Qaun (Sophia)
Dalhousie University, Canada
Title: Utilization of spent K-cups for crude bio-oil production
Biography
Biography: Qaun (Sophia)
Abstract
Statement of the Problem: K-cup is a popular single-serve coffee brewing system in North-America. With the growing popularity, the waste produced from this “convenient” process, referred to as spent K-Cups, has raised concern over their potential environmental impact, and thus disposal and/or utilization have attracted increasing attention.
Methodology & Theoretical Orientation: Hydrothermal liquefaction is a thermochemical process for the transformation of biomass or organic waste into liquid biofuels under reaction conditions of temperature and pressure in sub-/supercritical water or organic solvents. In this study, spent K-Cups were liquefied to crude bio-oil in water-ethanol mixture of 50/50 (v/v)
Findings: The optimum reaction conditions for maximizing crude bio-oil yield were determined: temperature of 276°C, reaction time of 3 min and solvent/feedstock mass ratio of 11:1, giving the crude bio-oil yield of 60.0%. GC-MS and FT-IR helped identify that the volatile compounds in the resulting crude bio-oil were long-chain aliphatic acids, esters and aromatic compounds. The addition of a catalyst, NaOH, promoted the decomposition of feedstock and thus significantly enhanced the bio-oil production and liquefaction efficiency. However, the addition of acidic catalyst, H2SO4 showed a negative impact on the liquefaction process, decreasing the crude bio-oil yield.
Conclusion & Significance: This study offered not only a viable route for the production of crude bio-oil and also an effective approch for waste management.