Spent coffee grounds as a renewable source for ecopolyols production

resumo

BACKGROUNDBased on the biorefinery concept, the main focus of this work was the increase in value of spent coffee grounds via an acid liquefaction process using polyhydric solvents in the presence of sulfuric acid, at moderate temperature. For that purpose the effect of temperature, sulfuric acid concentration and time on biomass conversion was studied using design of experiments combined with statistical analysis. RESULTSThe ANOVA results (95% confidence level) showed that temperature is the factor with most influence on biomass conversion, within the studied range, while reaction times above 40 min don't seem to bring significant advantages. The maximum conversion obtained in this study was 70 wt% which was achieved at 160 degrees C, 4 wt % of catalyst and 80 min. The polyol obtained using these conditions presented a hydroxyl number value of 199 mg (KOH)/g (polyol) and a viscosity of 390 cP, at 25 degrees C. CONCLUSIONThis work showed that it is possible to convert spent coffee grounds into liquid polyols via an acid liquefaction process at moderate temperature and autogeneous pressure. These polyols have similar properties to those of petroleum-based polyols typically used in the polyurethane foam industry. (c) 2014 Society of Chemical Industry

palavras-chave

RIGID POLYURETHANE FOAM; LIQUEFIED WOOD; ENSUING POLYOLS; AGROINDUSTRIAL RESIDUES; POLYHYDRIC ALCOHOLS; WHEAT-STRAW; LIQUEFACTION; OXYPROPYLATION; BIOMASS; LIGNIN

categoria

Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology; Chemistry; Engineering

autores

Soares, B; Gama, N; Freire, CSR; Barros-Timmons, A; Brandao, I; Silva, R; Neto, CP; Ferreira, A

nossos autores

agradecimentos

The authors thank QREN/FEDER for funding the Ecopolyols project (No 11435). Nestle S.A (Avanca - Portugal) is gratefully acknowledged for supplying spent coffee grounds. CICECO thanks FCT for the Pest-C/CTM/LA0011/2013 project. C. Freire thanks FCT/MCTES for a research contract under the Program 'Investigador FCT 2012'.

Partilhe este projeto

Publicações similares

Usamos cookies para atividades de marketing e para lhe oferecer uma melhor experiência de navegação. Ao clicar em “Aceitar Cookies” você concorda com nossa política de cookies. Leia sobre como usamos cookies clicando em "Política de Privacidade e Cookies".