The synthesis of biooil using ambient pressure liquefaction of organic waste

Abstract

To realize a sustainable alternative to fossil fuels, carbon neutral sources such as biowaste should be converted to biooil. This paper reports the results of our study on the catalytic liquefaction of various organic waste (mandarin peel, coffee grounds and cocoa shell) to synthesize an oil which can be used as a sustainable fuel. Out of the tested reactions, spent coffee ground liquefaction proved to yield the best results when catalyzed by phosphotungstic acid (PTA). Increasing the catalyst loading resulted in an increasing yield, with the maximum yield of 40 % obtained with a catalyst loading of 38 wt%. The resulting oil contained compounds mainly in the desired C8-16 range (79 %) that is required for jet fuel. While most of these compounds were oxygenated compounds an upgrading reaction should allow the oil to be used as a sustainable jet fuel alternative.