OPTIMIZING THE PROCESS OF TRANSFORMING COFFEE HUSKS INTO BIOCHAR BY MEANS OF HYDROTHERMAL CARBONIZATION

The conditions of the hydrothermal carbonization process to produce biochar from coffee husk will be optimized for maximum yield. Besides, response surface methodology (RSM) and central composite face-centered (CCF) method will be used in designing experiments. Also, the optimal value of factors such as temperature, time and biomass: water ratio which can provide a maximum yield of biochar will be worked out using Modde 5.0. As a result, the optimal conditions for maximum yield of biochar was obtained as temperature of 180 oC, 3.5 h and biomass: water ratio of 15 %. It can also be concluded that temperature has greater impact on the transformation of biochar than time and biomass: water ratio.