PII:

Biomass and Bioenergy Vol. 14, Nos. 5/6, pp. 457467, 1998 # 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved Printed in Great Britain 0961-9534/98 $19.00 + 0.00 S0961-9534(97)10034-4

THE USE OF BIOMASS RESIDUES IN THE BRAZILIAN SOLUBLE COFFEE INDUSTRY

M. A. SILVA*}, S. A. NEBRA6, M. J. MACHADO SILVA6 and C. G. SANCHEZ7
*DTFD, FEQ, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6122, 13083-970, Campinas, S.P., Brazil 6DE, FEM, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6122, 13083-970, Campinas, S.P., Brazil 7DETF, FEM, UNICAMP, P.O. Box 6122, 13083-970, Campinas, S.P., Brazil (Received 3 January 1997; revised 17 October 1997; accepted 21 October 1997) AbstractThe objective of this paper is to discuss the use of coee grounds in the Brazilian soluble coffee industry. This residue is used as a fuel in the boilers of the same industry; so, data about their utilization are presented and analysed, discussing the actual technology and the advantages of improving the drying of the biomass with the exhaust combustion gases. After that, an experimental study is reported on the characteristics of this material, which are important for the combustion process, including the transport, storage and drying, the mean diameter of the particles, talus angle, apparent and real density, sphericity, surface area, terminal velocity, spontaneous ignition temperature and heat of combustion. # 1998 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved KeywordsResidues; burning; coee grounds; terminal velocity; spontaneous ignition; combustion heat.

1. INTRODUCTION

The necessity of conserving nature and the increasing consumption of energy resources have led researchers to the study of renewable sources of energy. Among these renewable sources, the combustion of the following agricultural residues are some of the most important: ears of corn, rice husks, cotton twigs, coconut bres, jute stems and wheat straw.1,2 There are also agricultural industrial residues such as sugar cane bagasse1 and coee grounds (Dutra, personal communication).3,4 All of these residues can have other uses, and opting for one utilization over another depends on a global analysis which takes into account the economic, social and environmental aspects. The coee grounds, which are the subject of this paper, are the residues of the soluble coffee industry. Soluble coee, without the addition of carbohydrates, was rst produced in about 1950 in the U.S.A.,5 and its consumption has increased since then, reaching 19% of the total coee consumed in the world in 1980.6 As a consequence, the production of coee grounds has increased, and their dispo}Corresponding author.

sal has become a matter of increasing concern. Brazil began to produce soluble coee in 1962, and it has been a major world producer since 1970, when production reached 36 million kilograms per year.7 In 1989, there were 11 plants (ABICS, personal communication), with 85% of the production going to the external market. In 1988, only 11.8% of the coee exported was in the form of soluble coee, which totalled 120 million kilograms with a value of 213 million dollars.5 Initially, 1.86 kg of spent coee grounds were produced for each kilogram of soluble coee.5 With improvements to the industry, this gure dropped to 1.27 kg in 1967,7 and it is now 0.91 kg.8 The daily volume of coee grounds production is therefore high, considering that after the extraction of the soluble coee, it has a humidity of 7580% (w.b.), which is reduced to 50% after pressing (Dutra, personal communication).1,3,5,9 Coee grounds are highly pollutant due to the presence of organic material that demands a great quantity of oxygen in order to degrade. Simply piled up, they can ferment and produce spontaneous combustion, as has occurred in some storage sites (Dutra, per-

457

458

M. A. SILVA et al. Table 1. Chemical composition of coee ground (dry base)

Authors Adams and Dougan Tango4 Gopalakrishna Kao and Natarajan11 Puger12 Marins8
3

