Demineralisation of Municipal Biowaste Hydrolysates

This work reports the demineralisation of soluble biorganic hyrolysates (SBOs) obtained from three materials sampled from a municipal biowaste treatment plant. The SBOs contain mineral and organic matter. They are promising bio-based multipurpose products due to their properties as biosurfactants, chemicals for the manufacture of plastics, and fertilizers for plant growth. Demineralisation of SBOs was carried out by HCl ion exchange and HF washing to assess its effect on the pristine product chemical composition and properties. The demineralized products (SBOs-DM) were characterized by elemental analysis, potentiometric titration, 13C-NMR spectroscopy and surface tension measurements. They were compared with pristine SBOs. The following results were obtained: ash content 0.2-1.1% in SBOs-DM vs. 15–28% in pristine SBOs; lower aliphatic/aromatic C ratio in SBOs-DM (0.8-2.0) than in pristine SBOs (1.3-3.4); higher critical (mineral free) micellar concentration for SBOs-DM (1-2.7 g L−1) than for pristine SBOs (1-2.3 g L−1). The potential applications of SBOs-DM and pristine SBOs are discussed.