GB2118223A

GB2118223A - Pulp manufacture

Info

Publication number: GB2118223A
Application number: GB08208462A
Authority: GB
Inventors: Mahindra Kumar Makhija
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 1982-03-23
Filing date: 1982-03-23
Publication date: 1983-10-26

Abstract

In the manufacture of pulp from bagasse, the pulp is manufactured within a distance of 150 km. from the sugar mills, from which the bagasse is derived.

Description

SPECIFICATION Improvements in or relating to the manufacture of pulp of various grades from the bagasse for the production of paper, rayon and the like products The invention relates to the manufacture of various grades of pulp from the bagasse for the production of paper, rayon and the like products.

The present method of manufacturing pulp from bagasse, on commercial and economical scale, involves the conversion of boilers in the sugar-mills located in the vicinity of the pulpmill or the integrated pulp and paper plant.

These boilers in the sugar-mills are converted from bagasse-fired to coal, oil, gas or the like fuel fired so as to substitute bagasse in the sugar-mills. Therefore, this method of manufacturing pulp of various grades from the bagasse not oniy involves extra expenditure incurred in the conversion of boilers but also has a setback of consuming costlier fuels such as oil, coal, gas or the like fuel. Besides, pulp or the like products could not be produced at all where an alternate fuel to substitute bagasse could not, for several reasons, be made available. Hence this method has been restraining and discouraging the liberal use of bagasse to be utilized as principle basic-rawmaterial for the purpose of pulp and paper industry, despite several standard processes evolved in the near past to make quality paper from the bagasse.

The main object of this invention is to manufacture pulp of various grades from the bagasse, wheat straw, rice straw, rags or any other suitable basic-raw-material, using bagasse as principle basic-raw-material or in substantial quantity, without consuming the perishable and valuable coal deposits, fuel oil, or the gas which are already in short supply and even if used result in rather high cost of the pulp.

Another object of this invention is to establish techno-economic feasibility of a complex comprising of several units of sugar-mills, integrated sugar-cum-pulp mills, paper/rayon plant(s) and distillery, A further object of this invention is to encourage the production of ethyl alcohol at a comparatively low cost and in abundance so as to make it economically feasible, besides other uses, a suitable automotive fuel, after blending it with gasoline or otherwise, in the light of ever increasing cost of the gasoline and the rapidly diminishing petroleum deposits.

A still further object of this invention is to conserve the forests which, at present, are the prime source of the basic-raw-material for the manufacfure of various grades of pulp for different end uses, by utilizing bagasse as principle basic-raw-material in the expansion of this industry to meet the growing demand of the paper products.

The method according to the present invention involves the use of bagasse, as principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity, that can be spared by the sugar-mills locaed in the close vicinity, ranging up to 1 50 km.; or even more under more favourable conditions; radius of the pulp-mill or the integrated pulp and paper/rayon plant. The method eliminates the need for the conversion of boilers in the sugar-mills and the requirements for an alternate fuel such as coal, oil, or the gas to substitute or supplement the bagasse hence removing the technical and economical restraints currently being faced by the pulp industry to utilize bagasse as a principle basic-raw-material.

The following is the detailed description of the improved method for the manufacture of various grades of pulp from the bagasse for the production of paper, rayon and the like products.

The method according to the present invention of the manufacture of pulp of various grades from the bagasse is characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of the pulp is over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills, located within a distance of 1 50 km. radius which may exceed in more favourable conditions of the pulp-mill.

The bagasse, therefore, constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers in the sugar-mills and or substituting bagasse with any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas or the like fuel. The pulp-mill may form an integrated part of the sugar-mill and the pulp transported to remotely located paper plant (paper plant cum sugar-mill cum distillery). Alternatively, the bagasse, either raw or screened and depithed, bailed or loose, may be transported from the sugar-mills to an integrated pulp and paper plant. The former method being more suitable for the large sugar-mills and the latter preferred for rather smaller sized sugar-mills, while in both the cases the use of bagasse, over and above the fuel requirements, is being made for pulping.

