Analysis of technological alternatives for xylitol production from sugarcane bagasse

Abstract

In this study, the process of obtaining xylitol from sugarcane bagasse was simulated, and the plant capacity was defined for 10,000 kg/batch of sugarcane bagasse, with 40% moisture content. A comprehensive literature review was conducted to examine the technologies employed in the production of xylitol. Two technological variants were analyzed: the influence of bagasse moisture content and initial biomass content in the fermentation using SuperPro Designer V 12.0 software, which facilitated economic and environmental reporting. It is concluded that bagasse moisture content influences the amount of xylose obtained in hydrolysis, with better results obtained at 30% moisture. Fermentation with a biomass feed of 38 kg/cycle, delivers the best performance, reaching a maximum productivity of 4.95 g/L.h in 72 h, and yielding of 37.25 mg of xylitol per 100 g of bagasse. The process does not significantly affect the environment, since the sulfuric acid used in hydrolysis is in very low percentages and can be recovered for cleaning. The process is economically feasible, with a payback period of less than three years.