Spent coffee grounds valorization through pyrolysis for energy and materials production in the concept of circular economy

Coffee biowaste valorization within circular economy: an evaluation method of spent coffee grounds potentials for mortar production

PURPOSE

Spent coffee grounds (SCG) are biowastes extensively generated within the coffee supply chain. Nowadays, their disposal represents an increasing environmental concern due to its toxicity and organic nature. With the estimated increase of coffee production and consumption in the upcoming years, there is an imperative need to find a proper reverse option, along with a novel industrial application, which allows for the valorization of this coffee by-product within a circular economy perspective. This study aims at investigating a potential reuse of spent coffee grounds to produce novel construction materials to be used for sustainable buildings.

METHODS

After having illustrated the forward flows within the coffee life cycle and the potential reverse flow options, an evaluation method based on multi-criteria analyses was elaborated to test not only the technical but also the environmental and economic performances of novel materials originating from the incorporation of SCG as an aggregate in natural hydraulic lime and geopolymer-based mortars. Moreover, we focus on the reuse of another waste streams- biomass fly ash-deriving from the paper-pulp industry, rarely investigated in both traditional construction applications and in geopolymer manufacture. The two (geopolymer- and lime-based) mortar typologies are here studied and compared as potential green material for applications in construction, with satisfying engineering performance and high insulation attitude, giving a new life to a common organic waste. Consequently, we compare eight formulations by means of multi-criteria approaches that are nowadays claimed as a useful and effective decision aiding support instrument to assess the development of new sustainable construction materials. They permit to consider simultaneously some controversial and often uncertain aspects like technological (as the usual scientific studies do), environmental, and economic (more difficult to easily approach and evaluate). For this purpose, in this paper, we have analyzed the performance of the novel bio-composite mortars using VIKOR and TOPSIS methods to rank a set of alternatives according to various evaluation criteria that often conflict one with each other.

RESULTS

Results show that adding spent coffee grounds can efficiently improve the technical and sustainable performances of the novel mortars for different applications in the building sector. The presence of SCG increases water absorption and improves the insulation performance along with an environmental impact reduction. The considered technological properties are highly promising-such as the improvement in thermal insulation. In particular, even the addition of only 5% SCG leads to a significant reduction of the thermal conductivity and consequently to a greater insulating performance.

CONCLUSIONS

To date, most of the available literature on recycling SCG in construction materials do not consider mortar-based applications and, moreover, nor multi-criteria approaches. Therefore, our study proposes itself as an innovative track solution to food waste management lowering the employment of non-renewable natural resources and the costs associated to construction material production. At the same time, a novel and innovative way of such waste disposal is suggested, pursuing the sustainability and substantially reducing the environmental impact of construction and building materials. This study is a fundamental step in assessing the applicability of our designed and produced materials and its potentials to be produced at an industrial scale.

Effects of pyrolysis parameters on the distribution of pyrolysis products of Miscanthus

This work presents a comprehensive study on the effects of pyrolysis parameters (pyrolysis temperature, residence time, and heating rate) on the distribution of pyrolysis products of Miscanthus. Py-GC/MS (Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass) was conducted to identify building blocks of value-added chemical from Miscanthus. The results showed that the main pyrolysis products of Miscanthus were ketone, aldehyde, phenol, heterocycles, and aromatic compounds. The representative compounds of ketone and aldehyde compounds produced at different pyrolysis temperatures changed obviously, while the representative compounds of phenolic, heterocyclic, and aromatic compounds had no obvious change. Large-scale pyrolysis of Miscanthus had begun at 400°C, and the relative content of pyrolysis products from Miscanthus reached the maximum of 98.34% at 700°C. The relative peak area ratio of phenol and aromatic compounds reached the maximum and minimum at the residence time of 5 and 10 s, while the relative peak area ratio of ketone compounds showed the opposite trend. The relative peak area ratio of aldehyde compounds was higher under shorter or longer residence time. For heterocyclic compounds, the relative peak area ratio reached the maximum of 27.0% at residence time of 10 s. The faster or slower heating rate was beneficial to the production of aldehyde and phenol compounds. The relative peak area ratio of ketone compounds reached the maximum at 10,000°C/s, 70°C/s, and 10°C/s, and the relative peak area ratio tendency of heterocyclic compounds was similar to ketone. For aromatic compounds, the overall fluctuations were large, and the relative peak area ratio was the highest at the heating rate of 100°C/s.

Spent coffee ground characterization, pelletization test and emissions assessment in the combustion process

Industrial development and increased energy requirements have led to high consumption of fossil fuels. Thus, environmental pollution has become a profound problem. Every year, a large amount of agro-industrial, municipal and forest residues are treated as waste, but they can be recovered and used to produce thermal and electrical energy through biological or thermochemical conversion processes. Among the main types of agro-industrial waste, soluble coffee residues represent a significant quantity all over the world. Silver skin and spent coffee grounds (SCG) are the main residues of the coffee industry. The many organic compounds contained in coffee residues suggest that their recovery and use could be very beneficial. Indeed, thanks to their composition, they can be used in the production of biodiesel, as a source of sugar, as a precursor for the creation of active carbon or as a sorbent for the removal of metals. After a careful evaluation of the possible uses of coffee grounds, the aim of this research was to show a broad characterization of coffee waste for energy purposes through physical and chemical analyses that highlight the most significant quality indexes, the interactions between them and the quantification of their importance. Results identify important tools for the qualification and quantification of the effects of coffee waste properties on energy production processes. They show that (SCG) are an excellent raw material as biomass, with excellent values in terms of calorific value and low ash content, allowing the production of 98% coffee pellets that are highly suitable for use in thermal conversion systems. Combustion tests were also carried out in an 80kW_th boiler and the resulting emissions without any type of abatement filter were characterized.