Abstract
Several environmental impacts are associated with the intensive use of energy from non-renewable sources, such as fossil fuels. To reduce this dependence, the global demand for renewable alternatives has been increasing. In this context, the Brazilian energy matrix stands out for being predominantly composed of clean sources, a result of favourable climatic and edaphic conditions. Brazil is the world’s largest producer of sugarcane, which makes the biomass from this crop a particularly promising alternative for energy generation. Among its residues, sugarcane bagasse has high energetic potential, as it can be converted into valuable products such as biofuels. The pyrolysis of this residue generates biofuels with lower environmental impact compared to fossil resources, producing three main fractions: biochar, bio-oil (acid extract and bio-oil), and gas. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the yield of these products from the pyrolysis of sugarcane bagasse, varying the processing time and applied temperature. It was observed that the lowest temperature (400 °C) favoured the formation of solids (biochar), while the intermediate temperature (500 °C) resulted in the highest liquid production. The highest temperature (600 °C), in turn, provided the greatest gas yield. The highest higher heating value (HHV) of the biochar, 31.0 MJ/kg, was obtained at 600 °C. For the bio-oil, the highest HHV, 25.2 MJ/kg, occurred at the intermediate temperature of 500 °C.
