The sugarcane stalk is comprised of the billet (cane), growing point region tops, leaves, soil and roots (extraneous material).  Once the cane is processed in the mill and sugar is extracted from the cane, all of this left over fiber material is “bagasse”.

The extraneous material that comes in with the billets has a negative impact on mill operations and sugar yield.  Conventional practice of burning the stalks in the field to remove extraneous material and bring in “clean cane” to the mill has been restricted due to air pollution, nuisance and safety concerns.  Removing extraneous biomass material before it enters the mill  greatly increases efficiency. 

AB’s biomass separation technology separates the extraneous material from the cane and is directly integrated into the front end of the mill process.  This is a first of a kind system in the US and the first instance of integration with a sugar mill.

AB’s system increases the mill’s throughput and sugar yield and decreases maintenance and biomass management costs. In exchange for operating the front-end separation, the bagasse is provided at NO COST to AB’s biocarbon process, enabling very competitive product pricing with significant margins relative to other biomass feedstocks such as wood.