{"id":67423,"date":"2026-06-28T11:59:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:59:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/67423\/"},"modified":"2026-06-28T11:59:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-28T11:59:09","slug":"south-korean-researchers-turn-wet-coffee-grounds-into-coal-like-fuel-in-90-seconds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/korea\/67423\/","title":{"rendered":"South Korean researchers turn wet coffee grounds into coal-like fuel in 90 seconds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Despite coffee’s popularity, the used grounds left after brewing are typically treated as waste.<\/p>\n

Now, researchers in South Korea say those waterlogged leftovers can be quickly converted into a coal-like fuel, avoiding the costly drying step that has made recycling coffee grounds difficult.<\/p>\n

What happened?<\/p>\n

The Korean researchers discovered that in just 90 seconds, coffee grounds can be converted to fuel according to their study in the Chemical Engineering Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The team at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources used a process called flame plasma pyrolysis to convert the wet coffee grounds under extreme heat into a carbon-rich biochar.<\/p>\n

The scientists used fresh coffee grounds that were about 55% water by weight, which has traditionally<\/a> made them difficult and costly to reuse.<\/p>\n

But rather than drying the grounds first, the new process exposed them to a plasma flame at temperatures between 1,470 and 1,650 degrees Fahrenheit, per Earth.com<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The water trapped inside quickly becomes steam, building pressure within the particles until they rupture in what the researchers described as the “popcorn effect.”<\/p>\n

After 90 seconds of treatment, the grounds had lost about 83% of their mass. The remaining material was a porous biochar with roughly one-third more energy density than the original grounds, putting it in the same category as anthracite, the highest-grade coal.<\/p>\n

Why does it matter?<\/p>\n

More than 20 billion pounds<\/a> of spent coffee grounds are discarded worldwide each year, and much of that waste ends up in landfills or incinerators.<\/p>\n

And when coffee waste breaks down in landfills, it releases methane<\/a>, a powerful heat-trapping gas.<\/p>\n

Because the new process eliminates the need for drying, it could make biomass waste processing both cheaper and cleaner.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The equipment is also compact enough to be used near the places that generate the waste, which could lower transportation and processing costs.<\/p>\n

The material may have uses beyond fuel. The same steam-driven bursting that creates the biochar also forms tiny pores throughout it, giving it a large internal surface area. That could make it useful in water treatment or air-cleaning systems, similar to activated carbon.<\/p>\n

Researchers who lead the project explained the importance of the study, writing<\/a>, “the proposed flame plasma pyrolysis methods offers a sustainable and energy-efficient pathway for the valorization of high-moisture organic waste, effectively overcoming the economic and technical bottlenecks associated with drying-based processes.”<\/p>\n

Get TCD’s free newsletters<\/a> for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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