Description:
Background:
This is a method and apparatus for obtaining biofuel from coffee. This covers several methods using different stages of the coffee bean's lifespan, most notable of which involve using coffee that has already been used to make the liquid drink coffee. This process is an efficient use of something society already makes, coffee waste. Waiting until the coffee bean has been spent eliminates key steps in the biofuel creation process: the process of roasting and extracting the bean removes many of the impurities.
Technology:
This method produces a biofuel from spent roasted coffee grounds by extracting the triglycerides in the coffee grounds and then transesterifying them. Using different methods relating to this initial process, one can create fuels that are stable for longer than the average biofuel, and have different levels of antioxidants.
Advantages:
- Using roast coffee grounds eliminates much of the process needed to transform coffee into biofuel
- The mixture is more stable than current other forms of biofuel
- The coffee beans can still be used to make coffee, opening this method of making biofuels to using leftover coffee beans from coffee shops, homes, and beverage manufacturers.
Publications
Left: Biodiesel; Right: Coffee oil used to make it.
UNR08-002
