Valorization of marine residue (Egagropili) through one-pot alcoholysis for butyl levulinate production

Egagropili are fibrous spheres formed mostly from sheath debris of Posidonia Oceanica, which are difficult to degrade and tend to accumulate in an uncontrolled manner on Mediterranean beaches, causing various environmental problems. The cellulose fraction of this waste was converted into n-butyl levulinate (BL), which is one of the most promising fuel blending additive for diesel engine. The conversion was performed under microwave heating, which represents an alternative and more efficient heating system than the traditional one. The optimization of the alcoholysis was carried out by properly tuning the temperature, the biomass loading and the acid loading. The highest BL yield of 42 mol% was achieved starting from the raw Posidonia Oceanica. In conclusion, for the first time, Posidonia Oceanica balls have been employed as low-value feedstock for the BL production, a promising fuel additive, through a one-pot alcoholysis reaction.