Ingeniería y Gestión Industrial

Microwave-assisted Liquefaction of Cork - From an Industrial Waste to Sustainable Chemicals

Abstract

dos Santos RG, Bordado JC and Mateus MM

Cork wastes and by-products were used as raw materials to access sustainable biopolyols in a fast and clean manner. Contributing for the mitigation of a residue recorded as industrial residues in the European waste catalogue and hazardous waste list reducing, therefore, its environmental impact. Cork powder resulting from the cork industry as a waste and/or by-products with no commercial value was subjected to liquefaction in 2-ethyl hexanol/DEG in the presence of p-toluene sulfuric acid. Microwave radiation was used as the heating source. Pulsed microwaves from 150-300 W power were applied for 5-20 min. This alternative energy source was successfully applied leading to a high conversion of cork powder into liquid biopolyols. The efficiency of liquefaction increased with higher microwave power and shorter reaction time. This study evidenced that cork powder can be liquidized via microwave. ATR experiments indicated that microwave led to a more intense oxidized cleavage of the lignocellulosic material and more extensive liquefaction reaction when compared to the conventional procedure.