmental implications of its use

Christofoletti, Cintya Aparecida; Escher, Janaína Pedro; Correia, Jorge Evangelista; Marinho, Júlia Fernanda Urbano; Fontanetti, Carmem Silvia

doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2013.09.005

Cited by 498 publications

(396 citation statements)

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“…The concept behind fertirrigation consists on a sum of irrigation to sugarcane fields, by the percolation of vinasse liquid to the soil, with the simultaneous fertilization, transferring its nutrients to the plants (Christofoletti et al, 2013). Besides decreasing the costs involved with chemical fertilizers (Jiang et al, 2012), completely supplying phosphorus (Moran-Salazar et al, 2016) and being of low capital cost, vinasse utilization in fertirrigation practices could be considered of certain level of environmental concern (Sparovek et al, 2009).…”

Section: Fertirrigation Practices With Vinassementioning

confidence: 99%

“…After fermentation, the fermented juice is processed into an ethanol stream and a liquid-rich by-product-vinasse. Sugarcane vinasse is a residue from the sugar-ethanol industry, characterized as being an acidic suspension, high COD values, unpleasant odors, and dark brown color (Gómez and Rodríguez, 2000;Jiang et al, 2012;Christofoletti et al, 2013). The characteristics of vinasse are largely dependent on the feedstock, and on the fermentation and distillation conditions applied (España-Gamboa et al, 2011).…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Fertirrigation usually has negative effects on soil and ground waters in the long term (Rocha et al, 2007). A few adequate uses for vinasse management have been identified and used in large-scale operations, such as vinasse recycling to fermentation streams (Fadel et al, 2014;Yang et al, 2016), fertirrigation (Christofoletti et al, 2013;Filoso et al, 2015), energy production (Cortez et al, 1992;Walter et al, 2011), and animal feed production (Cortez et al, 1992). Recently, studies on transforming vinasse into a high value-added feedstock have also been performed (Nitayavardhana and Khanal, 2010).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Vinasse from Sugarcane Ethanol Production: Better Treatment or Better Utilization?

Reis

2017

Front. Energy Res.

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Ethanol production from sugarcane in Brazil is a well-established industry, with relatively simple operations and high yield. The ethanol primarily serves as a renewable fuel blending with gasoline and diesel to increase the energy security in Brazil. Several environmental concerns are emerged around the by-products from this industry. Vinasse, the liquid fraction generated from the rectification and distillation operations of ethanol, is a sulfur-rich, low pH, dark-colored, and odorous effluent, produced at volumes as high as 20-fold of ethanol. Traditional wastewater treatments, such as bioprocessing, advanced oxidative processes, anaerobic digestion (AD), and chemical-based processes, have been applied to vinasse management. Despite most of its utilization being in fertirrigation practices, vinasse may represent a key factor in enhancing profitability and environmental outcomes of a sugarcane-to-ethanol plant. The application of some upgrade solutions to sugarcane-derived vinasse may represent additional sources of energy, production of animal feed components, and reduction in water consumption within a plant. The use of mature technologies, yet not widespread in the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry, could help attenuate environmental concerns. Oxidation and chemical processes, AD, and microbial fermentation have been presented as alternative impactful alternatives to (i) reduce its organic and mineral load, converting it to a feedstock with fewer environmental applications when applied as fertilizer and (ii) to convert organic matter and nutrients to a nutritious biomass, simultaneously increasing water reclamation potential by plants. This mini-review article provides a critical and comprehensive summary of the alternatives developed or under development to vinasse management.

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Section: Fertirrigation Practices With Vinassementioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

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confidence: 99%

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Vinasse from Sugarcane Ethanol Production: Better Treatment or Better Utilization?

Reis

2017

Front. Energy Res.

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“…Limited information about the possible impacts of vinasse application on soil and water media at experimental sites has been found, and very few experimental research projects have been undertaken to date (Christofoletti et al, 2013;Gloeden et al, 1991). Research studies have focused mainly on flora and fauna vinasse toxicity (Da Silva et al, 2007).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Vinasse application to sugar cane fields. Effect on the unsaturated zone and groundwater at Valle del Cauca (Colombia)

Ortegon

Arboleda

Candela³

et al. 2016

Science of The Total Environment

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Field assessment of vinasse application in sugarcane fields  Vinasse transport was assessed in vadose zone and aquifer  Major ions were efficiently retained due to vadose zone processes and plant uptake 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 *highlights Click here to view linked References AbstractExtensive application of vinasse, a subproduct from sugar cane plantations for bioethanol production, is currently taking place as a source of nutrients that forms part of agricultural management in different agroclimatic regions. Liquid vinasse composition is characterised by high variability of organic compounds and major ions, acid pH (4.7), high TDS concentration (117,416-599,400 mg L -1 ) and elevated EC (14,350-64,099 S cm -1 ). A large-scale sugar cane field application is taking place in Valle del Cauca (Colombia), where monitoring of soil, unsaturated zone and the aquifer underneath has been made since 2006 to evaluate possible impacts on three experimental plots. For this assessment, monitoring wells and piezometers were installed to determine groundwater flow and water samples were collected for chemical analysis. In the unsaturated zone, tensiometers were installed at different depths to determine flow patterns, while suction lysimeters were used for water samples chemical determinations. The findings show that in the sandy loam plot (Hacienda Real), the unsaturated zone is characterised by low water retention, showing a high transport capacity, while the other two plots of silty composition presented temporal saturation due to La Niña event (2010)(2011). The strong La Niña effect on aquifer recharge which would dilute the infiltrated water during the monitoring period and, on the other hand dissolution of possible precipitated salts bringing them back into solution may occur. A slight increase in the concentration of major ions was observed in groundwater (~5% of TDS), which can be attributed to a combination of factors: vinasse dilution produced by water input and hydrochemical processes along with nutrients removal produced by sugar cane uptake. This fact may make the aquifer vulnerable to contamination.

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“…One inherent byproduct of the process is vinasse. For each liter of ethanol produced, 10 to 18 L of vinasse are generated (Christofoletti et al 2013). The 2011/2012 harvest yielded approximately 23 million cubic meters of ethanol (Unica 2012), which corresponded to at least 230 million cubic meters of vinasse.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%