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| Alternative/Technological improvement | Description | Advantage |
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| Furnace operation in combined flow | Fusion between the operation in counter-current and parallel flow: juice clarification near the chimney, evaporation above the combustion chamber, and final concentration of the product in the center of the furnace. | (i) Increase of energy efficiency: Use of high amounts of heat for the evaporation of the water present in the juice (phase change) |
| (ii) Preservation of panela quality: The final product is protected from burning by the action of the maximum heat transfer in the concentration zone |
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| Use of improved combustion chambers: WARD-type chamber (CWC), developed by CIMPA (Colombia) | Combustion chamber with a drying ramp for wet bagasse. It has and independent entrance section, both for primary and secondary combustion air. | (i) Reaction volume, three times higher than a traditional chamber |
| (ii) Allows wet bagasse and works with better excess air |
| (iii) Facilitates the air circulation and prevents the formation of high amounts of CO |
| (iv) Range of temperatures up to 1200°C |
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| Implementation of more efficient pans (heat exchangers) | Mainly, there are three significant improvements to traditional pans: adjusted semicylindrical, finned exchanger, and pyrotubular. | (i) Increase in the overall heat transfer coefficient and in the area/volume ratio |
| (ii) Improves the heat exchange between the combustion gases and the juice, achieving greater energy and exergy efficiencies |
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| Chimney draft control | Utilization of blowers and valves, to ensure the suction of the necessary air to achieve complete combustion. Speed control of the combustion gases, in order to favor convective and radiant heat transfer. | (i) Complete combustion. Reduction in the appearance of gaseous species such as CO and NOx |
| (ii) Generation of desired temperatures (minimum of 500°C). |
| (iii) Improvement of the energy, exergy and productive efficiency of the process |
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| Energy integration | Use of the chimney gases exergy for some operation in the process. For example, the bagasse drying, the preheating of water or juice, among others, can be considered. | (i) Increase in the amount of energy used within the process |
| (ii) Presence of better energy, exergy and productive indices. |
| (iii) Operational costs reduction |
| (iv) Possibility of achieving fuel self-sufficiency in the traditional furnace |
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| Use of steam in industrial operations | Replacement of the combustion chamber by a boiler that generates steam. This fluid is used as energy source in the heat exchangers. | (i) Improvement in the heat transfer rate to the juice, as the steam is a cleaner fluid |
| (ii) Possibility of using natural gas as fuel in the boiler, making the process more convenient from the environmental point of view |
| (iii) Greater control and automation potential |
| (iv) Increase in the scale of production, also allowing the reduction of associated costs |
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