McGill University researchers develop method to produce biofuel from fish waste using HTC

In Canada, researchers from McGill University have devised a strategy where seafood waste is pretreated by enzymatic hydrolysis for subsequent hydrothermal carbonization to produce hydrochar and biocrude liquor. Enzyme hydrolysis conditions including enzyme concentration, incubation time, and enzyme ratios were carefully optimized for maximal hydrolysis of seafood waste. By using an enzyme cocktail of Viscozyme, Lipase, and Protease, it was found that an enzyme ratio of 1:1:1 (w/w/w), and an enzyme concentration of 10–20% with a treatment time of 16 h, resulted in maximal hydrolysis of fish and shrimp waste. Subsequently, hydrochar and biocrude liquor were generated from hydrolyzed fish and shrimp waste by microwave hydrothermal carbonization (MHTC) using a high-pressure Mini WAVE Digestion Module (SCP Science, Canada) with quartz vessels at conditions of 150 °C for a 1 h reaction time. The results of this study show for the first time that MHTC can be successfully employed to produce valuable products from pure nonlignocellulosic waste like seafood waste. This would pave the way for effective utilization of other moisture-rich nonlignocellulosic industrial wastes.