Mineral Scale Formed During the Evaporation in Biorefineries — Characterization Using X-ray Fluorescence and Exploratory Analysis

Abstract

The biorefineries’ attention is needed to the mineral scale formed during evaporation. This study applies energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence (EDXRF) to analyze three sets of samples from sugarcane and corn factories as a fast, reliable, and non-destructive analytical technique. For instance, observing the chemical composition allows the factory to identify what type of anti-scaling or chemical reagents can remove these incrustations. Also, a principal component analysis (PCA) showed chemical composition differences between sugarcane (two sets of five samples each) and corn-derived (one set of ten samples) scales through the following chemical elements: K, Fe, P, S, Sr, and Zn. Therefore, implementing new analytical approaches to the industry is needed, which can benefit the biorefineries for mineral scale formed during the evaporation process, decreasing shutdowns for cleaning, which can be costly. Graphical abstract: [Figure not available: see fulltext.].