Conversion of coffee grounds into Renewable Energy

Published on 18 Apr 2022. Written by Vinay Raj

Biodiesel is a decent substitute for fossil fuel. In recent years biodiesel produced from animal fats and vegetable oil has grown attention. One of the reasons for this is Biodiesel is eco-friendly.

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But the cost required to produce biofuel is also more compared to fossil fuel. The major cost in biofuel is its feedstock. The problem faced by the biodiesel industry is the availability of good quality feedstock for a low cost. To overcome this problem, the use of grease and animal’s fats from poultry and waste vegetable oil is used by industries. High oil content crops are used to get good production for biodiesel.

Coffee is one of the major crops which is largely used for beverages. The residue which is left after brewing the coffee is waste material that contains oil. This waste material can be used as biodiesel feedstock.

India ranks 5^th in Coffee production. In India coffee is produced mostly from the states of Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu. India is exporting over 2,00,000 kg of coffee every year. These statistics give us an idea that we have a lot of raw material available for the Biodiesel. This can add approximately 1290 million litres of biodiesel to the world’s fuel supply. The by-product generated after the extraction of biodiesel can be used as pellet fuel or for composting.

Requirements:

Used coffee grounds.

Hexane (Chemical made from crude oil).

Magnetic Stirrer

Distillation Apparatus.

Project Implementation:

1. Collect the used coffee grounds from sources.
2. Mix the Dried Coffee Grounds to Hexane with respective ratios.
3. Magnetic Stirrer is used to mix the solution.
4. The complete extraction of oil is finished when the coffee grounds will fall to the bottom of the container.
5. Separate the coffee grounds from the solution.
6. The distillation process is done to remove the Hexane. It is again heated to remove the residual hexane.
7. Instruments are used to measure properties like Density, Flashpoint, Fire Point, Calorific value, etc….
8. Compare the values with Fossil fuel (Diesel).

Advantages:

• It is eco-friendly.
• It is used as an alternative for fossil fuel

Conclusion:

To make biodiesel waste coffee ground is used. The waste solid which is remaining after the oil extraction, which in turn is the by-product of the whole procedure can be used as the raw material for pellet fuel. 

Kit required to develop Conversion of coffee grounds into Renewable Energy:

• NA

Technologies you will learn by working on Conversion of coffee grounds into Renewable Energy:

• Electric
• Coffee Ground
• Ground improvement Techniques

Any Questions?