Under normal conditions a sugar-mill spares 20-40 percent of the bagasse after having met all its fuel requirements, every-day, during the entire crushing season. This amount of bagasse saved, over and above fuel requirements, may exceed 40 percent provided suitable boilers and turbines are installed in the sugar-mills and effectively used and or sufficient electric power is made available from external source at reasonably low cost. The savings in the bagasse may increase with the use of stubbles, cane tops, rejected sugarcane and the leaves being used as boiler fuel alongwith rejected bagasse, pith, straw, husk, and other plant material.The amount of bagasse that a sugar-mill can make available further depends upon the ability of the sugarmills to extract juice from the sugar-cane, the quality of sugar-cane, the process used, the boiler house efficiency and a few other similar factors. Therefore, in case of cantrally located integrated pulp and paper plant, the permissible distances are correlated to the sizes of the sugar-mills, the screening operations being carried out at the sugar-mills sites or at the integrated pulp and paper plant site, the quantity of the bagasse that can be spared by these sugar-mills as well as the mode of transportation of bagasse; whereas in the case of sugar-cum-pulp mill the distances between the paper plant to that of sugar-cum-pulp mills the distances between the paper plant to that of the sugar-cum-pulp mills may exceed far more.

The rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening; dry, wet, or the moist depithing; either at the sugar-mills sites or at the integrated pulp and paper plant site, alongwith the partially destroyed bagasse in the storage and other plant material, is utilized to meet the fuel requirements of the boilers installed in the sugar-cum-pulp mills and the paper plant (paper plant cum sugar mill cum distillery) thus eliminating the need of coal, oil, or the like fuel to meet the steam and power requirements though the same may be used as supplementary fuel in limited quantity or to meet the contingency.The quality bagasse suitable for pulping is pulped either in batch digestors, continuous digester, or in a multiple digester (a digester to manufacture two types of pulp from the bagasse cooked to different degrees or two different raw-materials such as bagasse and wheat straw or similar combinations at the same time). The pulp thus manufatured in sugar-cum-pulp mills may be transported to the paper plant bu means of pipelines or washed, dried and then transported by road transport.

The rejected, or otherwise, bagasse, over and above the fuel requirements, can be utilized in the manufacture of furfural, resin, building material or as a cattle feed.

The molasses, a by-product, from the sugarmills is transported to a centrally located distillery where fermentation and distillation is carried-out to obtain ethyl alcohol and other similar products, thus facilitating a complex of sugar and pulp mills, paper/rayon plant and distillery.

The crushing season of the sugar-mills nor mally vary from 6 to 9 months, which does exceed in certain favourable climatic conditions, depending upon the availability of the sustained supply of the quality sugar-cane.

Therefore, either large amount of large amount of bagasse is stored to maintain the sustained supply of the basic-raw-material dur ing the off-season of the sugar-mills or another suitable raw-material, either exclusively or alongwith bagasse, may be used for manufacturing sufficient amount of pulp. The fuel requirements, during this off-season of the sugar-mills, are again metted-out with the rejected plant material. Whereas, the same lands adjoining the sugar-mills are used for planting and harvesting sugar-cane as well as wheat straw or similar other crop.

The chief advantages of the improved method described above are: 1. The restraints discouraging the liberal use of bagasse as principle basic-raw-material or in substantial quantity for the manufacture of various grades of pulp are removed.

2. The cost of pulp consequently the products such as paper, rayon and the like products produced thereafter gets much reduced since the bagasse used in the manufacture of pulp has no use value for the sugar-mills and can be purchased at a nominal cost. Further, the cost of such bagasse remains almost independent to that of the sugar-cane, sugar, coal or any other fuel and therefore the cost once assigned always remains constant.

3. The cost of sugar as a consequence gets reduced as the sugar-mills earn extra money by way of selling the bagasse which otherwise has no use-value.

4. The ethyl alcohol is manufactured at a comparatively low cost and in sufficient quantity so as to make it worth to be blended with gasoline, and or otherwise used as automotive fuel. The ethyl alcohol may be further processed to obtain absolute alcohol, glycerin and other similar products.

5. The coal, gas, oil, or the like alternate fuel, which may not be available at all in certain cases, or might have been consumed in the process of sparing the bagasse in the sugar-mills is conserved, whereas the elimination of the requirements of any other fuel to meet the internal energy needs of the pulpmills, paper plant, and the distillery, which are being fulfilled by the use of rejected plant material, further reduces the overall manufacturing cost of the pulp.

6. The bagasse, over and above fuel requirements, of the sugar-mills can be used for the manufacture of furfural.

7. The burden on the railroad or other modes of transportation of coal, gas, oil or the like fuel required to substitute the bagasse in the sugar-mills is completely eliminated.

