DefinePK

Abstract

Wastes from the sugarcane industry impact water steams and aquatic life. This is especially worrying for sugarcane companies using backward technology and un-integrated processes, which lead to large losses in both materials and water. In this context, Material Flow Analysis (MFA) can help to reduce waste and improve material resource management. Rather than adding end of pipe pollution control technology, changing to cleaner production processes lead to more sustainable solutions improving both the economy and the environment. To this end, the material flows of Hoa Binh sugarcane company (Hoasuco), 1250 ton of cane per day, were analyzed. Results show that the sugar loss was 17.1%; of which the loss in solid flows from extraction, filtration and crystallization accounted for 10.62%; and the remaining 6.48% is lost in steam release from evaporation and crystallization. Clarification is the most inefficient step, with sugar losses approximately 8.87 times greater than the benchmark. Analysis of water flows found high inefficiencies compared other plants cited in the literature. Based on the findings, proposed options for cleaner production were: pipe system replacement, improvement in the efficiency of wastewater treatment plant to increase the partition of water reuse flow and installation of online monitoring equipment for wastewater. Bagasse, which accounted for 80% of total solid waste, was utilized effectively for the boiler. Solutions are needed for other solid waste flows such as ash, filter muds and molasses from production process and sludge from wastewater treatment system.