PERGAMON Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

Sugar cane as an alternative energy source for Turkey

I. Kilicaslan a, *, H.I. Sarac b, E. OÈzdem|ÇÂr a, K. Erm|ÇÂs° a
a
Faculty of Technical Education, Kocaeli University, 41100, Izmit, Turkey
b
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Turkey
Received in revised form 17 December 1997

Abstract

The consumption of various energy resources in the world since the beginning of industrial revolution
has changed due to several causes, such as the economy, availability, transportation and environmental
e€ects as well as climate change phenomena. The use of fossil fuels has become rather harmful for the
environment in which human beings live, especially in the urban areas of the world. Various emissions,
such as sulfates, nitrates, carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide and aerosols, into the atmosphere give rise
to many undesirable consequences. Therefore, human beings are seeking to substitute friendly
alternatives for the harmful energy sources. This paper concentrates on using bagasse, obtained in the
processing of sugar cane, as a fuel for boilers instead of fossil fuels. Basic factors in economic areas are
also presented with particular emphasis on other competitive technologies that are used in the sugar
industry. At the same time, stack gas is applied at 2458C for increasing the calori®c value by removing
water in 50% moisture bagasse. After drying, the moisture of the bagasse is reduced to 32.86%, and the
calori®c value is improved by 7.56%. Both energy usage and sugar production are calculated
comparatively for the Adapazari Sugar Beet Factory in Turkey and the Shakarganj Sugar Cane Factory
in Pakistan, paying special attention to environmental considerations. # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All
rights reserved.

Keywords: Bagasse; Economy in sugar manufacturing; Alternative energy sources

Nomenclature

As= Ash
C= Carbon
H= Hydrogen

* To whom all correspondence should be addressed. Fax: 00-90-262-324-99-09; E-mail: curgu-ed@yunus.mam.

tubutak.gov.tr.

0196-8904/99/$ - see front matter # 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S 0 1 9 6 - 8 9 0 4 ( 9 8 ) 0 0 1 0 3 - 4
2 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

O= Oxygen
M= Moisture
Hu = Calori®c value (kJ/kg)
St= Stoichiometric air
Qa = Absorbed heat from dryer (kJ/kg)
Mg = Moisture after dryer (%)
x= Evaporated water from bagasse (kg)
Cpg = Speci®c heat of dry ¯ue gas (kJ/kgK)
Cps = Speci®c heat of ¯ue steam (kJ/kgK)
LHV= Lower heating value (kJ/kg)
We = Water evaporated (kg)
hs = Enthalpy of steam (kJ/kg)
hw = Enthalpy of water (kJ/kg)

1. Introduction

The world energy demand is provided from conventional energy sources, such as coal, oil,
natural gas, etc. Since the life of these sources is limited by the present and foreseeable future
energy consumption of the world, attention is being turned toward new and renewable sources,
such as solar, wind, wave, biomass, etc. Electricity production based on fossil or nuclear fuels
induces substantial social costs, whereas it would appear that the use of renewable energy
sources involves far less and lower social costs. Continuous of economic growth and prosperity
rely heavily on adequate energy supplies at reasonably low costs. Unfortunately, energy use is
the main source of pollution in any developing country. It is well known that SO2 emissions
from the use of fossil fuels is the main cause of acid rain. More than half the forest of the
northern Europe have already been damaged. On the global scale, increases in the emission
rates of greenhouse gases and particular CO2, represent a colossal threat to the world climate.
Various theories and calculations in atmospheric circulation research have already indicated
that, over the last half century, there appeared a continuously increasing trend in the average
temperature values, up to a half degree centigrade. If this trend continues in the future, it is
expected that, in some areas of the world, there will appear extreme events, such as excessive
rainfall and consequent ¯oods, droughts and local imbalances, in the natural climatic
behaviour, giving rise to unusual local heat and cold.
In the next decades, energy demand is sure to show a steady increase. Hence, the use of
conventional energy resources will not be able to ameliorate these problems, and an increase
will occur in the undesirable consequences. However, newly emerging alternative energy
resources in the form of renewable resources are expected to take an increasing role in the
energy scenarios of the future energy consumption, at least in order to reduce the
environmental concerns and impacts with regard to air and water quality, acid rain, global
warming etc. In the sugar industry, bagasse is a possible alternative energy source that is
obtained during the crashing of cane and can be used as a boiler fuel.
There are two main sources of sugar, sugar beet and sugar cane. In Turkey, sugar is only
produced from sugar beets, but sugar cane has more advantages than sugar beet. In a certain
 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11 3

