Researchers from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi have utilised hydrochar, derived from peels of orange, as a catalyst to convert chemicals that are sourced from biomass into biofuel precursors.
As per the team, this research will go a long way in helping develop biomass-based fuel so that the socio-political instabilities related to diminishing petroleum reserves can be overcome. As stated in a report by PTI, the research's findings have been published in the journal, Green Chemistry.
In the renewable energy community, there is a lot of interest in developing energy-efficient processes which will help convert biomass into useful chemicals, including, furl, informed Venkata Krishnan, Associate Professor, School of Basic Sciences, IIT Mandi.
Hydrochar is one of the most simple and low-cost catalysts which has been studied by researchers for biomass conversion reactions. This is usually obtained when biomass waste (in this case, orange peels) is heated via hydrothermal carbonisation process in the presence of water. Hydrochar's usage as a catalyst for biomass conversion is particularly attractive because not only is it renewable, but also because for better catalytic efficiencies, its chemical and physical structure can be altered, he informed.
Krishnan also mentioned how researchers have been able to synthesise the biofuel precursors under solventless and low-temperature conditions. What this does is brings down the cost of the process while at the same time, making it environment-friendly.
They heated dried orange peel powder along with citric acid under pressure in a hydrothermal reactor (a lab-level pressure cooker of sorts) over several hours. The hydrochar which was produced as a result was then treated with other chemicals to introduce acidic sulfonic, phosphate and nitrate functional groups to it.
"We used these three types of catalyst to bring about hydroxyalkylation alkylation (HAA) reactions between 2-methylfuran and furfural, compounds that are derived from lignocellulose, to produce fuel precursors," explained Tripti Chhabra, research scholar, as quoted in a report by PTI.
It was claimed by the researchers that this is the first comparative study, in which, the analysis of three types of acid functionalisation was done. Green metric calculations and temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) studies were also carried out to understand the catalytic activity of sulfonic, nitrate and phosphate functionalised hydrochar derived from orange peels at a deeper level.
