MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF SOLAR CONCENTRATORS FOR DRYING SUGARCANE BAGASSE USING FEM

Resumo

To reduce the impacts of Brazilian agro-industry residues, sugarcane bagasse can be widely used as
biomass, however, due to its high moisture content, this biomass has low efficiency for energy production. The
conversion of sunlight into thermal energy through Concentrated Solar Energy (ESC), would bring the possibility
of achieving good results in terms of sugarcane bagasse efficiency through drying, roasting and charcoal, this work
was divided into two parts, initially Solar concentrators were built in different areas, 1 m2 and 2.5 m2, where
temperature measurements were carried out and the effect of high temperatures analyzed in batch and rotating
reactors. Subsequently, the modeling and reliability analysis of the reactors in the solar concentrators will be
carried out through the finite element methods (FEM), using the ABAQUS software, determining the stresses and
thermal fatigue resulting from the heat transfer, identifying the failure criteria, determining the more effective
parameters to be assigned as random variables such as temperature gradients. Making it possible to identify
solutions that can reduce thermal stresses and, if necessary, change the reactor materials.