Valorization of cannabis waste via thermochemical processes

PAULA SAIRES; MELISA BERTERO; ULISES SEDRAN

Buenos Aires

Congreso; 11th World Congress of chemical engineering (WCCE11); 2023

Asociación Argentina de Ingenieros Químicos

Argentine national laws Nº 27.350 (2017) and 27.669 (2022) pushed the development of the cannabis industry. However, the valorization of the residual materials in the production of therapeutical products from this plant has not been explored so far. The pyrolysis of those wastes was studied to define technological options which could be developed locally, to fulfill the legislation imposing that no vegetal material should remain useful to recover cannabinoids.Four residual cannabis biomasses were studied: leaves, branches, extracted flowers and a mixture of them all. They were characterized about composition (proximal, elemental and lignocellulosic material), cannabinoid content, high heating value (HHV) and thermogravimetrical behavior. Pyrolysis were performed in a fixed bed reactor at 500ºC under nitrogen flow of 90 mL min-1 during 30 min, which produced three product streams: liquid (bio-oils), which were separated by decanting into aqueous and viscous (tar) phases, gas and solid (char). Gases were analyzed by GC-TCD, liquids by GC-FID and solids were characterized according to their proximal and elemental compositions, HHV and textural properties.