Development of a solar dryer for spent coffee grounds for biodiesel production

Date of Publication

9-17-2021

Document Type

Bachelor's Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering with specialization in Mechatronics Engineering

Subject Categories

Mechanical Engineering

College

Gokongwei College of Engineering

Department/Unit

Mechanical Engineering

Honor/Award

Nominated for Gold Medal

Thesis Advisor

Aristotle T. Ubando

Defense Panel Chair

Neil Lopez

Defense Panel Member

Laurence Gan Lim
Robby Manrique

Abstract/Summary

The world consumes 10 million tons of coffee which leaves a waste product called spent coffee grounds (SCG). Typically, SCG is sent to landfills which could be harmful to the environment when improperly disposed of. With this, SCG has become an excellent source for biodiesel production after being treated. In this paper, the researchers were able to design, fabricate, and test a dryer for SCG and study its drying kinetics. Using the best setup, cabinet temperature reached 45℃ and was able to increase the humidity by 47.7%. Its performance was verified through energy analysis, statistical methods, and a two full factorial design wherein ANOVA was used to predict the average cabinet temperature and average drying rate. A mathematical model fitted in Newton’s drying kinetics model was developed to describe the drying behavior of SCG. Inside the drying cabinet the heat loss reached a maximum of 1.97 W due to a lack of insulation of the walls of the chamber. Thermal efficiencies were also found ranging from 5.8% up to 15.7% for the different treatments with the low efficiency being attributed to the small quantity of mass amounting to only 100 grams of SCG used during drying.

Abstract Format

html

Language

English

Format

Electronic

Physical Description

x, 101 leaves, color illustrations

Keywords

Solar dryers; Waste products as fuel; Biodiesel fuels

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Embargo Period

9-27-2021

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