8. The method creates opportunity for the currently stagnated industries such as paper, sugar, and alcohol to expand.

9. The method also creates opportunity for the expansion of the caustic-soda cum chlo rine plants, pulp and paper machinery manu facturing units, and other ancilliary industries.

10. The method creates opportunity for the expansion of the sugar-cane plantations to expand over thousands of hectares.

11. The forests which otherwise have to be exploited to be utilized in the expansion of the pulp industry to meet the growing demand of the paper and paper products get conserved.

The following examples illustrate the improved method for the manufacture of pulp for the production of paper at much reduced cost. The invention is illustrated but not limited by the examples.

EXAMPLE-I The proposed paper plant, as illustrated in Fig. 1, with an annual capacity of 15,000 tonnes of paper, was to come-up near Karnal town, in the district of Karnal, Haryana State in India, at a distance of about 5 km. from the existing Karnal Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., Karnal. In this particular case the bagasse was proposed to be used as principle basic-rawmaterial alongwith some quantity of wheat straw so as to manufacture varieties of paper.

The use of wheat straw was proposed to be made to overcome the long periods of the storage of large amounts of bagasse in order to maintain the sustained supply of the basicraw-material during the off-season of the sugar-mills.

The plant was initially planned to be of 15,000 tonnes per annum capacity and was to procure the principle basic-raw-material i.e.

bagasse, over and above fuel requirements, from the sugar-mills located in the vicinity of this plant. The following sugar-mills were to supply, raw but bailed, bagasse and the screening as well as depithing operations were to be carried-out at the proposed paper plant site: 1. Karnal Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., Karnal; 2. Panipat Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., Panipat; 3. Haryana Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., Rohtak.

Approximately 500 tonnes of bagasse was to be procured every-day, during the entire crushing season, from the above mentioned sugar-mills and other pettey sources. These sugar-mills normally crush cane for a period of about six months in a season, and the season commences from mid-October and ends sometimes in mid-April, as the government regulations require that the sugar-mills operate till there is continuous flow of sufficient quantity of the quality sugar-cane from the individual farmers owning small farms.

The bailed bagasse was proposed to be transported by means of road transport and a fixed price of Indian Rupees 12.50 (Rupees Twelve and Paisa Fifty Only) per tonne of bagasse, raw but bailed, was taken into account while calculating the manufacturing cost of the paper. This amount excludes the operational and maintenance expenses of the bailing station, loading charges, royalty etc.

while calculating the economics of the plant and making other estimates.

The manufacturing cost of the paper workout to Indian Rupees 3.50 (Rupees Three and Paisa Fifty Only) per kilogram of the finished paper which included prevailing costs of all the raw-materials, labour, administrative expenses, interests on the long-term borrowings and the working capital, depreciation of the plant and machinery and the buildings and other overhead expenses. This cost is just about half of the cost of the paper being imported into this country from the developed countries.

A Letter of Intent No. LI 342(78) dated 27.11.1978 in lieu of an Industrial Licence was issued by the Ministry of Industry, Government of India for the establishment of this paper plant in the District of Karnal, Haryana State in India, to manufacture 15,000 tonnes of various grades of paper annually.

An incease in the capacity from 15,000 to 30,000 per annum was envisaged and it was proposed to procure more, raw but bailed, bagasse from other sources in the vicinity of the proposed paper plant, a recently commissioned Sonepat Co-operative Sugar Mills Ltd., Sonepat and a large sized sugar-mill namely Saraswati Sugar Mills, Yamunanagar. The distances from the proposed paper plant (integrated pulp and paper plant) to that of the sugar-mills, in this case, vary from 5 to 1 50 km. and the cost of the finished paper worked-out to approximately Indian Rupees 3.35 (Rupees Three and Paisa Twenty Five Only) per kilogram with the increase in this capacity taking into account the prevailing conditions in this country.

EXAMPLE-II A typical example of seven sugar-mills each of 2500 tonnes of crushing capacity is now given in some details. Unit Nos 1 to 6 are integrated sugar-cum-pulp mills whereas unit No. 7 comprises of a sugar-mill of 2500 tonnes crushing capacity, a paper plant of 300-500 tonnes per day capacity, and a distillery of 100-150 tonnes per day capacity.

