Coffee Biomass Residue as a Raw Material for Cellulose Production and Py-GC/MS Analysis

• Published in: Waste and biomass valorization Vol. 15; no. 1; pp. 349 - 364
• Main Authors: Coura, Marcela Ribeiro, Demuner, Antonio Jacinto, Demuner, Iara Fontes, Firmino, Maria José Magalhães, Ribeiro, Robisnea Adriana, Gomes, Fernando José Borges, Carvalho, Ana Márcia Macedo Ladeira, Costa, Marcelo Moreira, Martins, Cássio Anderson, Blank, Daiane Einhardt, dos Santos, Marcelo Henrique
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Aldehydes; Amines; Aromatic compounds; Biomass; Carbohydrates; Cellulose; Chemical composition; Coffee; Coffee industry; Engineering; Environment; Environmental Engineering/Biotechnology; Furans; Gas chromatography; Hardwoods; Industrial Pollution Prevention; Ketones; Kraft process (woodpulp); Kraft pulp; Lignin; Original Paper; Parchment; Pesticides; Polysaccharides; Pulp; Pulping; Pyrolysis; Raw materials; Renewable and Green Energy; Residues; Softwoods; Spectrometry; Waste Management/Waste Technology; Pyrolysis; Biomass; Coffee industry; Kraft pulp
• ISSN: 1877-2641; 1877-265X
• DOI: 10.1007/s12649-023-02156-x

Coffee production generates large volumes of residue, reaching 32 million tons per year in Brazil alone. This study aimed to evaluate the parchment of coffee fruit, a residue from the coffee industry, in terms of its chemical composition and potential for kraft pulp production. The parchment was characterized with respect to its carbohydrate, lignin, extractive, and mineral contents. The substance was submitted to the kraft pulping process, targeting a kappa number of 25. The main findings of this study are the following: glycans (38.5%), xylans (21.6%), and lignin (27.1%) were the main components of the raw material, the extractive content was 4.5%, quite similar to those found for hardwood species used for pulp production, and the pulping yield was 42.6%. The lignins from the residual were extracted and characterized by their chemical composition, obtained by elemental and pyrolysis–gas-chromatography–mass–spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) analyses. Py-GC/MS analysis from the decomposition of lignin provided the identification of 26 compounds, categorized into six different groups-acids, aldehydes, amines, furans, ketones, and aromatics. Based on chemical biomass characteristics, the pulping performance was similar to those observed for softwood raw materials, with similar pulp bleachability. These results indicate that the evaluated waste biomass has a good potential for use in pulp production. Graphical Abstract