®eld, sugar cane can produce three times more sugar than sugar beets. For instance, in the
world, the best beet growth is in Holland where 5 tons of sugar are produced from a 104 m2
®eld. On the other hand, the best cane growth is in Java where 18 tons of sugar are produced
from the same size (104 m2) [1]. In addition to this, the maintenance expenses and labour
expenses are lower for sugar cane than for sugar beets, and sugar cane is very resistant to
disease. In the manufacturing of sugar, the cane has a simpler and cheaper process.
Based on our researches of the processes (Fig. 1) at the Adapazari Sugar Beet Factory in
Turkey and Shakarganj Sugar Cane Factory in Pakistan, the energy usage and sugar
production (Appendix) are calculated comparatively on the same scale with special attention to
environmental considerations.

2. Importance of bagasse and bagasse dryer

Fossil fuel reserves in the form of oil and natural gas are still sucient at present
consumption rates for the next 50 years. However, with increasing amounts of renewables and
discoveries of new reservoirs this span of time is expected to extend for almost a century.
Recognizing the fact that the availability of a€ordable energy supplies is crucial to sustain a
steady economic growth, it has become imperative to maximize the use of known and easily
available energy resources. Fortunately, in the case of the sugar industry, bagasse is a by-
product which ful®lls the entire energy requirements of the plant. The excess bagasse obtained
is utilized as a valuable new material, not only for paper manufacture but also for the
production of electricity [4].
Experimentally, crushing one ton of cane can produce 255 kg bagasse with 50% moisture.
Since plenty of bagasse is produced per unit of sugar cane crushed, no particular attention has
been paid to its economy. There is an urgent need for new ideas in this ®eld [4].
High moisture reduce gross calori®c value of bagasse. In this study, it is proposed to use ¯ue
gas at 2458C to decrease the moisture content and increase the calori®c value of the bagasse. In
this way, it is expected to conserve bagasse, providing energy conservation in the process.
The chemical composition of dry bagasse is

C 51.00 %
H 5.66 %
O 39.92 %
Ash 3.42 %

Based on this composition, the gross calori®c value of dry bagasse is calculated by the
Dulong formula as
 
Hu ˆ 2:321 14; 093C ‡ 61; 095…H ÿ O=8† ˆ 17; 632 kJ=kg: …1†

Thus, the gross calori®c value of 50% wet bagasse is half that of dry bagasse, namely 8816 kJ/
kg.
4 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

Fig. 1. Cane and beet sugar processes block diagram.

3. Drying process with ¯ue gases

Dried bagasse is obtained by installing a bagasse dryer in line with the boiler stack gases
at about 2458C (Fig. 2). In this way, a considerable amount of bagasse is saved, since its
consumption is lower for a given amount of heat because its calori®c value has been
 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11 5

Fig. 2. Drying process of bagasse.

increased by the drying. The assumptions made for the calculation of the drying process
are:

1. Boiler is operated with 35% excess air.

2. Boiler stack gas temperature is 2458C.
3. Boiler stack gas is cooled from 245 to 1208C in the dryer.
4. All heat extracted from the stack gas is used to evaporate moisture from the bagasse.
5. Combustion products consist of CO2 and H2O only.

