Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae

Some stretches of the Brazilian coast are regularly subject to a natural process of macroalgae deposition. In urban beach areas, public institutions responsible for cleaning collect this biomass and dispose of it in landfills. When this biomass is exposed to the sun for a long time in the littoral a...

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Main Authors: Fernando Pinto Coelho, Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio, Márcio Gomes Barboza, Elica Amara Cecília Guedes-Coelho, Manoel Messias da Silva Costa, Emerson Carlos Soares da Silva, Victor Andrei Rodrigues Carneiro, Bruno Moreira Soares, Elvis Joacir de França, Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes, Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2025-03-01
Series:Plants
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Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/7/1005
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author Fernando Pinto Coelho
Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio
Márcio Gomes Barboza
Elica Amara Cecília Guedes-Coelho
Manoel Messias da Silva Costa
Emerson Carlos Soares da Silva
Victor Andrei Rodrigues Carneiro
Bruno Moreira Soares
Elvis Joacir de França
Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes
Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu
author_facet Fernando Pinto Coelho
Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio
Márcio Gomes Barboza
Elica Amara Cecília Guedes-Coelho
Manoel Messias da Silva Costa
Emerson Carlos Soares da Silva
Victor Andrei Rodrigues Carneiro
Bruno Moreira Soares
Elvis Joacir de França
Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes
Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu
author_sort Fernando Pinto Coelho
collection DOAJ
description Some stretches of the Brazilian coast are regularly subject to a natural process of macroalgae deposition. In urban beach areas, public institutions responsible for cleaning collect this biomass and dispose of it in landfills. When this biomass is exposed to the sun for a long time in the littoral area, a decomposition process begins and causes greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere. Macroalgae biomass is a natural resource that could be used for renewable energy, contributing to meeting the growing demand for low environmental impacts of energy, indicating the possibility of participating in sustainable development. The objective of this research was to evaluate the energetic potential of macroalgae biomass deposited on the Maceió coast; specifically, the combustion capacity of aggregate biomass and pellet biofuel produced with macroalgae. The research, which analysed 13 species, proceeded using a calorimetric pump methodology to determine the power heating value and a mass spectrophotometer to determine the available energetic chemical elements. The result of 8.82 MJ/Kg was similar to the main biomass used in Brazil, the sugarcane bagasse, evaluated at 8.91 MJ/Kg. Aggregated macroalgae biomass in condensed pellets with energetic composites obtained a value of 4823 Kcal/Kg, 1.2% more than the average of terrestrial biomass pellets. Therefore, these results show possibilities to produce biofuel using thermal energy from marine macroalgae biomass.
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spelling doaj-art-027243a5203e41bfaeea06dba5e00ec62025-08-20T02:15:46ZengMDPI AGPlants2223-77472025-03-01147100510.3390/plants14071005Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with MacroalgaeFernando Pinto Coelho0Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio1Márcio Gomes Barboza2Elica Amara Cecília Guedes-Coelho3Manoel Messias da Silva Costa4Emerson Carlos Soares da Silva5Victor Andrei Rodrigues Carneiro6Bruno Moreira Soares7Elvis Joacir de França8Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes9Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu10Postgraduate Program in Energy and Nuclear Technologies, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE/PROTEN), National Nuclear Energy Commission, Recife 50740-540, BrazilPostgraduate Program in Energy and Nuclear Technologies, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE/PROTEN), National Nuclear Energy Commission, Recife 50740-540, BrazilCivil Engineering Technology Centre, Federal University of Alagoas, Campus A. C. Simões, Maceió 57000-000, BrazilInstitute of Biological and Health Sciences (ICBS), Federal University of Alagoas, Campus A. C. Simões, Maceió 57000-000, BrazilFederal Institute of Alagoas/IFAL, Brazilian Regional University (UNIRB), Maceió 57035-660, BrazilAquaculture and Aquatic Ecology, Laboratory of Center of Engineering and Agricultural Science, Federal University of Alagoas, Campus—(CECA), Rio Largo 57072-016, BrazilInstitute of Biological Sciences, University of Sao Paulo, São Paulo 05508-220, BrazilInstitute of Science, Technology and Innovation—Proalga Brazil—ICTI, São Paulo 01109-060, BrazilNortheast Regional Centre for Nuclear Sciences, Recife 50740-545, BrazilPostgraduate Program in Energy and Nuclear Technologies, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE/PROTEN), National Nuclear Energy Commission, Recife 50740-540, BrazilPostgraduate Program in Energy and Nuclear Technologies, Federal University of Pernambuco (UFPE/PROTEN), National Nuclear Energy Commission, Recife 50740-540, BrazilSome stretches of the Brazilian coast are regularly subject to a natural process of macroalgae deposition. In urban beach areas, public institutions responsible for cleaning collect this biomass and dispose of it in landfills. When this biomass is exposed to the sun for a long time in the littoral area, a decomposition process begins and causes greenhouse gas emission into the atmosphere. Macroalgae biomass is a natural resource that could be used for renewable energy, contributing to meeting the growing demand for low environmental impacts of energy, indicating the possibility of participating in sustainable development. The objective of this research was to evaluate the energetic potential of macroalgae biomass deposited on the Maceió coast; specifically, the combustion capacity of aggregate biomass and pellet biofuel produced with macroalgae. The research, which analysed 13 species, proceeded using a calorimetric pump methodology to determine the power heating value and a mass spectrophotometer to determine the available energetic chemical elements. The result of 8.82 MJ/Kg was similar to the main biomass used in Brazil, the sugarcane bagasse, evaluated at 8.91 MJ/Kg. Aggregated macroalgae biomass in condensed pellets with energetic composites obtained a value of 4823 Kcal/Kg, 1.2% more than the average of terrestrial biomass pellets. Therefore, these results show possibilities to produce biofuel using thermal energy from marine macroalgae biomass.https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/7/1005biomassbioenergycalorific valuecombustionmacroalgaepellets
spellingShingle Fernando Pinto Coelho
Everardo Valadares de Sá Barreto Sampaio
Márcio Gomes Barboza
Elica Amara Cecília Guedes-Coelho
Manoel Messias da Silva Costa
Emerson Carlos Soares da Silva
Victor Andrei Rodrigues Carneiro
Bruno Moreira Soares
Elvis Joacir de França
Rômulo Simões Cezar Menezes
Cesar Augusto Moraes de Abreu
Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
Plants
biomass
bioenergy
calorific value
combustion
macroalgae
pellets
title Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
title_full Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
title_fullStr Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
title_full_unstemmed Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
title_short Renewable Energy from Beach-Cast Seaweed: Calorific Power Heating Studies with Macroalgae
title_sort renewable energy from beach cast seaweed calorific power heating studies with macroalgae
topic biomass
bioenergy
calorific value
combustion
macroalgae
pellets
url https://www.mdpi.com/2223-7747/14/7/1005
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