Journal of Fundamentals of Renewable Energy and Applications
Open Access
ISSN: 2090-4541
ISSN: 2090-4541
Nancy Quaranta, Marta Caligaris, Miguel Unsen, Adrian Cristobal, Jose Valentini and Maximiliano Delfino
National Technological University, Argentina
National University of Mar del Plata National University, Argentina
Scientific Tracks Abstracts: J Fundam Renewable Energy Appl
The objective of this work is to characterize a residual biomass material, salted pistachio shells, from both a physico-chemical and an environmental point of view, in order to analyze its possible valorization. Studies on pyrolysis of pistachio shells for energy production have been carried out by various authors. It was observed to have low heat capacity when compared to coal which is traditionally used. Furthermore, the activated carbon manufacturing and adsorption of heavy metals have been studied. These were analyzed using different characterization techniques: Optical Microscopy (OM), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), X-ray diffraction, loss On Ignition (LOI), thermogravimetric and differential thermal analysis (DTA-TGA), ecotoxicity and emission during calcinations, among others. This material has a microscopic structure in the form of fibers, with resistant characteristics, and are mainly composed of C and O (98%), containing small percentages of Na, K, Cl, Ca and Si. But when washed Na, K and Cl are not detected by EDS. The DTA-TGA analysis shows combustion-decomposition exothermic reactions in the range 200�?°C - 470�?°C that were assigned to hemicellulose, cellulose and lignin. From these assays, a total weight loss of 98.2% of the original sample has been determined. These values have been compared with the test LOI which was performed in the laboratory, whose results were about 99.5%. The XRD pattern shows four reflexion peaks for 2�?¸values of 16.7, 21.7, 34.7 and 44.4, which are assigned to microcrystalline cellulose. According to the obtained results, different new alternatives for recycling this waste are discussed.
Nancy Quaranta has obtained her PhD in Chemistry from the Universidad Nacional del Sur (Argentina). She is a Researcher of the Scientific Research Commission of Buenos Aires Province. She is the Head of Environmental Studies Group and materials program Coordinator at the Universidad Tecnológica Nacional, Argentina. Her current research fields are the Materials and Environmental Sciences.
Email: nancyquaranta@gmail.com