The stack gas composition for combustion of 50% wet bagasse with 35% excess air is
determined as follows: The oxygen required from air for stoichiometric combustion of 1 kg of
dry bagasse is determined by employing the combustion reactions
C ‡ O2 ) CO2 or 0:51 ‡ 1:36 ) 1:87 kg
2H ‡ 0:5O2 ) H2 O or 0:056 ‡ 0:448 ) 0:504 kg:

Thus, the total oxygen required is 1.808 kg (1.36 + 0.448). However, the dry bagasse contains
0.3992 kg of oxygen, so the oxygen required from air is 1.4088 kg (1.808ÿ 0.3992). Taking air
as containing only nitrogen and oxygen with oxygen being about 23.3% by weight, the 1.4088
kg of oxygen will be accompanied by 4.6394 kg of nitrogen, and the stoichiometric air will be
6.0482 kg. Consequently, the stack gas composition for stoichiometric combustion of 1 kg of
dry bagasse is

CO2 1.87 kg
H2O 0.504 kg
N2 4.6394 kg

for a total of 7.0134 kg of stack gas per kg of dry bagasse. The chemical composition of
50% wet bagasse is [2]

M 50.00%
C 25.40%
H 2.80%
O 20.00%
Ash 1.80%.
6 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

Letting x be the quantity of water evaporated in dryer, the stack gas composition for the
stoichiometric combustion of 1 kg of 50% wet bagasse will be just 50% of the previous stack
gas components plus the amount evaporated from the wet bagasse, i.e.

CO2 0.935 kg
N2 2.3197 kg
H2O 0.252 kg from combustion
H2O 0.5 ÿ x kg evaporated from wet bagasse.

With 35% excess air, the nitrogen component is increased to 3.1316 kg and, with it, the
unused oxygen component becomes 0.2461 kg. Thus, the stack gas composition for combustion
of 1 kg of 50% wet bagasse with 35% excess air becomes

CO2 0.935 kg
N2 3.1316 kg
O2 0.2461 kg
H2O 0.252 + (0.5ÿ x) kg.

The heat extracted from the stack gases by cooling from 245 to 1208C must be calculated in
two parts, that from the dry components and that from the wet component, which depends on
the amount of moisture evaporated from the 50% wet bagasse in the dryer under assumption 4
earlier. For the dry components

Qd ˆ Mdry  Cp g  DT ˆ 547:17 kJ=kg

where M dry is 4.3127 kg, Cpg is 1.015 kJ/kg C and DT is 1258C. For the wet component

Qw ˆ MH2 O  Cp s  DT ˆ 180:48 ÿ 240x kJ=kg

where M H2O is 0.752ÿ x and Cps is 1.920 kJ/kg C. Thus, the total heat extracted from the
stack gases is
Qd ‡ Qw ˆ 727:65 ÿ 240x kJ=kg
which must be equal to the heat absorbed by the dryer Qa by assumption 4 listed above.
Neglecting the heat transferred to the ®bre, the heat absorbed by the dryer to remove moisture
from the bagasse can also be written as
Qa ˆ x…hs ÿ hw † kJ=kg
in which hs at 1208C is 2706 kJ/kg and hw at 238C is 96 kJ/kg. From the heat balance, x may
be found as
x ˆ 0:2553 kg
 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11 7

which is the kg of water evaporated in the dryer from 1 kg of the 50% wet bagasse. So, the
composition of the bagasse after drying is 0.5 kg of ®bre and 0.2447 kg of moisture, and the
resulting moisture in the bagasse after the dryer is 32.86%.
The heat recovered in the drying process is
Qa ˆ x…hs ÿ hw † ˆ 666:37 kJ=kg
which is the amount of energy that would have been lost in burning 1 kg of 50% wet bagasse.
The dryer has increased the lower heating value of the 50% wet bagasse by this amount which
is 7.56% of the value for the original 50% wet bagasse. For producing a given amount of heat,
it is clear that increasing the calori®c value of the fuel conserves the fuel, in this case bagasse.

