IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v299y2024ics0360544224012295.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Co-hydrothermal carbonization as a potential method of utilising digested sludge and screenings from wastewater treatment plants towards energy application

Author

Listed:
  • Kossińska, Nina
  • Grosser, Anna
  • Kwapińska, Marzena
  • Kwapiński, Witold
  • Ghazal, Heba
  • Jouhara, Hussam
  • Krzyżyńska, Renata

Abstract

Anaerobic digestion is one of the most recommended methods for utilising sewage sludge produced by wastewater treatment plants. However, the increasing amount of micropollutants in digested sludge can significantly limit its future utilisation. Recent studies suggests that the hydrothermal carbonization process can be used as a complementary method for sludge management, due to the improved quality of solid products - hydrochar. Moreover, this allows for the possibility of reusing liquid by-products in the anaerobic digestion process for biogas production. However, hydrochar generated from hydrothermal carbonization has a higher concentration of heavy metals and low energy value, which limits its use in agriculture and energy sectors. This study highlights a partial resolution to this problem, by mixing digested sludge with screenings in the co-hydrothermal carbonization process. The findings of this study show improvements in the properties of hydrochar including total solids measured according to ISO, inorganic fractions determined by inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry and higher calorific values measured by the calorimetric bomb. Biomethane potential tests were conducted on liquid by-products. The results showed an average increase in biomethane potential from liquids obtained from co-hydrothermal carbonization compared to liquids from hydrothermal carbonization of digested sludge without screenings in series 1, 2 and 3 - up to 60 %, 40 % and 26 % for three different sludges with initial total solids content of 2.6 %, 12.5 % and 21.5 % w/w.

