Insights into the bioenergy potential of jackfruit wastes considering their physicochemical properties, bioenergy indicators, combustion behaviors, and emission characteristics

Abstract

Around 2.96 million tons of potential feedstocks are generated annually in the form of jackfruit waste, including peels (JP) and seeds (JS). This study assessed the suitability of JP and JS as new feedstocks for combustion and their preliminary potential for bioenergy considering their physicochemical properties, bioenergy indicators, combustion behaviors and emission characteristics. The jackfruit wastes presented attractive features for direct application in combustion, such as their composition of 75.1–81.3 wt.% of volatile solids, 40.8–41.8 wt.% carbon content, a higher heating value of 16.3–17.2 MJ kg−1, and negligible amounts of nitrogen and sulfur. Their ash contents varied from 5.6 wt.% to 6.7 wt.%, similar to that of other biomass fuels. The bioenergy yield obtained for JP and JS were 2.5 TJ ha−1 yr−1 and 0.9 TJ ha−1 yr−1 (dry basis), respectively, which exceed that of well-known bioenergy crops. The use of jackfruit residues as raw material for bioenergy can be highly feasible, given the low CO, CO2 and SO2 emissions, and a considerable equivalence with reference fuels. Combustion properties of JS and JP revealed a favorable burning performance. In conclusion, the highlights of this study provide useful information for the valorization and large-scale application of jackfruit wastes and contribute to their establishment as sustainable and renewable sources of bioenergy.