4. Economic analysis and environmental e€ects

The interface between energy and the environment is complex and constantly evolving.
Generally, the ability of science to identify and qualify the production and e€ects of potentially
harmful substances has greatly advanced. Throughout the 1970 s, most environmental analyses
and legal instruments of control focused on conventional pollutants, i.e. SOx, NOx, CO, and
particulates. Recently, concern has been extended to the control of hazardous air pollutants,
which are usually toxic chemical substances, harmful in small doses, and globally signi®cant
pollutants, such as CO2. Developments in industrial processes and structures have led to new
environmental problems. Energy and environmental studies which lead to increased energy
eciency can reduce environmental impacts by reducing energy losses. Within the scope of the
exergy methods, such activities lead to increased energy eciency. Increased eciency also
reduces the requirements for energy resources. To control environmental pollution, eciency
improvement actions often need to be supported by pollution control technologies or fuel
substitution. It is through regional or national actions, rather than through individual projects,
that improved energy eciency can have a major impact on environmental protection.
Sugar mills must produce their own energy requirements because their energy consumption
is so large. Therefore, they do not take electricity from the city network. In the beet factory,
the energy requirements for processing 6000 tons of beet per day are met by 940 tons of coal
and 15 tons of fuel oil. As a result of these energy uses, severe environmental problems related
to stack gas emissions such as NOx, SOx, and CO, particles and waste disposal occur. As
calculated in the Appendix, the ®nal economic comparison of producing sugar from two
di€erent sources, cane and beet, is shown in Table 1. As the table shows, cane sugar could be

Table 1
Economic comparison of sugar and beet total expenses

Material Process expenses ($/kg) Common expenses ($/kg) Total expenses ($/kg)

Beet 0.295014 0.1624 0.457414

Cane 0.201836 0.1624 0.364236
8 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

0.093178 $/kg cheaper, or the producer could have more pro®t, than beet sugar with additional
bene®ts of either eliminating or signi®cantly reducing health concerns and fossil fuel
consumption. Also, the power plant emissions, including oxides of sulphur which cause acid
rain and pollution, are decreased.

5. Future expectation for Turkey

It is seen that producing sugar from cane is cheaper and cleaner than from beet, comparing
the Adapazari Sugar Beet Factory in Turkey with the Shakarganj Sugar Cane Factory in
Pakistan, from the standpoint of operation and processing. In spite of the advantages, there is
no cane mill in Turkey. According to report in 1952 Dr Leonard P. Herbert, cane agriculture
is available, especially in the Adana±Cukurova region in Turkey. In fact, sugar cane is an ideal
crop of tropical countries, needing plenty of sunshine and rain for its profuse growth [3].
Cane is an ideal crop for GAP (Southeast Anotolia Project) regions in Turkey which have
irrigable area and high annual average temperature. The GAP project has included a dam,
which is the fourth largest in the world, and very long irrigation tunnels. After completion of
this project, a large irrigable area will be occurred. Furthermore, cane agriculture is essential
for Turkey and its people who live that area.

6. Conclusions

The most remarkable point of sugar is to be potential energy source. Having crushed the
cane, the juice is sent to produce sugar. The part which is left is sent to a boiler house as a
boiler fuel. This part is called bagasse. Experimentally, 255 kg bagasse is obtained from 1 ton
of cane.
The produced bagasse satis®es all the energy requirements of the mill with some left over. In
the Shakarganj mill, in which the research was done, 1045 tons of bagasses used per day as
fuel in the boiler from crushing 5000 tons of cane per day. From this amount of cane, 1275
tons of bagasse are produced per day, leaving 230 tons available for other uses. While this
research was done at the Shakarganj mill, an agreement was made with the government to sell
1 MW electricity in 1993 and 5 MW of electricity in 1994 by using the excess bagasse in the o€
season.
After the combustion process of the bagasse in the boiler, there remains about 3.4% ash.
These ashes are combined with molasses and sent to a fermentation pond. When the
fermentation process is completed, the product is a very valuable fertilizer, called bio-compost,
for cane agriculture. Bio-compost chemical analysis indicates that it is a rich source of organic
matter and micronutrients.

