Use of a Vibrofluidizing Bed for Drying Orange Bagasse

The vibrofluidized bed is a promising technology for drying irregular materials and high humidity, which in another type of technology would be complex due to the clogging produced. Brazil is the largest orange producer in the world, part of the production is directed to the production of industrialized juice that generates orange bagasse as waste. The objective of this work was to evaluate the influence of the pretreatment with virgin and hydrated CaO in the mechanical dehydration stage and in the thermal drying in the vibrofluidized bed. In the mechanical dehydration stage, a moisture reduction of 1 to 0.6 (dimensionless) was obtained with the treatment with CaO. No significant variations in the type of CaO used in this step were identified, however, the increase in virgin CaO content caused an increase in flux. Finally, the kinetics of drying in a vibrofluidized bed with amplitude and vibration frequency of 0.015m and 6.16 Hz (Γ = 2.29), respectively, at 70 and 80ºC, where the humidity was reduced to approximately 0.1, was analyzed. The drying kinetics compared the influence of the CaO pretreatment under different conditions and, in general, the use of CaO improved the drying process. Due to the characterization of some other dry products, there is a high HHV, in addition to containing a high volatile matter. The latter allow good combustion conditions, obtaining renewable energy and valorizing waste.