Mass and energy integration study of hydrothermal carbonization with anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

Aragón-Briceño, Christian; Ross, Andrew B.; Camargo‐Valero, Miller Alonso

doi:10.1016/j.renene.2020.11.103

Cited by 70 publications

(39 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Escala et al [151] calculated the energy balance based on assumptions regarding potential recoverable energy and showed that no additional external energy input is needed to support the reaction process for SS. These results were also confirmed by Aragón-Briceño et al [152]; the authors demonstrated that the integration of the HTC process to the AD of SS showed a positive energy balance, with a maximum net energy production of 312.9 kWh per ton of treated sludge if the hydrochar is considered as a fuel source; increasing the net energy production 10 times compared to when only biogas is used as energy source.…”

Section: Hydrothermal Carbonizationsupporting

confidence: 73%

Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review

et al. 2021

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The world is currently witnessing a rapid increase in sewage sludge (SS) production, due to the increased demand for wastewater treatment. Therefore, SS management is crucial for the economic and environmental sustainability of wastewater treatment plants. The recovery of nutrients from SS has been identified as a fundamental step to enable the transition from a linear to a circular economy, turning SS into an economic and sustainable source of materials. SS is often treated via anaerobic digestion, to pursue energy recovery via biogas generation. Anaerobically digested sewage sludge (ADS) is a valuable source of organic matter and nutrients, and significant advances have been made in recent years in methods and technologies for nutrient recovery from ADS. The purpose of this study is to provide a comprehensive overview, describing the advantages and drawbacks of the available and emerging technologies for recovery of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), and potassium (K) from ADS. This work critically reviews the established and novel technologies, which are classified by their ability to recover a specific nutrient (ammonia stripping) or to allow the simultaneous recovery of multiple elements (struvite precipitation, ion exchange, membrane technologies, and thermal treatments). This study compares the described technologies in terms of nutrient recovery efficiency, capital, and operational costs, as well as their feasibility for full-scale application, revealing the current state of the art and future perspectives on this topic.

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Section: Hydrothermal Carbonizationsupporting

confidence: 73%

Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review

et al. 2021

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“…Only a combination of physical, chemical and biological methods allowed to achieve COD reduction of 98% [91]. However, the advantage of the membrane system is the fact that retentate could still be used as an energy source e.g., for production of biogas [34,81,92], which in turn could be used to produce heat necessary for the HTC process.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) has been recently pointed out as a possibility regarding synergetic recovery of recalcitrant organic matter and water from digestate [29]. HTC is a thermal valorisation process, typically performed at temperatures typically ranging between 180 and 260 • C [30][31][32], in subcritical water, at elevated pressure, which comes from water vapour pressure as well as from gaseous products of HTC [33][34][35]. The use of HTC can enhance mechanical dewatering, as reported for various wet types of biomass [36][37][38][39].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance

et al. 2021

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New regulations aimed at curbing the problem of eutrophication introduce limitations for traditional ways to use the by-product of anaerobic digestion—the digestate. Hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) can be a viable way to valorise the digestate in an energy-efficient manner and at the same time maximise the synergy in terms of recovery of water, nutrients, followed by more efficient use of the remaining carbon. Additionally, hydrothermal treatment is a feasible way to recirculate recalcitrant process residues. Recirculation to anaerobic digestion enables recovery of a significant part of chemical energy lost in HTC by organics dissolved in the liquid effluent. Recirculating back to the HTC process can enhance nutrient recovery by making process water more acidic. However, such an effect of synergy can be exploited to its full extent only when viable separation techniques are applied to separate organic by-products of HTC and water. The results presented in this study show that using cascade membrane systems (microfiltration (MF) → ultrafiltration (UF) → nanofiltration (NF)), using polymeric membranes, can facilitate such separation. The best results were obtained by conducting sequential treatment of the liquid by-product of HTC in the following membrane sequence: MF 0.2 µm → UF PES 10 → NF NPO30P, which allowed reaching COD removal efficiency of almost 60%.

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“…However, this influence can be both positive and negative, depending on the process conditions (e.g., Figure 2). These techniques are getting increased attention as they are especially suitable for types of biomass with high moisture content [44][45][46][47][48][49]. In some of the cases, mixing of different fuels can be utilized effectively, e.g., co-firing of problematic biomass with sewage sludge [50,51] and peat [52].…”

Section: The Problem Of the Fire-side Corrosionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Non-Destructive Diagnostic Methods for Fire-Side Corrosion Risk Assessment of Industrial Scale Boilers, Burning Low Quality Solid Biofuels—A Mini Review

Hardy

Arora²,

Pawlak-Kruczek

et al. 2021

Energies

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The use of low-emission combustion technologies in power boilers has contributed to a significant increase in the rate of high-temperature corrosion in boilers and increased risk of failure. The use of low quality biomass and waste, caused by the current policies pressing on the decarbonization of the energy generation sector, might exacerbate this problem. Additionally, all of the effects of the valorization techniques on the inorganic fraction of the solid fuel have become an additional uncertainty. As a result, fast and reliable corrosion diagnostic techniques are slowly becoming a necessity to maintain the security of the energy supply for the power grid. Non-destructive testing methods (NDT) are helpful in detecting these threats. The most important NDT methods, which can be used to assess the degree of corrosion of boiler tubes, detection of the tubes’ surface roughness and the internal structural defects, have been presented in the paper. The idea of the use of optical techniques in the initial diagnosis of boiler evaporators’ surface conditions has also been presented.

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Mass and energy integration study of hydrothermal carbonization with anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge

Cited by 70 publications

References 46 publications

Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review

Exploiting the Nutrient Potential of Anaerobically Digested Sewage Sludge: A Review

Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance

Non-Destructive Diagnostic Methods for Fire-Side Corrosion Risk Assessment of Industrial Scale Boilers, Burning Low Quality Solid Biofuels—A Mini Review

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