Process to increase the effectiveness of bagasse as a source of energy

A process for increasing the effectiveness of bagasse as a source of energy in combination with a sugar mill operation in which bagasse from the mill is used as boiler fuel for the sugar mill operation, comprising:

• subjecting a stream of wet bagasse from the mill to a primary drying operation in which said bagasse is contacted with a stream of flue gases from the sugar mill boiler or boilers to reduce the moisture content of the bagasse to about 25 to 40%, size separating the resulting bagasse into a primary stream of particles which are oversize for densification and a secondary stream of finer particles which contains components of a size suitable for densification, conveying the stream of oversize particles to the sugar mill boiler or boilers for fuel or to a bagasse fuel storage house, subjecting the secondary stream of bagasse particles to further drying in a secondary drying operation in which the bagasse particles are contacted with boiler flue gases to reduce their moisture content to about 8 to 14%, and densifying the resulting dried bagasse from the secondary dryer into compacted shapes suitable for boiler firing.

A process for increasing the effectiveness of bagasse as a source of energy in combination with a sugar mill operation in which bagasse from the mill is used as a boiler fuel for the sugar mill operation, comprising:

• subjecting a stream of wet bagasse containing coarse and fine particles from the sugar mill to a drying operation in which said bagasse is contacted with a stream of hot flue gases from the boiler and drying said fine particles to a moisture content of about 8-14%, separating the dried fine particles from the coarse particles and densifying said fine particles at a moisture content of about 8-14% into compacted shapes for use as fuel.