Suggested Citation

  • Kossińska, Nina & Grosser, Anna & Kwapińska, Marzena & Kwapiński, Witold & Ghazal, Heba & Jouhara, Hussam & Krzyżyńska, Renata, 2024. "Co-hydrothermal carbonization as a potential method of utilising digested sludge and screenings from wastewater treatment plants towards energy application," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 299(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:299:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224012295
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2024.131456
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544224012295
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2024.131456?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wilk, Małgorzata & Śliz, Maciej & Lubieniecki, Bogusław, 2021. "Hydrothermal co-carbonization of sewage sludge and fuel additives: Combustion performance of hydrochar," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1046-1056.
    2. Malinauskaite, J. & Jouhara, H. & Czajczyńska, D. & Stanchev, P. & Katsou, E. & Rostkowski, P. & Thorne, R.J. & Colón, J. & Ponsá, S. & Al-Mansour, F. & Anguilano, L. & Krzyżyńska, R. & López, I.C. & , 2017. "Municipal solid waste management and waste-to-energy in the context of a circular economy and energy recycling in Europe," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 141(C), pages 2013-2044.
    3. Aragón-Briceño, C.I. & Grasham, O. & Ross, A.B. & Dupont, V. & Camargo-Valero, M.A., 2020. "Hydrothermal carbonization of sewage digestate at wastewater treatment works: Influence of solid loading on characteristics of hydrochar, process water and plant energetics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 157(C), pages 959-973.
    4. Lu, Xiaoluan & Ma, Xiaoqian & Chen, Xinfei, 2021. "Co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and lignocellulosic biomass: Fuel properties and heavy metal transformation behaviour of hydrochars," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    5. Aragón-Briceño, C.I. & Ross, A.B. & Camargo-Valero, M.A., 2021. "Mass and energy integration study of hydrothermal carbonization with anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 167(C), pages 473-483.
    6. Lund, Henrik & Østergaard, Poul Alberg & Connolly, David & Mathiesen, Brian Vad, 2017. "Smart energy and smart energy systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 556-565.
    7. Liu, Xiangmin & Fan, Yuwei & Zhai, Yunbo & Liu, Xiaoping & Wang, Zhexian & Zhu, Ya & Shi, Haoran & Li, Caiting & Zhu, Yun, 2022. "Co-hydrothermal carbonization of rape straw and microalgae: pH-enhanced carbonization process to obtain clean hydrochar," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    8. Fabio Merzari & Jillian Goldfarb & Gianni Andreottola & Tanja Mimmo & Maurizio Volpe & Luca Fiori, 2020. "Hydrothermal Carbonization as a Strategy for Sewage Sludge Management: Influence of Process Withdrawal Point on Hydrochar Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-22, June.
    9. Shen, Qian & Zhu, Xianqing & Peng, Yang & Xu, Mian & Huang, Yun & Xia, Ao & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2024. "Structure evolution characteristic of hydrochar and nitrogen transformation mechanism during co-hydrothermal carbonization process of microalgae and biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    10. Wang, Liping & Chang, Yuzhi & Li, Aimin, 2019. "Hydrothermal carbonization for energy-efficient processing of sewage sludge: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 423-440.
    11. Kiran R. Parmar & Aaron E. Brown & James M. Hammerton & Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero & Louise A. Fletcher & Andrew B. Ross, 2022. "Co-Processing Lignocellulosic Biomass and Sewage Digestate by Hydrothermal Carbonisation: Influence of Blending on Product Quality," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(4), pages 1-21, February.
    12. Zhang, Qiang & Mu, Kai & Han, Jun & Qin, Linbo & Zhao, Bo & Yi, Linlin, 2023. "Low nitrogen and high value hydrochar preparation through co-hydrothermal carbonization of sludge and saw dust with acid/alcohol assistance," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 278(PB).
    13. Meneses-Quelal, W.O. & Velázquez-Martí, B. & Gaibor-Chávez, J. & Niño-Ruiz, Z., 2021. "Biochemical potential of methane (BMP) of camelid waste and the Andean region agricultural crops," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 406-415.
    14. Czerwińska, Klaudia & Śliz, Maciej & Wilk, Małgorzata, 2022. "Hydrothermal carbonization process: Fundamentals, main parameter characteristics and possible applications including an effective method of SARS-CoV-2 mitigation in sewage sludge. A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    15. Xu, Zhi-Xiang & Song, Hao & Zhang, Shu & Tong, Si-Qi & He, Zhi-Xia & Wang, Qian & Li, Bin & Hu, Xun, 2019. "Co-hydrothermal carbonization of digested sewage sludge and cow dung biogas residue: Investigation of the reaction characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    16. Urbanowska, Agnieszka & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Wnukowski, Mateusz & Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Małgorzata & Baranowski, Marcin & Czerep, Michał & Seruga, Przemysław & Pawlak-Krucze, 2023. "Recovery of chemical energy from retentates from cascade membrane filtration of hydrothermal carbonisation effluent," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    17. Kossińska, Nina & Krzyżyńska, Renata & Ghazal, Heba & Jouhara, Hussam, 2023. "Hydrothermal carbonisation of sewage sludge and resulting biofuels as a sustainable energy source," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    18. Ma, Jing & Chen, Mengjun & Yang, Tianxue & Liu, Zhengang & Jiao, Wentao & Li, Dong & Gai, Chao, 2019. "Gasification performance of the hydrochar derived from co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and sawdust," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 732-739.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Kossińska, Nina & Krzyżyńska, Renata & Ghazal, Heba & Jouhara, Hussam, 2023. "Hydrothermal carbonisation of sewage sludge and resulting biofuels as a sustainable energy source," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 275(C).