In the case of Unit Nos. 1 to 6, the screening and depithing operations of the bagasse are carried-out at the sugar-cum-pulp mills sites thus enabling the pith obtained from dry, wet, or moist depithing of the bagasse alongwith the rejected bagasse to meet the excessive need of the boilers to generate more steam needed for cooking the bagasse in the digester. The entire bagasse available in the sugar-mills undergoes screening and depithing operations so as to obtain maximum quantity and quality bagasse for pulping. The off-season supply of the basicraw-material is metted-out by the wheat straw supplemented by the bagasse and the fuel requirements for the common boilers of the sugar-cum-pulp mills are fulfilled by the rejected plant material.

The pulp amounting to 60-100 tonnes per day from these unit Nos. 1 to 6 either manufactured in a continuous digester, a multiple digester, oi from the batch disgesters is washed, dried and transported to the centrally located unit No. 7 for the productions of varieties of paper. The entire bagasse available in this unit No. 7 may be required to be consumed as fuel in this unit and hence no provision for the pulp mill is feasible.

Similarly molasses from the sugar mills is collected and processed in this unit No. 7 to obtain 100-150 tonnes of ethyl alcohol.

The distinguished difference between the two above mentioned examples being that the first method imposes certain restrictions upon the relative distances of the integrated pulp and paper plant to the sugar-mills as huge amounts of bagasse has to be transported from these sugar-mills to the integrated pulp and paper plant, whereas in the second example these distances become rather more flexible as only the pulp has to be transported to a centrally located paper plant.

In both the examples quoted above the use of bagasse, over and above the fuel requirements, is being made for pulping and the rejected bagasse alongwith the pith utilized to meet the fuel requirments thereby removing the techno-economic restraints currently being faced for the liberal use of bagasse in the manufacture pulp.

CLAIMS 1. A method for the manufacture of pulp of various grades from the bagasse characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of pulp is over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills, located within a distance of 1 50 km radius, which exceeds in more favourable conditions, of the pulp mill.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bagasse constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers from bagasse-fired to any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas or the like to substitute bagasse.

3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein pulp-mill forms an integrated part of the sugar-mill and the pulp transported to a remotely located paper plant.

4. A method as claimed in claims 1-2 wherein the bagasse, over and above the fuel requirments of the sugar-mills, either raw or screened and depithed, bailed or loose, is transported from the sugar-mills to an integrated pulp and paper plant site.

5. A method as claimed in claims 1-2 wherein under normal condition a sugar-mill spares 20-40 percent of the total bagasse after having met all its fuel requirements, whch may exceed 40 percent provided suitable boilers and turbines are installed in the sugar-mills and effectively used and or sufficient electric power is made available from the external source.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the savings in the bagasse exceeds 40 percent of the total bagasse with the use of stubbles, cane-tops, leaves, rejected sugarcane and or a supplementary fuel of high calorific value in limited quantity as boiler fuel.

7. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the integrated pulp and paper plant and the sugar-mills are correlated to the sizes of the sugar-mills and further depending upon the quantity and quality of bagasse that can be spared by these sugar-mills and the mode of transportation.

8. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening; dry, wet, or the moist depithing either at the sugar-mills sites or at the integrated pulp and paper plant site alongwith the rejected plant material is used as boiler fuel thus eliminating the need for coal, oil, gas or the like fuel to meet the internal steam and power requirements; though the same may be used to meet the contingency.

9. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening; dry, wet or moist depithing at the sugarcum-pulp mills alongwith other rejected plant material is used as boiler fuel to meet the internal requirements of steam and power thus eliminating the need for coal, oil, or the like fuel which may be used to meet the contingency.

10. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the sugar-cum-pulp mills and the paper plant exceeds to a far more distance.

11. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the pulp manufactured in the sugar-cum-pulp mills, either in batch digesters, continuous digester, or in a multiple digester is transported to the paper plant by means of pipelines or washed, dried and then transported.

1 2. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected or otherwise bagasse, over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-mills, is utilized for the manufacture of furfural, resin, and the building material.

1 3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the molasses, a byproduct, from the sugar-cum-pulp mills is transported to the centrally located distillery to obtain ethyl alcohol and other by-products.

14. A method as claimed in claims 1-2 wherein the bagasse and the wheat straw or other suitable basic-raw-material is used for the manufacture of pulp during the off-season, or otherwise, of the sugar-mills and the rejected plant material utilized to meet the fuel requirments.

15. A method as claimed in claims 1-14 wherein sugar-mills, paper/rayon plant, and distillery form a unit or complex.

1 6. A method which is substantially the same as described in the examples given above.

