Bioenergy value of seed waste from the Mexican date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) industry

Abstract

Description of the subject. Date (Phoenix dactylifera L.) seed waste, from the date industry in Mexico, is an attractive source of biomass for bioenergy due to its renewability, availability, and not being otherwise usable. Objectives. In this research project, we calculated and determined the amount of biofuel that could potentially be used from the thermal energy recovery of raw date seed (RDS) and processed date seed (PDS) through oil extraction. Method. The physicochemical composition and thermal behavior of RDS and PDS was determined to evaluate their usefulness for thermal energy production. Proximate and thermogravimetric analyses, Scanning Electron Microscope imaging, and different fuel properties such as Higher Heating Value (HHV), bulk, and energetic density and Fuel Value Index (FVI), were determined. Furthermore, the potential energy production from seed waste of the Mexican date industry was estimated. Results. The RDS presented better HHV 19.33 MJ·kg-1 and energetic density 14.42 MJ·m-3, however, PDS has lower moisture 5.12% and ash content 5.89%. The FVI of PDS is more favorable than RDS, 363.81 and 208.43 respectively. Conclusions. The potential energy production from date seeds produced in Mexico in 2018 was calculated RDS 10.17 TJ, PDS 8.04 TJ and Biodiesel 2.01 TJ and with a tendency to increase every year.