# Sugarcane Bagasse Torrefraction for Fluidized Bed Gasification  
[PERSON]  
1 Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad de Bio-Bio,  
Concepcion 4030000, Chile; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
2 Unidad de Desarrollo Tecnologico, Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion 403000, Chile; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (G.C.-B. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.F. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (H.G.U.) [PERSON]  
5 Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad de Concepcion,  
Guaristo Cabrera-Barjas  
2 Unidad de Desarrollo Tecnologico, Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion 403000, Chile; [EMAIL_ADDRESS]  
2 Unidad de Desarrollo Tecnologico, Universidad de Concepcion, Concepcion 403000, Chile; [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (G.C.-B. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (M.F. ); [EMAIL_ADDRESS] (H.G.U.) [PERSON]  
5 Departamento de Ingenieria Mecanica, Facultad de Ingenieria, Universidad de Concepcion,  
around 30-35% of \"pith\" fiber, which derives from the core of the plant, and \"rind\" or \"stem\" fiber, which comprises the balance. Conventionally, in the sugar factory, high moisture bagasse is used as fuel in boilers for power and steam generation through the Condensing-Extraction Steam-Turbine (CEST) technology, providing mechanical power, electricity, and heat required for the process. The CEST global efficiency ranges are typically 15-30% [8]. Therefore, this generation's plant size with this technology has been restricted by these efficiencies and sugarcane bagasse availability within a tight transportation distance being economically sustainable. This hurdle made imperative the development of more efficient technologies for sugarcane bagasse conversion technologies, allowing increases in the steam's temperature and pressure, and leading to higher electric power cogeneration efficiency [9]. In sugar mills, the Biomass Integrated-Gasifier/Gas Turbine Combined Cycle (BIG/GTCC), a more advanced technology [10; 11; 12; 13], is potentially cost-competitive with CEST technology while theoretically increasing the capacity for electricity generation per unit of biomass processed. In this type of technology, the characteristics of the sugarcane bagasse require fluidized bed or entrained flow gasification technologies to obtain more efficient conversion ratios. The pretreatment of sugarcane bagasse for its use as feedstock in gasifiers is particularly problematic due to its high moisture content, fibrous structure, and tenacity. However, the physical composition of sugarcane bagasse varies slightly regardless of the mill used in the juice extraction process. Furthermore, the properties of bagasse as fuel have been studied extensively [4; 14; 15; 16; 17]. Several authors have reported problems during feedstock preparations and the feeding process to fluidized bed gasifiers in several demonstration projects. They feed the gasifiers with sugarcane bagasse after two pretreatment technologies, drying and milling [10; 18; 19; 20] or pelletizing and grinding [21; 22], respectively. Torrefaction is an alluring biomass preprocessing path, as it may enhance the fuel characteristics of biomass and facilitate its grinding. This process also positively impacts storage and transportation because of the torrefied biomasses' hydrophobic behavior and increased energetic density [23; 24; 25; 26]. This process also allows pretreated sugarcane bagasse to be used as feedstock in entrained flow gasifiers designed to gasify coal [27]. Previous studies propose implementing sugarcane bagasse torrefaction to overcome the reported problems during this feedstock preparation and the feeding process to fluidized bed gasifiers [27; 28]. Sugarcane bagasse torrefaction has been studied [23; 29; 30; 31]. However, more experimental studies assessing the torrefaction conditions that balance the torrefied fuel properties and the process's energy usages are required, allowing the maximization of the overall efficiency in the integrated technologies.