IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v12y2019i5p858-d211018.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Various Paper Mill Sludges: An Observation of Solid Fuel Properties

Author

Listed:
  • Nepu Saha

    (Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA)

  • Akbar Saba

    (Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA)

  • Pretom Saha

    (Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA)

  • Kyle McGaughy

    (Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA)

  • Diana Franqui-Villanueva

    (USDA-PWA, ARS, WRRC, BCE, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA)

  • William J. Orts

    (USDA-PWA, ARS, WRRC, BCE, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA)

  • William M. Hart-Cooper

    (USDA-PWA, ARS, WRRC, BCE, 800 Buchanan Street, Albany, CA 94710, USA)

  • M. Toufiq Reza

    (Institute for Sustainable Energy and the Environment, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA
    Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Ohio University, Athens, OH 45701, USA)

Abstract

Each year the pulp and paper industries generate enormous amounts of effluent treatment sludge. The sludge is made up of various fractions including primary, secondary, deinked, fiber rejects sludge, etc. The goal of this study was to evaluate the fuel properties of the hydrochars produced from various types of paper mill sludges (PMS) at 180 °C, 220 °C, and 260 °C. The hydrochars, as well as the raw feedstocks, were characterized by means of ultimate analysis, proximate analysis, moisture, ash, lignin, sugar, and higher heating value (HHV daf ) measurements. Finally, combustion indices of selected hydrochars were evaluated and compared with bituminous coal. The results showed that HHV daf of hydrochar produced at 260 °C varied between 11.4 MJ/kg and 31.5 MJ/kg depending on the feedstock. This implies that the fuel application of hydrochar produced from PMS depends on the quality of feedstocks rather than the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) temperature. The combustion indices also showed that when hydrochars are co-combusted with coal, they have similar combustion indices to that of coal alone. However, based on the energy and ash contents in the produced hydrochars, Primary and Secondary Sludge (PPS 2 ) could be a viable option for co-combustion with coal in an existing coal-fired power plant.

Suggested Citation

  • Nepu Saha & Akbar Saba & Pretom Saha & Kyle McGaughy & Diana Franqui-Villanueva & William J. Orts & William M. Hart-Cooper & M. Toufiq Reza, 2019. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Various Paper Mill Sludges: An Observation of Solid Fuel Properties," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(5), pages 1-18, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:5:p:858-:d:211018
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/5/858/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/12/5/858/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Michela Lucian & Luca Fiori, 2017. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Waste Biomass: Process Design, Modeling, Energy Efficiency and Cost Analysis," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, February.
    2. Mun, Tae-Young & Tumsa, Tefera Zelalem & Lee, Uendo & Yang, Won, 2016. "Performance evaluation of co-firing various kinds of biomass with low rank coals in a 500 MWe coal-fired power plant," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 115(P1), pages 954-962.
    3. Hao Rong & Teng Wang & Min Zhou & Hao Wang & Haobo Hou & Yongjie Xue, 2017. "Combustion Characteristics and Slagging during Co-Combustion of Rice Husk and Sewage Sludge Blends," Energies, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-13, March.
    4. He, Chao & Giannis, Apostolos & Wang, Jing-Yuan, 2013. "Conversion of sewage sludge to clean solid fuel using hydrothermal carbonization: Hydrochar fuel characteristics and combustion behavior," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 257-266.
    5. Yanfen, Liao & Xiaoqian, Ma, 2010. "Thermogravimetric analysis of the co-combustion of coal and paper mill sludge," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 87(11), pages 3526-3532, November.
    6. Wang, Tengfei & Zhai, Yunbo & Zhu, Yun & Li, Caiting & Zeng, Guangming, 2018. "A review of the hydrothermal carbonization of biomass waste for hydrochar formation: Process conditions, fundamentals, and physicochemical properties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 223-247.
    7. Gao, Ying & Wang, Xianhua & Wang, Jun & Li, Xiangpeng & Cheng, Jianjun & Yang, Haiping & Chen, Hanping, 2013. "Effect of residence time on chemical and structural properties of hydrochar obtained by hydrothermal carbonization of water hyacinth," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 58(C), pages 376-383.
    8. Silvia Román & Judy Libra & Nicole Berge & Eduardo Sabio & Kyoung Ro & Liang Li & Beatriz Ledesma & Andrés Álvarez & Sunyoung Bae, 2018. "Hydrothermal Carbonization: Modeling, Final Properties Design and Applications: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(1), pages 1-28, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Clara Lisseth Mendoza Martinez & Ekaterina Sermyagina & Esa Vakkilainen, 2021. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Chemical and Biological Pulp Mill Sludges," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(18), pages 1-18, September.
    2. Nepu Saha & Maurizio Volpe & Luca Fiori & Roberto Volpe & Antonio Messineo & M. Toufiq Reza, 2020. "Cationic Dye Adsorption on Hydrochars of Winery and Citrus Juice Industries Residues: Performance, Mechanism, and Thermodynamics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-16, September.
    3. Tianjiao Cheng & Andante Hadi Pandyaswargo & Hiroshi Onoda, 2020. "Comparison of Torrefaction and Hydrothermal Treatment as Pretreatment Technologies for Rice Husks," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Manfredi Picciotto Maniscalco & Maurizio Volpe & Antonio Messineo, 2020. "Hydrothermal Carbonization as a Valuable Tool for Energy and Environmental Applications: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-26, August.
    5. Fakudze, Sandile & Wei, Yingyuan & Shang, Qianqian & Ma, Ru & Li, Yueh-Heng & Chen, Jianqiang & Zhou, Peiguo & Han, Jiangang & Liu, Chengguo, 2021. "Single-pot upgrading of run-of-mine coal and rice straw via Taguchi-optimized hydrothermal treatment: Fuel properties and synergistic effects," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 236(C).
    6. Michela Lucian & Fabio Merzari & Michele Gubert & Antonio Messineo & Maurizio Volpe, 2021. "Industrial-Scale Hydrothermal Carbonization of Agro-Industrial Digested Sludge: Filterability Enhancement and Phosphorus Recovery," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    7. Md Rifat Hasan & Nepu Saha & Thomas Quaid & M. Toufiq Reza, 2021. "Formation of Carbon Quantum Dots via Hydrothermal Carbonization: Investigate the Effect of Precursors," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(4), pages 1-10, February.
    8. 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.
    9. Jiang, Hewei & Lu, Ping & Xue, Zeyu & Wu, Hao & Zhao, Mingxing & Gong, Ruhao, 2024. "Blended torrefaction of combustible construction solid wastes and paper sludge on its combustion characteristics and migration of heavy metals and Cl," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 231(C).
    10. Shona M. Duncan & Malek Alkasrawi & Raghu Gurram & Fares Almomani & Amy E Wiberley-Bradford & Eric Singsaas, 2020. "Paper Mill Sludge as a Source of Sugars for Use in the Production of Bioethanol and Isoprene," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(18), pages 1-12, September.
    11. Hatem Abushammala & Muhammad Adil Masood & Salma Taqi Ghulam & Jia Mao, 2023. "On the Conversion of Paper Waste and Rejects into High-Value Materials and Energy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-21, April.