Protein (%) 10.812.97 12.2 14.2 14.0 15.0

Gross bre (%) 37.847.6 41.0 37.0

Ether extraction (%) 23.829.2 17.9 13.9 23.0 18.0

Ashes (%) 0.271.08 4.5 1.14 0.5 1.0

sonal communication). They can thus not be thrown away untreated.3,10 With such a pollutant industrial residue being produced in great quantity, the identication of more rational uses has become necessary. To study the feasibility of these uses it is necessary to know the composition of the coee grounds, which is reported in Table 1. The reported composition varies from one author to another, such discrepancies being due to the dierent varieties of coee used in production. The rst attempt was to use coee grounds as a fertiliser,4,11,12 however, due to its low nitrogen content (approximately 2%) and its high acidity (approximate pH of 4.2),10 this use was considered uneconomic.13 On analysis of the amino acids contained in the protein of the coee grounds, it was found that half of the essential amino acids are absent, so a complement would be necessary in order for the coee grounds to be used as animal feed.4 For this reason the idea was abandoned.3,10,12 Others uses were researched: its utilization as a substitute for wood powder, the production of methanol and acetone,3 the extraction of oil;4,12 to make microporous materials, packing materials; exchangers of ions,4 in the production of cigarette lters, resins, special lubricators, as a polisher for painting and a carrier for insecticides and herbicides.10

All these other possibilities have been shown to be infeasible or to require long and expensive programmes of development. All the authors are in agreement on this aspect, conrming its use as a fuel as the best utilization of this residue. Burning also permits the addition of the centrifugation residue of the liquid current from the press, which has 27% of solids and can not be disposed of in rivers, because of its high demand for oxygen, as a result of which it is highly pollutant. Moreover, the ashes from burning are good fertilisers, because of their composition which has a high content of phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.4,5 The heat value of coee grounds is similar to coal and is higher than wood and other biomass, as can be seen in Table 2, in which a comparison is made. The usual process is as follows: when the spent coee grounds leave the percolators with a humidity of 80% (w.b.) they are conveyed to a press where the humidity is reduced to 50% (w.b.), and then are burned in the boiler (Dutra, personal communication),9,12 or alternatively, burned after a drying operation to reduce the humidity to 30%,3,7 or even to 25%.5 At these lower levels of humidity, the burning process in the furnace starts immediately the material enters the boiler. The reduction of humidity to lower levels can carry a risk of spontaneous combustion.3,5,7.

Table 2. Heat value of diverse biomass residues Heat value Material Jute stems Rice husks Coconut bre Wheat straw Cotton twigs Corn ears Sugar cane bagasse Sugar cane bagasse Wood Coee grounds (kcal/kg dry) 4619.10 3805.30 4707.83 4185.02 3750.00 3804.35 4470.59 4600.00 5450.00 5960.00 (kJ/kg dry) 19 307.84 15 906.15 19 678.73 17 493.38 15 675.00 15 902.18 18 687.07 19 228.00 22 781.00 24 912.80 Author Kumar et al.1 Kumar et al.1 Kumar et al.1 Kumar et al.1 Kumar et al.1 Kumar et al.1 Anon.13 Anon.13 Anon.13 Anon.13

Biomass residues in the Brazilian soluble coee industry

459

Approximately 18 kg of coee grounds at 50% of humidity (w.b.) produce the same quantity of vapour as a gallon of oil. Therefore, for the typical process of the production of soluble coee, 75% of the energy required by the plant can be supplied.12 Burning the coee grounds without previous drying has the following disadvantages: it is necessary to have a larger combustion chamber, a surplus of fuel of about 5%12 and enough air to maintain the levels of temperature required. The larger combustion chamber requires a fan with a greater capacity, and it is therefore more expensive to burn very humid coee grounds.5 Dierent types of dryers can be used to dry the grounds. Some north-American rms use rotating dryers with internal tubes, another has introduced a uidized bed to dry from 70 to 25% (w.b.) that is, without previously using a press.5,7 Sivetz and Desrosier7 discuss the use of pneumatic and uidized dryers, and recommend the latter. The Brazilian cases will be discussed below. In the 1980s coee grounds began to be utilized as a fuel in the soluble coee processing plants in Brazil. This use began with little knowledge of the properties of the material and the best way to burn it. There is a lack of data on the properties of spent coee grounds in the literature, and these data are essential to conduct a study on any one of the processes: handling, storage, drying or burning. The principal purpose of this work is to present a qualitative and quantitative analysis (mass and energy balances) of the coee grounds burning process as it is carried out in the Brazilian industry, and a discussion on the better use of this fuel in boilers, including the previous drying of the material. Data are presented, which were collected from questionnaires sent to the plants.14 The other purpose of this work is to present some physical and chemical characteristics that were experimentally determined, the knowledge of which is necessary before any study of the previously mentioned process. These characteristics are: talus angle, apparent density, real solid density,15 mean diameter, supercial area, heat of combustion and spontaneous ignition temperature. Some of these characteristics are a function of the humidity of the material. In these cases the study was conducted with dry and wet material.16

2. ANALYSIS OF THE BURNING PROCESS

A scheme of the industrial production process of soluble coee is shown in Fig. 1. The roasted and grinding coee is introduced into the percolators in a countercurrent with the steam, from where exits the ``liquid coee'', which is introduced in the spray dryer; spent grounds from the percolators are introduced into a cyclone to separate the exhaust vapour and then the liquid water is removed, using a press and a dryer. Usually the spent grounds are used as fuel in the boilers. To obtain the data for the analysis two types of questionnaires were sent to 11 plants in Brazil, seven of them answered the rst one, and only ve the second one. With these answers and data from the Brazilian Industrial Association of Soluble Coee (ABICS), Tables 35 were prepared. All the plants use oil as an auxiliary fuel. All of them use a press after the extraction, and the intermediate transport of the grounds is made with vapour at high pressure. Except for plant number 3, all of them dry the grounds before their introduction into the boiler. The transportation process after the dryer varies: screw, pneumatic, etc. All the plants use uidized beds to dry the grounds, except one which utilizes a rotating dryer. The dryer agent is in all cases exhaust gases from the boilers. Many dierent types of boilers and solid fuel feeders are used. In various cases the boilers are designed to burn liquid/gas fuels and have been adapted to burn solid fuels, plant number 2 has a horseshoe-type boiler, more appropriate for burning solid or mixed fuels. 2.1. First law eciency of industrial boilers To make an analysis of the eciency of the boilers burning coee grounds, the necessary parameters were collected from the factories, and are reported in Table 4. The energy transferred to steam, in the boiler, was obtained as the dierence of enthalpy between vapour and liquid water multiplied by the water ow: Hws mw hs hw The energy introduced for the fuels was

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M. A. SILVA et al.

Fig. 1. Soluble coee process owsheet.

computed, based on their low heat value: Ef mg LHVg mo LHVo where the subscript g means grounds and o, oil. The mass of grounds considered was dry mass. The energy ratio, depending on the source

used, was then calculated as: r mg LHVg mo LHVo Hws Ef

and the nominal eciency of the boiler, as: Z

Table 3. Information about the type of equipment used in the industry, referring to dryers, boilers and solid fuel feeders of the boiler Plant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dryer type Fluidized bed Fluidized bed Rotating rub Fluidized bed Fluidized bed Fluidized bed Boiler/furnace type Three-pass re tube Horseshoe Sloping stationary grate Stationary grate Furnace Fire tube Solid fuel feeder Conveyor screw Rotating spreader Conveyor screw Conveyor screw Hydraulic piston Conveyor screw Conveyor screw

Biomass residues in the Brazilian soluble coee industry Table 4. Data on the burning-steam production process Parameters/Plants 1 2 31 70 2.3 85 55 35 3000 1950 500 2.65 18 000 22 216 2804.8 98 410.7 175 43 092 72 180 60 3 17 18 1.1 80 50 1500 750 1000 0.51 12 500 18 208 2799.8 105 440.3 260 29 493 59 692 49 4 88 80 55 45 1800 990 318 2.12 6500 15 2793.9 104.8 17 479 39 754 44 5 28.6 36 1.3 76 50 34 3020 1993 160 8.47 10 330 13 190 2787.6 100 419.2 200 24 466 59 900 41 6 6.1 6 1.0 80 52 40 420 252 630 0.27 3000 18 2798.5 104.8 8081 31 679 26 7

461

Soluble coee production (t/day) 5 Dry coee grounds (t/day) 6.24 Ratio grounds/fuel (t/t) 1.2 Grounds humidity after extraction (%) 87 Grounds humidity after press (%) 55 Grounds humidity after drying (%) 22 Wet grounds (kg/h) 336 Dry grounds (kg/h) 262 Auxiliary oil rate (kg/h) 108 Source energy ratio (kJ/kJ) 1.65 Steam rate (kg/h) 2700 Steam pressure (bar) 16 Steam temperature (8C) 200 Steam enthalpy (kJ/kg) 2794.7 Water inlet temperature (8C) 80 Water inlet enthalpy (kJ/kg) 335.0 Exit gas temperature (8C) 250 Energy transferred to vapour (MJ/h) 6641 Energy of fuels (MJ/h) 11 314 Eciency (%) 59

20 26 1.3 85 55 30 1082 757 624 0.83 8000 21 214 2803.5 80 335.0 250 19 748 45 026 44

The values of the enthalpies and the water vapour saturation temperature were taken from Van Wylen and Sonntag.17 To make the calculation of the combustion reactions, for the composition of the spent coee grounds and lower heat value, the values reported in Silva et al.16 were adopted. The composition and heat values of the oils were taken from Bonomi et al.18 The specic heat of the gases were taken from Hougen et al.19 The collected and calculated values corresponding to each of the plants are shown in Table 4. The eciency of the boilers must be appraised taking into account that biomass boilers present values between 65 and 85%, and oil boilers between 70 and 88%, so, in all cases, the burning process can be improved. Considering the data, plant number 2 was the one with the best values and the data from plant number 6 are probably wrong. The unusually low values of eciency are due to the fact that the boilers are not suitable for solid fuel but for liquid or gas fuel,

and have been adapted. In this case they must use a great quantity of excess air, a fact that diminishes the eciency; another fact that also diminishes the eciency is that the liquid water that constitutes the humidity of the solid fuel must be evaporated into the boiler. 2.2. Improvements to the burning process drying the biomass One of the most important ways of improving the burning process is to dry the grounds with the exit gases of the boiler; this practice is usual in the soluble coee industry, as was reported above, but the drying process can be conducted in a more ecient way in order to reduce the use of fuel oil. Here we carried out an analysis of the burning process and the possible reduction in oil consumption in the boilers. From the data obtained (Table 4), some calculations were made, which include a mass and energy balance. The energy balance con-

Table 5. Data on the burning process in boilers using grounds and oil as fuels Parameters/Plants Excess of air rate Gas enthalpy Hestg (MJ/h) Gas enthalpy Hexcg (MJ/h) Gas available heat Qav (MJ/h) Boiler evaporation heat Qh (MJ/h) Evaporation heat Qhh (MJ/h) Oil economy (kg/h) Oil economy (%) 1 1.7 1477 1818 1757 212 919 17.9 16 2 3.1 4238 14 557 4962 2860 6490 91.9 18 3 2.7 5756 16 549 8691 2168 2168 54.8 5 5 4.7 3870 22 633 7625 2847 5525 67.7 42 7 2.3 6110 13 669 9522 933 2657 44.5 7

462

M. A. SILVA et al.

sidered that the chemical energy introduced by the fuels (Ef) was used in the form: Ef DHs Qh Hestg Hexcg QL where the rst term on the right corresponds to the enthalpy of the steam, the second to the heat spent in the evaporation of humidity in the grounds, the third to the enthalpy of the exit gases, considering a burning reaction without excess air, the fourth to the enthalpy of the excess air, and the fth represents the heat lost. As the available data were not complete, in order to do the global balance, two assumptions were necessary: (i) the burning of oil and biomass is complete in the boiler, without the production of CO; and (ii) heat lost by radiation and convection was considered proportional (10%) to the energy content of the fuels. The rate of excess air and the enthalpy of the exit gases are reported in Table 5. The best energetic option to dry the biomass is to use the exit gas of the boiler (as it is being made), but taking advantage of the thermal energy that these gases have: that is their dierence of enthalpy from the exit temperature to some adequate nal value. This nal temperature must be chosen considering corrosion problems which can occur if the water vapour in the gases is condensed on the walls of the dryer; in this study the value considered was 1008C (a more conservative value might be 1208C). In Table 5 the values obtained for the available enthalpy of the gases are reported as Qav. The values corresponding to the energy necessary to evaporate the water into the boiler, in actual conditions, and that necessary to evaporate the water in the grounds at the humidity at which they leave the press, (Qhh), are also reported in Table 5. Comparing the ``available'' and the ``necessary'' heat, it can be seen in all cases that it is higher than that actually used. The two last columns in Table 5 refer to the potential economy of oil if the drying process were improved, in terms of the absolute and relative quantity of oil actually used today.

material, which were determined and are reported below. 3.1. Sampling The samples were obtained using an appropriate sample set, repeating the process as many times as was necessary in order to obtain the desired sample size. The original factory located material came from the Nestle in the city of Araras, Sa o Paulo, Brazil. 3.2. Sizing The size of the particles was determined using a sieve shaker, shaking for 15 min with a strength of vibration of 7.5 on a scale of 0 10. The measurement was made with three samples of approximately 200 g each. The ABNT standard sieves, numbers 8, 12, 16, 20 and 30, were used; the particles in the bottom plate were passed once again through sieve numbers 40, 50, 70, 100 and 140. The mean ABNT diameter, DpvA , was obtained using the Sauter mean (volumetric-areolar):
k fm Dpi DDpi rcv i 1 k fm Dpi DDpi rcv Dpi i 1

DpvA

where: fm Dpi DDpi =retained weighed fraction, Dpi =mean diameter of the retained particles.20 If the density and the shape of the particles do not depend on the size, then: DpvA 1 k fm Dpi DDpi D pi i 1

3. PHYSICAL AND CHEMICAL PROPERTIES OF SPENT COFFEE GROUNDS

In order to improve the handling, drying and burning process of the grounds it is necessary to know a series of properties of the

The results are reported in Table 6. In Table 6 one can see that the nest particles disappear when the degree of humidity increases; this behaviour is expected because when the particles become wetter there is greater adhesion between them, and their size is increased by the absorption of water. For this reason, the mean diameter of the particles increases with humidity.

Biomass residues in the Brazilian soluble coee industry Table 6. Sizing of the spent coee grounds at dierent degrees of humidity Degree of humidity (wet basis, %) Sieve designation ABNT standard 8 812 1216 1620 2030 3040 4050 5070 70100 100140 140 Sieve opening (mm) 2.362 1.651 1.168 0.833 0.589 0.417 0.295 0.208 0.147 0.104 15.23 0.0319 0.1349 0.1718 0.2802 0.1078 0.1010 0.0487 0.0353 0.0566 0.0217 0.0106 17.73 Retained weighed fraction 0.0303 0.0991 0.1719 0.3032 0.1294 0.1157 0.0659 0.0415 0.0430 0.0263 0.1317 0.1745 0.3077 0.2000 0.1284 0.0271 0.0043 43.10

463

3.3. Talus angle The rest angle was measured using an appropriate set developed at the Agricultural Engineering Faculty of the State University of Campinas (UNICAMP), Sa o Paulo, Brazil. The material is piled up by means of a constant and free ux of particles. The value in Table 7 is the mean value of four measurements for each case. 3.4. Apparent/real density and porosity The apparent density was also measured using an appropriate set developed by the rm ALEMMAR (from Brazil). This set has a container of known volume (1000 cm). This container was lled up by a free and constant ux of particles, then weighed full and empty. The value in Table 7 is the mean of three measurements for each case. The real density of solids15 was obtained by the pycnometer method (based on the volume of a displaced uid). The pycnometer has a volume of 50 cm. The liquid used was toluene.21 The value reported in Table 7 is the mean value of ve samples of dry material of 5 g each. The density of humid material, rws, was obtained theoretically using the following equation:

rws

1 1 uwXbX uwXbX rds rlw

where
rds=dry solid density rlw=liquid water density

In this equation it was assumed that the volume of the particle changes when it absorbs water in the same quantity as the volume of water absorbed. The porosity was computed theoretically using the equation:22 rap E 1 rws

3.5. Humidity The humidity was determined by drying the material in a drying chamber with forced convection at a temperature of 758C for 24 h. The value reported in Table 7 is the mean value of three samples. The number of hours necessary was previously determined. The temperature of 758C was used to avoid tar volatilization.

Table 7. Characteristics of spent coee grounds with dierent degrees of humidity Humidity (w.b.%) 0.00 15.23 17.73 43.10 Talus angle (o) 38.7 37.8 37.7 Apparent density (g/cm3) 0.430 0.426 0.406 Real density (g/cm3) 1.20 1.16 1.16 1.11 Mean diameter Supercial area (mm) (m2/g) 0.583 0.677 0.880 5.89 Porosity 0.63 0.63 0.63

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M. A. SILVA et al.

In this study the humidity used is in wet basis obtained as: uwXbX,% humid weight dry weight 100 humid weight

possible to use gravity in order to transport the material in the factory. 3.7. Terminal velocity The terminal velocity of the particles, Vt, was measured using a specially constructed apparatus based on the principle of uidization. A sample of the particles is placed on the apparatus, the fan is started and controlled so that the particles are suspended (uidized) by the ow of air. The air speed is measured with a Pitot tube. The drag coecient is calculated from the equation: CD where
V=velocity rs=solid density ra=air density g=gravity

3.6. Supercial area The surface area was determined using an appropriate set for the measurement of the surface area of solids, CG 2000, based on the principle of adsorption of nitrogen on the surface of the solid at its boiling temperature (1958C). This method is based on the work of Brunauer, Emmet and Teller, who developed an equation that permits the computation of the surfacial area through thermodynamics relations of adsorption. This equation is known worldwide as the BET equation.15 The technique consists of passing a mixture of 10% nitrogen in helium owing over a sample that is cooled at the temperature of liquid nitrogen at a pressure of 2 atm and relative pressures below 0.3. Helium is used as a diluent because it is not adsorbed under these conditions. The nitrogen adsorbed at each level of partial pressure changes the composition of the euent gases. These changes are detected measuring the electrical conductivity of the gases through a potentiometric scanner and an appropriate integrator. The sample was dried in a drying chamber and activated at 1008C for 120 min with a continuous ux of nitrogen of 40 cm/min. The temperature of 1008C was used because at higher temperatures tar begins to volatilize. The talus angle, the apparent density, the real density and the porosity are reported in Table 7. The variation of these parameters is not as signicant as the mean diameter, moreover this small variation is coherent. The apparent density and the real density decrease slightly with the humidity and this may be due to the fact that particles increase in size when they absorb water, which have less density than the dry solid. It is known that the porosity depends only on the shape, and not on the size of the particles, so it remains constant. The experimental determinations of talus angle and apparent density are dicult in the case of the spent coee grounds with 43% (w.b.) because they are very adhesive and ow with diculty. For the same reason it is im-

4 Dp rs ra g 3 ra V 2

The experimental drag coecient was compared with values obtained from correlations for spherical particles reported below. From Kunii and Levenspiel:23 CD 100X5 Rep for 0X4`Rep `500 for 500`Rep `200000

CD 0X43

From Morsi and Alexander:24 CD 46X5 116X67 0X6167 for 10`Rep `100 Rep Re2 p 98X33 2778 0X3644 Rep Re2 p for 100`Rep `1000

CD

where the Reynolds number is calculated as: Rep Dp r a V ma

where ma=air viscosity The results are reported in Table 8, and, as can be expected, the terminal velocity diminishes with the mean diameter of the particle (experimental values reported at the second column). The fourth column shows the experimental values for the drag coecient, which can be compared with the values for spherical particles with the same diameter and

Biomass residues in the Brazilian soluble coee industry Table 8. Experimental terminal velocity and drag coecient of coee grounds Dp (mm) 2.01 1.41 1.00 0.71 0.50 Vt (m/s) 5.1 4.1 3.9 3.2 2.9 Rep 616 353 238 138 89 CD Coee grounds 1.1 1.1 0.9 0.9 0.8 CD Spheres23 0.43 0.53 0.65 0.85 1.06 CD Spheres24 0.52 0.62 0.73 0.93 1.12

