Coir fibers as valuable raw material for biofuel pellet production

Abstract

Coir is a natural, lignin rich, fber that can be found between the hard internal shell and the outer coat of a coconut. There are multiple products made from coir fbers but a signifcant amount of fbers accumulating from coconut processing remains unutilized. Coir fbers obtained from ripe (brown fbers) and unripe (white fbers) have a high lignin content about 41–42 wt%, a low ash content < 15 wt% and a high heating value of about 18.5–19 mj kg⁻¹. The pelletizing properties were studied in a laboratory scale, single pellet press, and produced pellets were of high mechanical properties. Dynamic mechanical thermal analysis was used to identify the glass transition temperature of coir lignin and indicated that at the applied conditions the softening of coir lignin occurs at about 120–130 °C, which is the usual temperature reached in an industrial scale pellet mill. These properties make coir a suitable raw material for fuel pellet production. Its high availability makes coir fbers a potential replacement for frewood and charcoal in developing countries, and thereby contributes to reduce deforestation.

Citation

Stelte, Wolfgang; Barsberg, Søren T.; Clemons, Craig; Morais, João Paulo Saraiva; de Freitas Rosa, Morsyleide; Sanadi, Anand R. 2018. Coir fibers as valuable raw material for biofuel pellet production. Waste and Biomass Valorization. 60(1): 44-53.