    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. Tiago Teribele & Maria Elizabeth Gemaque Costa & Conceição de Maria Sales da Silva & Lia Martins Pereira & Lucas Pinto Bernar & Douglas Alberto Rocha de Castro & Fernanda Paula da Costa Assunção & Mar, 2023. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover: Structural Evolution of Hydro-Char and Degradation Kinetics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, April.
    2. Heidari, Mohammad & Salaudeen, Shakirudeen & Arku, Precious & Acharya, Bishnu & Tasnim, Syeda & Dutta, Animesh, 2021. "Development of a mathematical model for hydrothermal carbonization of biomass: Comparison of experimental measurements with model predictions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 214(C).
    3. Villamil, J.A. & Mohedano, A.F. & San Martín, J. & Rodriguez, J.J. & de la Rubia, M.A., 2020. "Anaerobic co-digestion of the process water from waste activated sludge hydrothermally treated with primary sewage sludge. A new approach for sewage sludge management," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 146(C), pages 435-443.
    4. Zhuang, Xiuzheng & Liu, Jianguo & Zhang, Qi & Wang, Chenguang & Zhan, Hao & Ma, Longlong, 2022. "A review on the utilization of industrial biowaste via hydrothermal carbonization," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 154(C).
    5. Azzaz, Ahmed Amine & Khiari, Besma & Jellali, Salah & Ghimbeu, Camélia Matei & Jeguirim, Mejdi, 2020. "Hydrochars production, characterization and application for wastewater treatment: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 127(C).
    6. Akbar Saba & Kyle McGaughy & M. Toufiq Reza, 2019. "Techno-Economic Assessment of Co-Hydrothermal Carbonization of a Coal-Miscanthus Blend," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(4), pages 1-17, February.
    7. Gao, Pin & Zhou, Yiyuan & Meng, Fang & Zhang, Yihui & Liu, Zhenhong & Zhang, Wenqi & Xue, Gang, 2016. "Preparation and characterization of hydrochar from waste eucalyptus bark by hydrothermal carbonization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 238-245.
    8. Zhang, Zhikun & Zhu, Zongyuan & Shen, Boxiong & Liu, Lina, 2019. "Insights into biochar and hydrochar production and applications: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 581-598.
    9. Chen, Lichun & Wen, Chang & Wang, Wenyu & Liu, Tianyu & Liu, Enze & Liu, Haowen & Li, Zexin, 2020. "Combustion behaviour of biochars thermally pretreated via torrefaction, slow pyrolysis, or hydrothermal carbonisation and co-fired with pulverised coal," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 867-877.
    10. Aragón-Briceño, C.I. & Pozarlik, A.K. & Bramer, E.A. & Niedzwiecki, Lukasz & Pawlak-Kruczek, H. & Brem, G., 2021. "Hydrothermal carbonization of wet biomass from nitrogen and phosphorus approach: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 401-415.
    11. Mau, Vivian & Gross, Amit, 2018. "Energy conversion and gas emissions from production and combustion of poultry-litter-derived hydrochar and biochar," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 510-519.
    12. Neel Patel & Bishnu Acharya & Prabir Basu, 2021. "Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) of Seaweed (Macroalgae) for Producing Hydrochar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(7), pages 1-16, March.
    13. 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).
    14. Wang, Tengfei & Zhai, Yunbo & Zhu, Yun & Li, Caiting & Zeng, Guangming, 2018. "A review of the hydrothermal carbonization of biomass waste for hydrochar formation: Process conditions, fundamentals, and physicochemical properties," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 223-247.
    15. Imtiaz Anando, