Eventos Anais de eventos
COBEM 2023
27th International Congress of Mechanical Engineering
Calibration of a low-cost digital hygrometer for measuring moisture in sugarcane bagasse
Submission Author:
Gabriel Leal , MG
Co-Authors:
Gabriel Leal, Julia Maria Leal , Angélica Gomes, Ricardo Carpio, Reginaldo Gonçalves Leão Junior
Presenter: Julia Maria Leal
doi://10.26678/ABCM.COBEM2023.COB2023-0533
Abstract
The global efforts to reduce the demand for fossil fuels and the decarbonization of gaseous effluents in the most diverse production processes have increased the participation of alternative energy sources in the world energy matrix. Due to its emissivity profile and significant energy potential, biomass has been gaining space among these alternative sources. Previously used mainly for combustion, biomass has a high yield for the production of synthesis gas and bio-oil when thermally decomposed through gasification and pyrolysis. However, it is almost always accompanied by a high moisture content, which reduces the efficiency of the different thermal conversion processes employed. In gasification, the presence of high levels of moisture reduces the temperature of the bed, resulting in a greater need for energy input and residence time. The study performed here used sugarcane bagasse to validate a low cost methodology for the determination of the moisture content of these materials using an OS49 type hygrometer. The sugarcane bagasse used in the study came from a cachaça production mill located in the municipality of Córrego Fundo, Minas Gerais, Brazil. The sample was collected soon after milling, stored in a plastic container, wrapped in plastic film and stored in a freezer at temperatures ranging between -3°C and 3°C. After three days the sample was taken to the Physics and Chemistry Laboratory of the Federal Institute of Minas Gerais - Arcos Campus, where it remained at room temperature until the moment of processing. The sugar cane bagasse went through a milling process that allowed the screening of the sample that had an initial mass of 225.79g (0.005g).Four sieves with meshes of 16mm, 8mm, 4.75mm and 2mm were used, resulting in samples with five different granulometries, being the fifth granulometry smaller than two millimeters. The samples were dried in an oven with temperatures of 45°C, 60°C, and 70°C, being weighed every 30 minutes to verify the loss of humidity; each test was finished after the stabilization of the samples' mass. Then the tests were performed to configure the program that will read the data collected by the hygrometer sensor, for this a 400 ml beaker and a 3ml pipette were used, the process happened with the addition of 3ml of water every two minutes in the beaker filled with sugarcane bagasse samples previously dried. The collected data will be part of the Arduino's database to calibrate the sensor and allow the display of the humidity
Keywords
Biomass, Humidity, Sugarcane bagasse, digital hygrometer
