Fuel compositions based on binders from cutin-containing materials

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11085003-B2
Application number	US-201916381726-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 11, 2019
Priority date	Apr 11, 2018
Publication date	Aug 10, 2021
Grant date	Aug 10, 2021

Abstract

Embodiments of the present disclosure describe water-resistant and durably high energy-density binder materials from cutin-containing materials, methods of making the binder materials, fuel compositions comprising the binder materials, methods of forming the fuel compositions in the form of pellets and/or briquettes, and the like.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method of making a binder material, comprising:
contacting a cutin-containing material with a liquid solvent to obtain a first extract, wherein the cutin-containing material sourced from fruits or vegetables;
separating the cutin-containing material from the first extract;
contacting the cutin-containing material with an alkali solution to obtain a second extract including salts of one or more omega-hydroxy fatty acids;
separating the second extract from at least residual alkali, residual liquid solvent, and the cutin-containing material;
contacting the second extract with water and an acid to form crude precipitates; and
separating the crude precipitates from at least the water and acid to obtain a binder material, wherein the binder material is a mixture of omega-hydroxy fatty acids, sterols, and waxes.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the liquid solvent is one or more of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, 2-propanol, acetone, chloroform, dichloromethane, xylenes, o-dichlorobenzene (ODCB), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO), tetrahydrofuran (THF), ethyl acetate, benzene, and dimethylformamide (DMF), wherein the cutin-containing material is contacted with the liquid solvent at a temperature in the range of about 60° C. to about 83° C.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein a proportion of the cutin-containing material/liquid solvent is in the range of about 1/5 to about 1/10 (w/v).

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the alkali solution comprises NaOH and/or KOH in water and one or more of methanol, ethanol, 1-propanol, and 2-propanol.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein a proportion of the cutin-containing material/alkali solution is in the range of about 6/1 to about 15/1 (w/v).

6. The method of claim, 1 , wherein the contacting of the second extract with water and an acid includes contacting the second extract with water and subsequently contacting the second extract with HCl to adjust a pH of the solution to a pH of about 3 to about 6.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binder material comprises about 15% (w/w) or less of triterpenes.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the binder material comprises:
(a) omega-hydroxy fatty acids, wherein the omega-hydroxy fatty acids include phloionolic acid, 9,10-epoxy-18-hydroxyoctadecanoic acid, 18-hydroxyoctadec-9-enoic acid, 16-hydroxyhexadecanoic acid, and 9,10,12,13,18-pentahydroxyoctadecanoic acid;
(b) sterols, wherein the sterols include sitosterol and schottenol;
(c) waxes, wherein the waxes include octacosanol, glycerol, methyl palmitate, methyl linoleate, methyl oleate, and methyl hexacosanoate;
(d) glycerol, methyl linoleate, and methyl oleate; and
(e) about 5% (w/w) to about 10% (w/w) of triterpenes, wherein the triterpenes include oleanolic acid and ursolic acid.

Assignees

• Univ Minnesota

Inventors

• Kolomitsyna Oksana
• Young Matthew
• Hagen Timothy
• Fosnacht Donald
• Singsaas Eric

Classifications

• C10L5/04 Primary

  Raw material {of mineral origin} to be used; Pretreatment thereof {(pretreatment of fuels of non-mineral origin C10L5/40)} · CPC title

• C10L5/363

  Pellets or granulates · CPC title

• C10L5/40 Primary

  essentially based on materials of non-mineral origin · CPC title

• C10L5/361

  Briquettes · CPC title

• C10L2200/04

  Organic compounds · CPC title