Co-Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Food Waste and Lignin

Kauffman, Skyler

Student Work

Co-Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Food Waste and Lignin

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The world produces millions of tons of food waste and lignin annually, the disposal of which has massive environmental impacts. An estimated 8% of cumulative global greenhouse gas emissions have been caused by food waste alone. Waste-fed biocrude, which may be upgraded into a sustainable and energy-dense biofuel, may replace fossil fuels and offset environmental damage caused by organic waste disposal. Hydrothermal co-liquefaction of mixed waste feeds is a promising technology capable of increasing biocrude yields compared to traditional single-feed hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). Mixing HTL feeds often enables new chemical pathways, leading to synergistic or antagonistic effects on product yield. This study examines the effect of mixing food waste and lignin at various ratios for mixed-feed HTL reactions. Reactions were carried out at standard HTL conditions of 300 °C and 60 minutes. Elemental analysis, total organic content analysis, Karl Fisher titration, and gas chromatography with mass spectrometry (GCMS) were used to characterize the reaction products. Feed ratio had a negligible impact on product distribution outside of mixing effects, suggesting a lack of significant synergistic or antagonistic interactions between feeds. However, several compounds were identified by GCMS solely in mixed feed oils, notably fatty acid methyl esters. Novel chemistry was observed between food waste and lignin, but it was not significant enough to impact product yields or oil quality.

This report represents the work of one or more WPI undergraduate students submitted to the faculty as evidence of completion of a degree requirement. WPI routinely publishes these reports on its website without editorial or peer review.

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