Abstract
Purpose
To replace coal used in thermal power plants, this study was conducted to investigate the potential of torrefied coffee spent waste (CSW) as a fuel source.
Methods
Approximately 102 ± 2 g of CSW pellets was torrefied using electric furnaces and stainless-steel containers. The torrefaction of CSW pellets (SCG) was performed at 230 to 310 °C in 20 °C temperature increments for 1 h. To avoid oxygen reactions, a 30-min chilling period was allowed before the subsequent elemental and thermogravimetric analyses (TGA). Furthermore, decarbonization, dehydrogenation, and deoxygenation were evaluated and combustibility was observed using the combustibility index (CI) and volatile ignitability (VI).
Results
Results revealed a calorific value of 22.22–29.39 MJ/kg and mass yield rates ranging between 47.16 and 89.81%. The energy yield was 62.97–90.67%, while decarbonization, dehydrogenation, and deoxygenation were 2.99–33.85%, 12.34–74.79%, and 18.22–76.99%, respectively. No combustion issues were detected as indicated by the VI and CI values which were 19.09–26.71 MJ/kg and 30.61–82.57 MJ/kg, respectively. Compared with coal, CSW can be substitute lignite or sub-bituminous coal.
Conclusion
Torrefaction improves CSW energy properties and might be a promising alternative to wood chips as fuel. When designing a standard torrefaction boiler, temperatures of 270 ℃ or greater must be considered for optimal results.
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Data Availability
The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.
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Funding
This work was supported by the Basic Science Research Program through the National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) funded by the Ministry of Education (2021R1A6A1A0304424211). Also, this work was supported by the Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (IPET) through the Smart Farm Innovation Technology Development Program funded by Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA) (grant number 421040–04).
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Sunyong Park, Seok Jun Kim, and DaeHyun Kim contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Sunyong Park, Seok Jun Kim, Seon Yeop Kim, Ha Eun Kim, Kwang Cheol Oh, Lahoon Cho, and Young Kwang Jeon. Supervision was conducted by DaeHyun Kim. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Sunyong Park, Seok Jun Kim, and DaeHyun Kim, and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final manuscript.
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Park, S., Kim, S.J., Kim, H.E. et al. Potential of Torrefied Coffee Grounds to Be Used as Fuel in Thermal Power Plants. J. Biosyst. Eng. 49, 112–119 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-024-00220-5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42853-024-00220-5