In
this study, a novel renewable double-energy system, coupling
activated biochar production and thermoelectric generation, is conducted
and demonstrated. In the installed 13 thermoelectric modules (TEMs),
they are partitioned into three groups of 3, 4, and 6 TEMs. The temperature
difference across the TEMs depends upon the number of TEMs and is
ranked as 3 TEMs > 4 TEMs > 6 TEMs. By harvesting the waste
heat from
the carbonization of water chestnuts, the greatest mean output power
of single TEMs is 14.1 W and the mean output power of the installed
13 TEMs at the carbonization time of 10–30 min is 8.8 W. The
higher heating value of produced activated biochar is 28.17 MJ kg–1, accounting for 42.7% improvement in the calorific
value when compared to its untreated counterpart. The analysis also
suggests that heavy metals contained in this coal-like renewable solid
fuel are fairly low. The activated biochar possesses high hydrophilicity
and specific surface area (430 m2 g–1), and a large portion of pore sizes is smaller than 2 nm. The analyses
of attenuated total reflectance spectrometry, X-ray diffractometry,
and thermogravimetry also clearly indicate the impact of carbonization
on the biomass structure. Overall, the produced activated biochar
is suitable for an alternative fuel, absorbent, and soil amendment.