1 7. A method for the manufacture of various grades of pulp for the manufacture of paper, rayon, alcohol, and the like products substantially as described and claimed in the preceding claims.

18. Pulp, Paper, Rayon, Alcohol, Sugar, and the by-products manufactured according to the method substantially as described hereinabove and claimed in the claims.

CLAIMS (20 Jun 83) 1. A method for the manufacture of pulp of various grades from the bagasse characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of pulp is over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills, located within a distance of 1 50 km. radius, which exceeds in more favourable conditions, of the pulp-mill.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bagasse constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers from the bagasse fired to any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas; or their use otherwise, besides any other source of energy, to substitute the bagasse in the sugar-mills.

3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein pulp-mills form integrated part of the sugar-mills and the pulp transported to a remotely located paper plant/rayon plant(s).

4. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein an existing sugarmill/pulp mill is converted into a sugar-cumpulp mill.

5. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the pulp is manufactured from the bagasse characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of the pulp is over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-cum-pulp mills.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the bagasse constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers from the bagasse-fired to any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas; or their as well as the use of any other source of energy otherwise; to substitute the bagasse in the sugar-cum-pulp mills.

7. A method as claimed in claims 1 and 2 wherein the bagasse, over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills either raw or screened and depithed, bailed or loose, is transported from the sugar-mills to an integrated pulp and paper plant.

8. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein under normal circumstances/conditions a sugar-mill/sugarcum-pulp mill spares 20 to 40 percent of the total bagasse after having met all its fuel requirements, which may exceed 40% provided suitable boilers and turbines are installed in the sugar-mills/sugar-cum-pulp mills and effectively used; and or sufficient electric power is made available from the external source at a reasonably low cost or any other form of energy is utilized for the purpose.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the savings in the bagasse exceeds 40% of the total bagasse with the use of stubbles, cane-tops, leaves, rejected plant material or supplementary fuel of high calorific value is used in limited quantity, or with the use of black liquor, as boiler fuel.

10. A method as claimed in the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the integrated pulp and paper plant to that of the sugar-mills are correlated to the sizes of the sugar-mills; which further depend upon the quantity of the bagasse that can be spared by these sugar-mills and the mode of transportation.

11. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the sugar-cum-pulp mills and the paper/rayon plant(s) and other products manufacturing unit(s) exceed far more than 150 km.

1 2. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening; dry, wet, or the moist depithing; either at the sugar-mills sites or at the integrated pulp and paper plant site alongwith the rejected plant material; is used as boiler fuel thus eliminating the need for coal, oil, gas or the like fuel to meet the internal steam and power requirements; though the same or any other form of energy may be used to meet the contingency.

1 3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening of the bagasse; dry, wet, or the moist depithing; at the sugar-cum-pulp mills sites alongwith other rejected plant material, is used as boiler fuel to meet the internal requirements of steam and power thus eliminating the need for coal, slurry oil, gas or the like; though the same or any other form of energy may be used to meet the contingency.

14. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the bagasse, over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-mill cum paper plant cum ethyl alcohol plant, is used as boiler fuel to meet the internal requirements of steam and power thus eliminating the need for coal, slurry, oil, gas or the like fuel, though the same may be used to

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Claims

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rejected plant material utilized to meet the fuel requirments.

15. A method as claimed in claims 1-14 wherein sugar-mills, paper/rayon plant, and distillery form a unit or complex.

1 6. A method which is substantially the same as described in the examples given above.

1 7. A method for the manufacture of various grades of pulp for the manufacture of paper, rayon, alcohol, and the like products substantially as described and claimed in the preceding claims.

18. Pulp, Paper, Rayon, Alcohol, Sugar, and the by-products manufactured according to the method substantially as described hereinabove and claimed in the claims.

CLAIMS (20 Jun 83)

1. A method for the manufacture of pulp of various grades from the bagasse characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of pulp is over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills, located within a distance of 1 50 km. radius, which exceeds in more favourable conditions, of the pulp-mill.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 wherein the bagasse constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers from the bagasse fired to any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas; or their use otherwise, besides any other source of energy, to substitute the bagasse in the sugar-mills.

3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein pulp-mills form integrated part of the sugar-mills and the pulp transported to a remotely located paper plant/rayon plant(s).

4. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein an existing sugarmill/pulp mill is converted into a sugar-cumpulp mill.

5. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the pulp is manufactured from the bagasse characterized in that the bagasse used in the manufacture of the pulp is over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-cum-pulp mills.

6. A method as claimed in claim 5 wherein the bagasse constitutes the principle basic-raw-material or is used in substantial quantity in the manufacture of pulp without converting boilers from the bagasse-fired to any kind of alternate fuel such as coal, oil, gas; or their as well as the use of any other source of energy otherwise; to substitute the bagasse in the sugar-cum-pulp mills.

7. A method as claimed in claims 1 and 2 wherein the bagasse, over and above the fuel requirements of the sugar-mills either raw or screened and depithed, bailed or loose, is transported from the sugar-mills to an integrated pulp and paper plant.

8. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein under normal circumstances/conditions a sugar-mill/sugarcum-pulp mill spares 20 to 40 percent of the total bagasse after having met all its fuel requirements, which may exceed 40% provided suitable boilers and turbines are installed in the sugar-mills/sugar-cum-pulp mills and effectively used; and or sufficient electric power is made available from the external source at a reasonably low cost or any other form of energy is utilized for the purpose.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the savings in the bagasse exceeds 40% of the total bagasse with the use of stubbles, cane-tops, leaves, rejected plant material or supplementary fuel of high calorific value is used in limited quantity, or with the use of black liquor, as boiler fuel.

10. A method as claimed in the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the integrated pulp and paper plant to that of the sugar-mills are correlated to the sizes of the sugar-mills; which further depend upon the quantity of the bagasse that can be spared by these sugar-mills and the mode of transportation.

11. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the permissible distances between the sugar-cum-pulp mills and the paper/rayon plant(s) and other products manufacturing unit(s) exceed far more than 150 km.

1 2. A method as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening; dry, wet, or the moist depithing; either at the sugar-mills sites or at the integrated pulp and paper plant site alongwith the rejected plant material; is used as boiler fuel thus eliminating the need for coal, oil, gas or the like fuel to meet the internal steam and power requirements; though the same or any other form of energy may be used to meet the contingency.

1 3. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected bagasse and the pith obtained in the process of screening of the bagasse; dry, wet, or the moist depithing; at the sugar-cum-pulp mills sites alongwith other rejected plant material, is used as boiler fuel to meet the internal requirements of steam and power thus eliminating the need for coal, slurry oil, gas or the like; though the same or any other form of energy may be used to meet the contingency.

14. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the bagasse, over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-mill cum paper plant cum ethyl alcohol plant, is used as boiler fuel to meet the internal requirements of steam and power thus eliminating the need for coal, slurry, oil, gas or the like fuel, though the same may be used to

meet the contingency, besides any other form of energy.

1 5. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the pulp manufactured in the sugar-cum-pulp mills, either in batch digesters, continuous digester, or in a multiple digester; is transported to the paper/rayon plant(s) by means of pipelines, or washed, dried, and then transported for further processing.

1 6. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the rejected or otherwise bagasse, over and above fuel requirements of the sugar-mills/sugar-cum-pulp mills is utilized for the manufacture of furfural, resin, bagasse charcoal, producer gas, plastics, poultry litter, mulch, or is used as cattle food or as soil conditioner.

1 7. A method as claimed in any of the preceding claims wherein the molasses, a byproduct from the sugar-mills or the sugarcum-pulp mills, is transported to a centrally located distillary(ies) or several units scattered at different places, to obtain ethyl alcohol and other products or is otherwise used in the manufacture of vinegar, acitic acid, butonaiacetone, lactic acid, glycerol, dextran, aconitic acid, fertilizer or as animal feed.

18. A method as claimed in claims 1, 2, 5 and 6 wherein the the bagasse and the wheat straw or other suitable basic-raw-material is used for the manufacture of pulp during the off-season, or otherwise, of the sugar-mills and the rejected plant material utilized to meet the fuel requirements.

19. A method as claimed in claims 1 to 18 wherein sugar-mills, sugar-cum-pulp mills, paper plant(s), rayon plant(s), ethyl alcohol and other manufacturing units and the sugarcane plantations or an Agro Industrial complex or an individual unit.

20. A method for the manufacture of various grades of pulp for the manufacture of paper, rayon, alcohol, and other products, substantially as claimed in the preceding claims.

21. A method substantially the same as described in the examples given above.

22. Pulp, Paper, Rayon, Sugar, Alcohol, and other products manufactured according to the method substantially as described and claimed in the claims.