The aim of this work is to validate a new sustainable economic circle where coffee roasting companies recycle spent coffee grounds as a source of thermal energy to produce roasted coffee. The green coffee beans need a significant quantity of heat in the roasting process and this energy could be obtained from the spent coffee grounds discarded by espresso bars. According to the concept of circular economy, a coffee company collects the coffee disposed by the bars where it was brewed, and uses it in a heat generator for the roasting process. This paper presents the feasibility of SCG-wood sawdust pelletization and combustion in a 29 kWthair furnace. Results of the tests report a thermal efficiency of 41.2% instead of 37.7% obtained with only wood pellet. In addition, the case study of a small Italian roasting company is discussed. The company produces about 5 tons of roasted coffee per day and it uses 400 Nm3/day of natural gas as heat source. The company totally satisfies its energy demand through wood-coffee pellet combustion instead of natural gas. According to the business plan, the pay-back period of the investment is four years after which company CO2emissions significantly decrease.
Spent coffee grounds as heat source for coffee roasting plants: Experimental validation and case study / Allesina, Giulio; Pedrazzi, Simone; Allegretti, Francesco; Tartarini, Paolo. - In: APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING. - ISSN 1359-4311. - 126(2017), pp. 730-736.
Data di pubblicazione: | 2017 |
Titolo: | Spent coffee grounds as heat source for coffee roasting plants: Experimental validation and case study |
Autore/i: | Allesina, Giulio; Pedrazzi, Simone; Allegretti, Francesco; Tartarini, Paolo |
Autore/i UNIMORE: | |
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.applthermaleng.2017.07.202 |
Rivista: | |
Volume: | 126 |
Pagina iniziale: | 730 |
Pagina finale: | 736 |
Codice identificativo ISI: | WOS:000412251200068 |
Codice identificativo Scopus: | 2-s2.0-85026767592 |
Citazione: | Spent coffee grounds as heat source for coffee roasting plants: Experimental validation and case study / Allesina, Giulio; Pedrazzi, Simone; Allegretti, Francesco; Tartarini, Paolo. - In: APPLIED THERMAL ENGINEERING. - ISSN 1359-4311. - 126(2017), pp. 730-736. |
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