1 Chemical Engineering Graduate Program, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), RN, and Brazil.
2 Department of Chemical Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Rio Grande do Norte state (RN), Brazil.
3 Department of Chemical and Biotechnological Engineering, Université de Sherbrooke (UdeS), QC, Canada.
4 Department of Petroleum Engineering, Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte (UFRN), Rio Grande do Norte state (RN), Brazil.
Research Article
Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2022, 11(02), 036–046.
Article DOI: 10.30574/gjeta.2022.11.2.0077
Received on 07 April 2022; revised on 06 May 2022; accepted on 08 May 2022
This study describes the recycling of green coconut husk powder (CHP) aimed at the sustainable production of methyl levulinate. The preliminary step involved thermogravimetric analysis of green (CHP) and residues after synthesis of methyl levulinate with the catalyst’s aluminum sulfate (CHP-AS) and titanium dioxide (CHP-TD), based on a degradation and determination of activation energy using the Ozawa-Flynn-Wall (OWF) method. Thermogravimetric analyses showed significant differences between the main constituents of CHP, CHP-AS and CHP-TD residues: hemicellulose (18.18, 9.78 and 12.17%), cellulose (44.65, 26.18 and 44.23%) and lignin (20.09, 19.89 and 19.58%), respectively. The methyl levulinate concentration obtained by the reaction between CHP and aluminum sulfate was 16.53 g.L-1, due to the participation of hemicellulose and cellulose. The results showed that the activation energies calculated using the OFW method were 142 kJ.mol-1 (CHP), 125 kJ.mol-1 (CHP-AS) and 180 kJ.mol-1 (CHP-TD).
Green Coconut Husk Powder; Thermogravimetry; Thermal Degradation; Ozawa-Flynn-Wall Method; Levulinate
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Poliana Pinheiro da Silva, Leonete Cristina de Araújo Ferreira Medeiros Silva, Eduardo Lins de Barros Neto, Paula Fabiane Pinheiro do Nascimento, Ricardo Paulo Fonseca Melo, Francisco Wendell Bezerra Lopes and Lindemberg de Jesus Nogueira. Assessment of the thermal degradation kinetics of fresh green coconut husk (Cocos nucifera L.) powder and after methyl levulinate production. Global Journal of Engineering and Technology Advances, 2022, 11(2), 036-046. Article DOI: https://doi.org/10.30574/gjeta.2022.11.2.0077
