• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2023.05a
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• pp.63-64
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• 2023

In order to reduce the high absorption ratio of spent coffee grounds, this study examined the compressive strength and absorption ratio of mortar replacing coated spent coffee grounds according to the type of water repellent. In order to examine this, as the water repellent used, a silane-based water repellent (fluorine-based water repellent) and an acrylic-based water repellent, which are film-type water repellents, and a silane/siloxane-based water repellent, which are penetration-type water repellents, were used. The spent coffee grounds were coated with each of three water repellents, and mortar was prepared by mixing cement and fine aggregate. As a result of the experiment, the compressive strength and absorption ratio of the mortar replaced with coated spent coffee grounds coated with the film-type water repellent were superior to the penetration-type water repellent. Therefore, in order to reduce the high absorption ratio of spent coffee grounds, a suitable water repellent is a film-type water repellent. Among them, it is judged that the acrylic type has excellent water repellency and is suitable.

• Journal of the Korean institute of surface engineering
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• v.54 no.4
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• pp.209-214
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• 2021

As coffee consumption per person increases annually to 323 cups in 2018, treating the spent coffee ground has arisen because spent coffee ground results in soil and air pollution. The demands of air purification filters are increasing more and more because the air pollution due to the fine dust has become worse. The spent coffee grounds had a porous structure, however, the pore was blocked by organic oil compounds. Electrocoagulation, which is one of the electrochemical methods, has the potential to remove the organic compounds. The surface area of spent coffee grounds increased effectively after the electrocoagulation treatment, and surface morphology and surface area were confirmed using SEM and BET, respectively. Using the FT-IR, both the spent coffee grounds and the electrocoagulated spent coffee grounds were characterized. The filter characteristics were examined by the adsorption test using formaldehyde, one of the air pollutants.

• Journal of Applied Biological Chemistry
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• v.66
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• pp.462-466
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• 2023

After treating spent coffee grounds with alkali, extracts were prepared by using Viscozyme and Alcalase, respectively. Treatment of spent coffee grounds with alkali and enzymes increased the content of phenolic compounds in the extracts, thus possessing the good scavenging activities on free and cation radicals. In particular, the extract obtained by continuous treatment with alkali and Alcalase on spent coffee grounds had the best content of phenolic compounds and antioxidant activity, and inhibited the growth of Streptococcus mutans in proportion to the concentration. In conclusion, the Alcalase-enzymatic hydrolysate of alkali-treated spent coffee grounds showed excellent antioxidant and anticariogenic effects.

• KSBB Journal
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2014

Wheat sprout (Triticum aestivum) shows excellent nutritional and health effects due to the contents in amino acids, minerals, and other nutrients rich in chlorophyll and vitamins. In this study, spent coffee grounds were used to cultivate the wheat sprout for 12 day. An amount of 0%, 20%, 40%, 60%, 80%, and 100% (w/w, based on commercial sterile soil media) spent coffee grounds were used under the same conditions. Total length and weight of wheat sprout, aboveand below-ground length and weight, and the chloropyll contents were compared. Soil media were analyzed before and after wheat cultivation, showing that 40% and 60% (w/w) coffee media promoted wheat growth in view of length and weight. Chlorophyll contents in each group showed almost constant values, while 100% (w/w) coffee media led to a slight decrease. In conclusion, spent coffee grounds stimulated wheat growth, showing nearly stable contents of chlorophyll.

• Clean Technology
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.59-70
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• 2023

This study aims to introduce a biowaste processing system that uses spent coffee grounds and implement a real options method to evaluate the proposed process. Energy systems based on eco-friendly fuels lack sufficient data, and thus along with conventional approaches, they lack the techno-economic assessment required for great input qualities. On the other hand, real options analysis can estimate the different costs of options, such as continuing or abandoning a project, by considering uncertainties, which can lead to better decision-making. This study investigated the feasibility of a biowaste processing method using spent coffee grounds to produce biofuel and considered three different valuation models, which were the net present value using discounted cash flow, the Black-Scholes and binomial models. The suggested biowaste processing system consumes 200 kg/h of spent coffee grounds. The system utilizes a tilted-slide pyrolysis reactor integrated with a heat exchanger to warm the air, a combustor to generate a primary heat source, and a series of condensers to harness the biofuel. The result of the net present value is South Korean Won (KRW) -225 million, the result of the binomial model is KRW 172 million, and the result of the Black-Scholes model is KRW 1,301 million. These results reveal that a spent coffee ground-related biowaste processing system is worthy of investment from a real options valuation perspective.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1205-1214
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• 2018

