Effect of starch-based natural and synthetic binders on densification of sugar cane trash

Abstract The growing demand of energy and the concurrent uplift in greenhouse gas emissions is attributed to the global waning of fossil fuels. In this regard, densification of biomass presents a viable and eco-friendly approach for producing solid fuels. Sugarcane trash is one of the promising biomasses used for energy production. This study aims to analyze and evaluate the effect of pretreatment and binder’s concentration on the densification of sugarcane trash. For this purpose, sugarcane trash is pretreated with hot water at 80°C in a 1:15 solid-to-liquid ratio (S/L) and densified by adding two different starch-based binders named as natural binder (low-grade broken rice) (NB) and synthetic binder (Maya) (SB) with three different concentrations i.e., 10%, 20% and 30%, followed with the palletization. After densification, the pellets are characterized by physical, mechanical, thermal, and structural properties. The results indicated that pellets with 10%SB presented optimum properties. Pellets with 10%SB pellets showed higher heating values (4301.17 Cal/g) (HHV), a crucial property for the design calculations or simulations of thermal conversion for biomass. The pellet strength is suggested to be linked with the composition of binder and biomass which is linked with the binding of binder and biomass material in the densified biomass. It is evident from the results that sugarcane trash pellets can fulfill energy requirements as per the needs of the present era keeping in view the green and sustainable environment. Thus, rather than burning the sugarcane trash which causes pollution, densified pellets are of great significance for bioenergy production.