A Prospective Study of the Exploitation of Pelagic Sargassum spp. as a Solid Biofuel Energy Source

Abstract

This study presents a prospective study for the potential exploitation of pelagic Sargassum spp. as a solid biofuel energy source. It was carried out in three stages. First we conducted a morphological, physical-chemical, and structural characterization using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and X-ray diffraction (DRX), respectively. Second we evaluated the material’s functional properties as a solid biofuel based on its calorific value and the quantification of polymeric components like hemicellulose, cellulose, and lignin, as well as thermogravimetric and differential analysis to study the kinetics of its pyrolysis and determine parameters like activation energy (Ea), reaction order (n), and the pre-exponential factor (Z). Third we analyzed the energetic potential considering the estimated volume of pelagic Sargassum spp. that was removed from beaches along the Mexican Caribbean coast in recent years. Results of the kinetic study indicate that Sargassum spp. has an enormous potential for use as a complement to other bioenergy sources. Other results show the high potential for exploiting these algae as an energy source due to the huge volumes that have inundated Caribbean, West African, and northern Brazil shorelines in recent years. As a solid biofuel, Sargassum spp. has a potential energy the order of 0.203 gigajoules (GJ)/m3. In the energy matrix of the residential sector in Mexico, its potential use as an energy source is comparable to the national consumption of firewood. The volume of beachcast Sargassum spp. that was removed from ~8 km of coastline around Puerto Morelos, Mexico in 2018–2019, could have generated over 40 terajoules/year of solid biofuel.