465

Reynolds number, reported in columns 5 and 6, from two dierent correlations.23,24 The behaviour of the experimental drag compared with the values for spherical particles is just the opposite, for the range tested, that is it diminishes with the Reynolds number; this is probably due to a common fact that occurred in irregular, biological materials submitted to a grinding process: the density and shape of the particles present a slight variation with size. 3.8. Heat of combustion The heating value of combustion was obtained through tests in a calorimeter by the isothermal method adapted to the conditions of vegetal fuel. The tests were based on the standard P-MB-454-IBP-ABNT 1968 which allows corrections to be made to the initial and nal temperature of the bath produced by little changes in the room temperature. This standard is equivalent to ASTM-D-240-64. Corrections must be done because of the nitric acid formed during the chemical reaction and also because of the nitrogen that was in the sample and in the calorimeter at the time it was set up. The higher heating value was obtained as the mean value of three tests of drying samples. The results, compared with those of other authors, are presented in Table 7, where one may observe variations which may be due to the use of dierent types of coee (dierent blends) in the process, or to dierences in the extraction process. It is interesting to point out that the heat value of spent coee grounds is similar to that of charcoal and is higher than that of rewood.11 The carbonhydrogennitrogen analysis was made by the Chemical and Chemical Engineering Division of the Technological Research Institute (IPT), Sa o Paulo, Brazil (see Table 9). Knowing the quantity of hydrogen in the sample, it is possible to compute the low heat-

ing value subtracting the change of enthalpy between vapour and liquid water. The value for dry and humid material is shown in Table 10. Should it be necessary, the low heating value for wet samples can be obtained as: LHV 25240 276 uwXbX,7 kJakg wet material

where u(w.b.,%) is the humidity of the sample, in percentage, wet basis. 3.9. Spontaneous ignition temperature The tests made were based on the work of Hardman et al.,25 who studied the spontaneous combustion of an activated coal bed. Several tests, using a crucible with a thermoelectric joint, were made in a tubular electric oven with a controlled heating rate. A constant air ux was blown into the oven in order to provide oxygen for the combustion. After the same preliminary tests, the nal essays were made with a rate of heating of 58C/min and an initial temperature of 2008C (in the oven). It was observed that the start of the volatilization occurs at a temperature of approximately 1958C, with the liberation of black smoke and a coee smell. At 2608C, the temperature increment rate, recorded by the thermoelectric joint, increased as if self-ignition were taking place, although this rate returns quickly to the normal value of the oven. Finally, at 4608C, spontaneous ignition occurs, which was made evident by the increase in the temperature rate. The temperatures reported before varied by 258C between the tests. It was impossible to reduce these dierences.
Table 9. Carbonhydrogennitrogen analysis of the spent coee grounds Carbon (C) Hydrogen (H) Nitrogen (N) Oxygen (O) 59.5% 7.3% 2.5% 30.7%

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M. A. SILVA et al. Table 10. Heat of combustion of spent coee grounds (kg/kg dry) at dierent degrees of humidity (w.b.) Authors Tango Gopalakrisna Kao and Natarajan11 Sivetz and Desrosier7 Puger12 Adams and Dougan3 Marins8 Anonymous13 This paper HHV LHV
4

0% 5000 5000 5000 5560 6930 5345 5960 6415 6031

25%

50%

75%

4830 5330

4440 4940

3330 3720

5841

5462

4324

The data on the spontaneous ignition temperature must be considered for future practice uses such as storage, drying or combustion. These values depend on the quantity of oxygen and the size and humidity of the material, so they must only be considered as indicative values. In the case of the storage of wet material, fermentation can occur with formation of methane. A complete investigation of this subject would be very useful, to avoid accidents.
4. CONCLUSIONS

Data on the industrial use as fuel of spent coee grounds in the Brazilian soluble coee industry, are reported. Compared with other biomass, coee grounds can be considered an excellent fuel, because they have a heat of combustion higher than others usually used. With some technological eort to improve the conditions of utilization of this fuel in the boilers, the soluble coee industry could become self-sucient in thermal energy. Some investment would be required, in cases where the type of boiler or dryer is not adequate. To improve the process of storage, drying and burning of spent coee grounds, some indispensable data on the characteristics of the residue are necessary, and these data were obtained and reported in detail.
Acknowledgements The authors would like to thank Prof. Elisabeth Jorda o (FEQ/UNICAMP) who made the determination of the supercial area possible.

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