Appendix A

A comparison of the processing of sugar cane with that of beets is shown in Tables A1±A7
based on similar scale factories which are the Adapazari Sugar Beet Factory in Turkey and the
Shakarganj Sugar Cane Factory in Pakistan [3±5].
 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11 9

Table A1
Operation features of Adapazari Sugar Beet Factory in Turkey

Operation Value (ton/day)

Processing of beet 6000

Produced sugar 644
Produced molasses 300
By-product 4560

Table A2
Unit price and cost

Material Price ($/kg) Cost per kg sugar ($/kg)

Beet 0.035 0.326087

Fuel oil 0.1930 0.004493
Coal 0.0263 0.038388
Expenses per kg of sugar 0.368968

Table A3
Waste product income

Material Price ($/kg) Income per kg of sugar ($/kg)

Sold molasses 0.07880 0.036708

Sold by-product 0.00525 0.037174
Waste-product income for kg of sugar 0.073954

Table A4
Operation features of Shakarganj Sugar Cane Factory in Pakistan

Operation Value (ton/day)

Crushing of cane 5000

Produced sugar 400
Produced molasses 160
Produced bagasse 1275

Table A5
Unit price and cost

Material Price ($/kg) Cost per kg of sugar ($/kg)

Cane 0.021 0.2625

Fuel oil 0.193 0.011098
Expenses per kg of sugar 0.273598
10 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11

Table A6
Waste product income

Material Price ($/kg) Income per kg of sugar ($/kg)

Sold molasses 0.07878 0.031512

Sold bagasse 0.07000 0.04025
Waste-product income per kg of sugar 0.071762

Table A7
Final product cost

Material Process expenses ($/kg) Common expenses ($/kg) Total expenses ($/kg)

Beet 0.295014 0.1624 0.457414

Cane 0.201836 0.1624 0.364236

A.1. Adapazari sugar beet factory

A.2. Amount of energy consumed

The sugar beet factory works 22 h in a day and 100 days in a production season. It
consumes about 94,000 tons of coal having 14,630 kJ/kg LHV and 1500 tons fuel oil having
38,456 kJ/kg LHV. The amount of energy consumed in a day is 14.32904  109 kJ.

Process expenses per kg of sugar: 0.368968ÿ 0.073954 = 0.295014 $/kg.

A.3. Shakarganj sugar cane factory

In the sugar cane factory, 1045 tons of bagasse having 8816 kJ/kg LHV and 25 tons of fuel oil are
consumed in a day. The amount of energy consumed is about 10.17412  109 kJ in a day.

Process expenses per kg of sugar: 0.273598ÿ 0.71762 = 0.201836 $/kg.

A.4. Common expenses of cane and beet manufacturing

1. Operation, maintenance 0.0042 $/kg

2. Personnel 0.0290 $/kg
3. Labour 0.0967 $/kg
4. Research 0.0037 $/kg
5. Marketing 0.0078 $/kg
6. Other 0.0210 $/kg
TOTAL 0.1624 $/kg
 I. Kilicaslan et al. / Energy Conversion & Management 40 (1999) 1±11 11

Sold sugar from factory: 0.5820 $/kg; bene®t from beet sugar: 0.124586 $/kg; bene®t from
cane sugar: 0.217764 $/kg.
If we compare cane with beet sugar, cane sugar is 0.093178 $/kg cheaper than beet sugar or
the producer could have more pro®t from sugar cane.

References

[1] BITS-Swedish Agency, Energy Conservation in Sugar Plant, International Training Programme, 1989.
[2] The National Energy Conservation Center, in Proceedings of the International Energy Conservation
Symposium, Islamabad, Pakistan, 1987.
[3] Kilicaslan, I. Energy Conservation in Sugar Mills. Master Thesis. Yildiz Technical Universitym, 1993.
[4] Akhtar M.J. Energy Calculation and Conservation in Sugar Mills, Department of Management Engineering,
Lahore, Pakistan, 1990.
[5] Thumann A. Plant Engineers and Managers Guide to Energy Conservation, The Fairmont Press Inc., 1989.