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US 2019/0316050 A1Published application
Fuel compositions based on binders from cutin-containing materials
AssigneeRegents of the University of Minnesota
InventorsOksana Kolomitsyna, Matthew Young, Timothy Hagen, Donald Fostnacht, Eric Singsaas
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Abstract
Embodiments of the present disclosure describe water-resistant and durably high energy-density binder materials from cutin-containing materials, methods of making the binder materials, fuel compositions comprising the binder materials, methods of forming the fuel compositions in the form of pellets and/or briquettes, and the like.
Claims20
A method of making a binder material from cranberry pomace, comprising:
- contacting a cutin-containing material with a liquid solvent to obtain a first extract, wherein the cutin-containing material sourced from fruits or vegetables;
- separating the cutin-containing material from the first extract;
- contacting the cutin-containing material with an alkali solution to obtain a second extract including salts of one or more omega-hydroxy fatty acids;
- separating the second extract from at least residual alkali, residual liquid solvent, and the cutin-containing material;
- contacting the second extract with water and an acid to form crude precipitates;
- and
- separating the crude precipitates from at least the water and acid to obtain a binder material, wherein the binder material is a mixture of omega-hydroxy fatty acids, sterols, and waxes.
4 more elements
A method of making a fuel composition, comprising:
- mixing a binder material with a fuel source and water to form a mixture with a moisture content of 20% or less,
- wherein the binder material is optionally heated prior to the mixing to form a flowing binder material;
- and
- compressing the mixture to form either pellets of the fuel source or briquettes of the fuel source.
1 more element
A fuel composition, comprising:
- pellets or briquettes of a fuel source, wherein the pellets or briquettes of the fuel source comprise:
- at least about 75% (w/w) fuel source;
- at least about 2% to 25% (w/w) binder material, wherein the binder material is a mixture comprising omega-hydroxy fatty acids, sterols, and waxes.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.