Pre-processing of sugarcane bagasse for gasification in a downdraft biomass gasifier system: A comprehensive review

The processing of sugarcane bagasse as a potential feedstock for efficient energy production has attracted a great deal of attention in the sugarcane industry, which has traditionally inefficiently burned bagasse in boilers for steam and electricity generation. Alternative technologies for more efficient utilisation of bagasse for energy production within the industry has also been hindered by the high degree of complexity involved in bagasse handling and pre-processing before it can be utilised as an energy feedstock. This can be attributed to unfavourable characteristics of mill-run bagasse, which includes low bulk and energy densities, a wide range of particle sizes and shapes as well as high moisture content. Gasification is regarded as one of the most promising energy recovery technologies for the widespread use of biomass because of its higher efficiency when compared to the combustion technology commonly used by the sugarcane industry. There has been a strong drive to identify efficient pre-processing methods that can be applied to bagasse to make it a suitable feedstock for energy production in thermochemical conversion systems. This work provides a comprehensive review on the pre-processing of bagasse for gasification, and the gasification technology options for its conversion into energy, with a particular emphasis on the downdraft gasification technology. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.