Hydrothermal carbonization of simulated food waste for recovery of fatty acids and nutrients

Bita Motavaf; Robert A Dean; Joseph Nicolas; Phillip E Savage

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125872

Hydrothermal carbonization of simulated food waste for recovery of fatty acids and nutrients

Bioresour Technol. 2021 Dec:341:125872. doi: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125872. Epub 2021 Sep 2.

Authors

Bita Motavaf¹, Robert A Dean¹, Joseph Nicolas¹, Phillip E Savage²

Affiliations

¹ Department of Chemical Engineering, 121D Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States.
² Department of Chemical Engineering, 121D Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802, United States. Electronic address: psavage@psu.edu.

PMID: 34523573
DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2021.125872

Abstract

We conducted Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of simulated food waste under different reaction conditions (180 to 220 °C, 15 and 30 min), with the aim of recovering both fatty acids from the hydrochar and nutrients from the aqueous-phase products. HTC of the simulated food waste produced hydrochar that retained up to 78% of the original fatty acids. These retained fatty acids were extracted from the hydrochar using ethanol, a food-grade solvent, and gave a net recovery of fatty acid of ∼ 50%. The HTC process partitioned more than 50 wt% of the phosphorus and around 38 wt% of the nitrogen into the aqueous-phase products. A reaction path consistent with decarboxylation predominated during HTC under all of the reaction conditions investigated. A path consistent with dehydration was also observed, but only for the more severe reaction conditions. This work illustrates the potential that HTC has for valorization of food waste.

Keywords: Aqueous Phase; Biochar; Fatty Acids; Food Waste; Hydrothermal Carbonization.

MeSH terms

Carbon
Fatty Acids
Food*
Nutrients
Refuse Disposal*
Temperature

Substances

Fatty Acids
Carbon