    2. Czerwińska, Klaudia & Śliz, Maciej & Wilk, Małgorzata, 2022. "Hydrothermal carbonization process: Fundamentals, main parameter characteristics and possible applications including an effective method of SARS-CoV-2 mitigation in sewage sludge. A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    3. Cui, Da & Zhang, Bowen & Wu, Shuang & Xu, Xiangming & Liu, Bin & Wang, Qing & Zhang, Xuehua & Zhang, Jinghui, 2024. "From sewage sludge and lignocellulose to hydrochar by co-hydrothermal carbonization: Mechanism and combustion characteristics," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    4. Ioannis O. Vardiambasis & Theodoros N. Kapetanakis & Christos D. Nikolopoulos & Trinh Kieu Trang & Toshiki Tsubota & Ramazan Keyikoglu & Alireza Khataee & Dimitrios Kalderis, 2020. "Hydrochars as Emerging Biofuels: Recent Advances and Application of Artificial Neural Networks for the Prediction of Heating Values," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-20, September.
    5. Dilvin Cebi & Melih Soner Celiktas & Hasan Sarptas, 2022. "A Review on Sewage Sludge Valorization via Hydrothermal Carbonization and Applications for Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 1345-1367, December.
    6. Vishwajeet & Halina Pawlak-Kruczek & Marcin Baranowski & Michał Czerep & Artur Chorążyczewski & Krystian Krochmalny & Michał Ostrycharczyk & Paweł Ziółkowski & Paweł Madejski & Tadeusz Mączka & Amit A, 2022. "Entrained Flow Plasma Gasification of Sewage Sludge–Proof-of-Concept and Fate of Inorganics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-14, March.
    7. Wilk, Małgorzata & Śliz, Maciej & Czerwińska, Klaudia & Gajek, Marcin & Kalemba-Rec, Izabela, 2024. "Improvements in dewaterability and fuel properties of hydrochars derived from hydrothermal co-carbonization of sewage sludge and organic waste," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    8. Maciej Śliz & Klaudia Czerwińska & Aneta Magdziarz & Lidia Lombardi & Małgorzata Wilk, 2022. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of the Wet Fraction from Mixed Municipal Solid Waste: A Fuel and Structural Analysis of Hydrochars," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-15, September.
    9. Urbanowska, Agnieszka & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Wnukowski, Mateusz & Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Małgorzata & Baranowski, Marcin & Czerep, Michał & Seruga, Przemysław & Pawlak-Krucze, 2023. "Recovery of chemical energy from retentates from cascade membrane filtration of hydrothermal carbonisation effluent," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    10. Salah Jellali & Antonis A. Zorpas & Sulaiman Alhashmi & Mejdi Jeguirim, 2022. "Recent Advances in Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-6, September.
    11. Djandja, Oraléou Sangué & Kang, Shimin & Huang, Zizhi & Li, Junqiao & Feng, Jiaqi & Tan, Zaiming & Salami, Adekunlé Akim & Lougou, Bachirou Guene, 2023. "Machine learning prediction of fuel properties of hydrochar from co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and lignocellulosic biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 271(C).
    12. Petrovič, Aleksandra & Cenčič Predikaka, Tjaša & Parlov Vuković, Jelena & Jednačak, Tomislav & Hribernik, Silvo & Vohl, Sabina & Urbancl, Danijela & Tišma, Marina & Čuček, Lidija, 2024. "Sustainable hydrothermal co-carbonization of residues from the vegetable oil industry and sewage sludge: Hydrochar production and liquid fraction valorisation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    13. Wądrzyk, Mariusz & Korzeniowski, Łukasz & Plata, Marek & Janus, Rafał & Lewandowski, Marek & Michalik, Marek & Magdziarz, Aneta, 2023. "Pyrolysis of hydrochars obtained from blackcurrant pomace in single and binary solvent systems," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 383-394.
    14. Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Pożarlik, Artur & Bramer, Eddy & Brem, Gerrit & Wang, Shule & Wen, Yuming & Yang, Weihong & Pawlak-Kruczek, Halina & Niedźwiecki, Łukasz & Urbanowska, Agnieszka & Mościcki,, 2022. "Integration of hydrothermal carbonization treatment for water and energy recovery from organic fraction of municipal solid waste digestate," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 184(C), pages 577-591.
    15. Shen, Qian & Zhu, Xianqing & Peng, Yang & Xu, Mian & Huang, Yun & Xia, Ao & Zhu, Xun & Liao, Qiang, 2024. "Structure evolution characteristic of hydrochar and nitrogen transformation mechanism during co-hydrothermal carbonization process of microalgae and biomass," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 295(C).
    16. Magdziarz, Aneta & Mlonka-Mędrala, Agata & Sieradzka, Małgorzata & Aragon-Briceño, Christian & Pożarlik, Artur & Bramer, Eddy A. & Brem, Gerrit & Niedzwiecki, Łukasz & Pawlak-Kruczek, Halina, 2021. "Multiphase analysis of hydrochars obtained by anaerobic digestion of municipal solid waste organic fraction," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 175(C), pages 108-118.
    17. Dinko Đurđević & Saša Žiković & Paolo Blecich, 2022. "Sustainable Sewage Sludge Management Technologies Selection Based on Techno-Economic-Environmental Criteria: Case Study of Croatia," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(11), pages 1-23, May.
    18. Li, Sarengaowa & Chen, Heng & Gao, Yue & Fan, Lanxin & Pan, Peiyuan & Xu, Gang, 2024. "A novel waste-to-energy system based on sludge hydrothermal treatment and medical waste plasma gasification and integrated with the waste heat recovery of a cement plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    19. Djandja, Oraléou Sangué & Salami, Adekunlé Akim & Wang, Zhi-Cong & Duo, Jia & Yin, Lin-Xin & Duan, Pei-Gao, 2022. "Random forest-based modeling for insights on phosphorus content in hydrochar produced from hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 245(C).
    20. Vlasopoulos, Antonis & Malinauskaite, Jurgita & Żabnieńska-Góra, Alina & Jouhara, Hussam, 2023. "Life cycle assessment of plastic waste and energy recovery," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:299:y:2024:i:c:s0360544224012295. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.