Briquette production as a sustainable alternative for waste management in the tannin extraction industry

Elias Costa de Souza; João Paulo Silva Gomes; Alexandre Santos Pimenta; Tatiane Kelly Barbosa de Azevedo; Allana Katiussya Silva Pereira; Regina Maria Gomes; José Otávio Brito; Ananias Francisco Dias Júnior

doi:10.1007/s11356-022-23490-y

Briquette production as a sustainable alternative for waste management in the tannin extraction industry

Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 Feb;30(7):18078-18090. doi: 10.1007/s11356-022-23490-y. Epub 2022 Oct 7.

Authors

Elias Costa de Souza^{1

2}, João Paulo Silva Gomes³, Alexandre Santos Pimenta³, Tatiane Kelly Barbosa de Azevedo³, Allana Katiussya Silva Pereira⁴, Regina Maria Gomes⁴, José Otávio Brito⁴, Ananias Francisco Dias Júnior⁵

Affiliations

¹ Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (USP/ESALQ), Av. Pádua Dias, 11, Piracicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil. eliasrem@usp.br.
² Departamento de Tecnologia e Recursos Naturais (DTRN), Universidade Estadual Do Pará (UEPA), Campus VI, Rodovia PA-125, Paragominas, Pará, 68625-000, Brazil. eliasrem@usp.br.
³ Engenharia Florestal, Escola Agrícola de Jundiaí, Programa de Pós-Graduação Em Ciências Florestais (PPGCFL), Forest, Bioenergy and Environment Research Group, Universidade Federal Do Rio Grande Do Norte (UFRN), Rodovia RN 160, km 03, Distrito de Jundiaí, P.O. box 07, Macaíba, RN, CEP 59.280-000, Brazil.
⁴ Universidade de São Paulo, Escola Superior de Agricultura Luiz de Queiroz (USP/ESALQ), Av. Pádua Dias, 11, Piracicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil.
⁵ Departamento de Ciências Florestais E da Madeira, Universidade Federal Do Espírito Santo (UFES), Av. Governador Lindemberg, 316, Jerônimo Monteiro, ES, 29550-000, Brazil.

PMID: 36205870
DOI: 10.1007/s11356-022-23490-y

Abstract

Tannins are polyphenols that can be extracted from different parts of the plant and have different known commercial applications. The extraction of tannins generates a significant amount of low-density wastes. An alternative that can be applied to ensure energy reuse of this low-density waste is a densification process, such as briquetting. Thus, this research work aimed to assess the energy potential of the residue from the extraction of tannins of different forest species, aiming at its energy reuse in the form of briquettes. Stem barks of 6 forest species (Acacia mangium, AM; Anacardium occidentale, AO; Anadenanthera colubrina, AC; Azadirachta indica, AI; Mimosa caesalpiniaefolia, MC; Mimosa tenuiflora, MT) were used after tannin extraction. Bulk density, energy (higher, lower, and net heating value) and thermal (TG/DTG) properties, and chemical constitution (extractives, lignin, and holocellulose) of the materials were determined. In addition, briquette compaction ratio, apparent density, volumetric expansion, and water adsorption over the days were evaluated. The highest bulk densities were found in the barks of Anadenanthera colubrina (0.529 g.cm^-3) and Mimosa tenuiflora (0.407 g.cm^-3), whereas the species that showed the best result of higher heating value was Acacia mangium (20.44 MJ.kg^-1), followed by Azadirachta indica (19.39 MJ.kg^-1) and Mimosa caesalpiniifolia (18.85 MJ.kg^-1). Briquetting increased the density of the evaluated material by 2.3 to 4.9 times. All briquettes produced with wastes from tannin extraction evaluated in this work showed potential for energy production. With more information on the quantification of waste generated and data on the economic viability of production, these tannin-producing industries can benefit both environmentally and economically, by reusing these wastes for energy production.

Keywords: Briquette energy evaluation; Densification process; Renewable energy; Tannins; Waste management.

MeSH terms

Acacia*
Fabaceae*
Lignin
Tannins / chemistry
Waste Management*

Substances

Tannins
Lignin