Estudo do potencial de geração de bioeletricidade a partir de biogás proveniente de biodigestão de vinhaça no estado de Minas Gerais

Abstract

The production of energy through sugar cane occurs during the process of development of the plant in two different ways, which are the production of sucrose contained in the juice extracted from the stem and the production of cellulose concentrated in the leaves, straws and remaining bagasse from the milling of the stem. Sucrose, in turn, can be transformed into two distinct products that are sugar and ethanol, depending on the route chosen to process the juice extracted from the plant after harvesting and industrial processing of sugarcane. When the extracted juice is heated, the excess water evaporates, thus producing the crystallized sugar. However, if the broth is fermented, it will be transformed into ethanol. During the ethanol production an important residue is generated after distillation, called vinasse. Vinasse can be biodigested, generating a biogas with a high content of methane (CH4) that can be used for the generation of bioelectricity Minas Gerais is one of the main producers of sugarcane in Brazil, being the third producer of sugarcane and ethanol and the second of sugar (SIAMIG, 2018). Thus, the objective of this study was to evaluate and calculate the theoretical potential of the generation of electricity through biogas from the biodigestion of residual vinasse from ethanol distillation in the sugarcane industry of the plants licensed by the state of Minas Gerais. Among the main results obtained, it can be concluded that the State possesses an important potential to produce electric energy from the vinasse biogas. The amount of additional electricity that could be generated from vinasse biogas, taking as a basis for the simulation the volume of ethanol produced in the State in the 2015/16 crop, would represent an increase of 17% to 24% in bioelectricity generation in the sector.