During the past few decades, significant increase in the consumption of coffee has led to rapid increase in the production of coffee waste in South Korea. Spent coffee waste is often treated as a general waste and is directly disposed without the necessary treatment. Spent Coffee Grounds (SCGs) can release several organic contaminants, including caffeine. In this study, leaching tests were conducted for SCGs and oxidative degradation of caffeine were also conducted. The tested SCGs contained approximately 4.4 mg caffeine per gram of coffee waste. Results from the leaching tests show that approximately 90% of the caffeine can be extracted at each step during sequential extraction. Advanced oxidation methods for the degradation of caffeine, such as $UV/H_2O_2$, photo-Fenton reaction, and $UV/O_3$, were tested. UV radiation has a limited effect on the degradation of caffeine. In particular, UV-A and UV-B radiations present in sunlight cause marginal degradation, thereby indicating that natural degradation of caffeine is minimal. However, $O_3$ can cause rapid degradation of caffeine, and the values of pseudo-first order rate constants were found to be ranging from $0.817min^{-1}$ to $1.506min^{-1}$ when the ozone generation rate was $37.1g/m^3$. Additionally, the degradation rate of caffeine is dependent on the wavelength of irradiation.

• Environmental Engineering Research
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.470-478
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• 2020

Spent coffee grounds (SCG), the residue after brewing coffee beverage, is a promising biodiesel feedstock due to its high oil contents (15-20%). However, SCG should be pretreated to reduce the high free fatty acid content, which hampers transesterification reaction. To overcome this, we explored a direct transesterification reaction of SCG using ultrasound irradiation and identified the optimal sonication parameters. A high fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) content, up to 97.2%, could be achieved with ultrasound amplitude of 99.2 ㎛, irradiation time of 10 min, and methanol to oil ratio of 7:1 in the presence of potassium hydroxide concentration of 1.25 wt.%. In addition, we demonstrated that ultrasound irradiation is an efficient method to produce biodiesel from untreated SCG in a short time with less energy than the conventional mechanical stirring method. The physical and chemical properties of the SCG biodiesel met the requirements for an alternative fuel to the current commercial biodiesel.

• Korean Journal of Organic Agriculture
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.427-439
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• 2023

The silverleaf whitefly, Bemisia tabaci, is a major pest distributing worldwide damaging over 900 host plant species, and is highly resistant to chemical pesti- cides. Due to the high pesticide resistance of whitefly, there is a need for alternatives to chemical control. Entomopathogenic fungi are candidates for biological pesticide that can overcome the resistance problem of chemical pesticide. Therefore, in this study, we tested pathogenicity of the entomopathogenic fungi to select high insec- ticidal activity against whitefly. As a result, IPBL-C (Cordyceps fumosorosea) and IPBL-F (Metarhizium pinghaense) isolates showed high insecticidal activity against whitefly. Additionally, as a result of culturing the selected isolates on spent coffee grounds medium, the conidia of IPBL-F produced on coffee grounds medium showed five times higher heat stability after heat treatment at 45℃ for one hour than conidia produced on PDA medium.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.10 no.3
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• pp.185-194
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• 2022

Coffee is one of the most consumed beverages in the world and is the second largest traded commodity after petroleum. Due to the great demand of this product, large amounts of waste is generated in the coffee industry, which are toxic and represent serious environmental problems. This study aims to study the possibility of recycling spent coffee grounds (SCG) as a mineral admixture by replacing the cement in the manufacturing of concrete. To recycle the coffee g rounds, the SCG was dried to remove moisture and fired in a kiln at 850 ℃ for 8 hours. Carbonized coffee grounds are produced as coffee grounds ash (CGA) through ball mill grinding. The chemical composition of the prepared coffee grounds ash was investigated using X-ray fluorescence (XFR). According to the chemical composition analysis, the major elements of coffee grounds ash are K₂O(51.74 %), CaO(15.92 %), P₂O₅(14.39 %), MgO(7.74 %) and SO₃(6.89 %), with small amounts of F₂O₃(0.66 %), SiO₂(0.59 %) and Al₂O₃(0.31 %) content. To evaluate quality and mechanical properties, substitutions of 5, 10, and 15 wt.% of coffee grounds ash (CGA) were tested. From the quality test results, the 28-day activity index of CGA5 reached 80 %, and the flow value ratio reached 96 %, which is comparable to the minimum requirement for second-grade FA. From the test results of the mortar, the optimal results have been found in specimens with 5 wt-% coffee grounds ash, showing good mechanical and physical properties.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.178-187
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: Spent coffee grounds are the most valuable resource for agriculture and industry. However, it is almost thrown untreated into landfills or incineration. Composting is an efficient process for converting spent coffee to fertilizer. METHODS AND RESULTS: Composting was conducted in the compost pile (40 ㎥) equipped with a forced aeration system. Physical and chemical properties containing temperature, pH, electrical conductivity, and moisture were measured through the composting period. Moreover, biological changes were examined for the composting phase using Illumina Miseq sequencing of the 16S rRNA gene. We found 7-14 phyla comprising 250-716 species from a variety phase of compost. During the composting period, Firmicutes were dominated, followed by Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria. CONCLUSION: The result indicated that the use of spent coffee improved the quality of organic fertilizer and changed the microbial communities, unique to the thermal composting stage, which could enhance the composting process. These findings suggest that spent coffee composted material can provide a significant amount of nutrients, thereby supporting plant growth.