Kobe Steel, Ltd. has developed a slurry dewatering process for low rank coals as UBC process. UBC process is an ecological and economical process because of a mild processing condition. The 5t/day UBC pilot plant has been constructed and successfully operated at Cirebon, Indonesia. We are now trying to apply this technology to a high water content biomass to produce a high quality fuel for the combustion or the gasification. We have found that a coffee grounds, water content is about 60%, can be dewatered above 90% as well as coal. And also we found that during dewatering process the coffee ground can be upgraded. Because the coffee ground is decomposed partially by thermal treatment and hot water treatment during dewatering, Oxygen to Carbon ratio (O/C) of the coffee ground is decreased about 15% and the heat of combustion can be increased 15% compared to the raw material. This slurry dewatering process is expected to be economical for the biomass energy utilization.
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