Comparative Analysis of Brazilian Residual Biomass for Pellet Production - Implementing Environmental and Resource Management - page 7

2 Comparative Analysis of Brazilian Residual
Biomass for Pellet Production
Bruna Missagia 1 , Maurício Ferreira Silva Corrêa 2 , Islam Ahmed 3 , Hans-Joachim
Krautz 1 and Peter Ay 4
1 Chair of Power Plant Technology, Brandenburg University of Technology
(BTU), Cottbus, Germany
2 Department of Technology and Innovation Management, Brandenburg Univer-
sity of Technology (BTU), Cottbus, Germany
3 Department of Environmental and Resource Management, Brandenburg Univer-
sity of Technology (BTU), Cottbus, Germany
4 Chair of Minerals Processing, Brandenburg University of Technology (BTU),
Cottbus, Germany
2.1 Introduction
Brazil is an important producer and the largest exporter of sugar, ethanol, coffee,
orange juice, and tobacco. The country's availability of land, water and labour has
allowed for increased production and exports. Continuing the trade expansion and
diversification of markets and products remain at the core of Brazil's agricultural
growth strategy (Valdez et al. 2006). The increase in crops generates a biomass
residue surplus. It is known that approximately 30% of the sugar cane production
is bagasse (Rosillo-Calle et al. 2007) and 22% of rice is constituted of husks
(Eriksson and Prior 1990). This residual biomass can be transformed into a valu-
able fuel, becoming an important local energy source. There are several conver-
sion technologies for biomass, based on the type, available residues and the mar-
ket demand. Pressing of residues increases storage and transport efficiency.
Pellets, briquettes, or any other pressed form can be used as a fuel. Recent re-
search shows different combustion technologies for biomass: gasification, pyroly-
sis and combined heat and power (Rosillo-Calle et al. 2007).
In Germany, Austria and Scandinavian countries, the compressed biomass,
mostly wood pellets, is widely used for household heating. Moreover, the conver-
sion of pellets into electricity has also been studied in decentralized power plants
(Thek and Obernberger 2002). In Brazil, where heating is not necessary due to a
tropical climate, the demanded product of biomass conversion is electricity. Here
hydropower accounts for approximately 77% of the energy supply (Ministério de
Minas e Energia 2008). Nevertheless, it has been documented that Brazil's annual
production of sugar cane bagasse can supply inhabitants with as much electricity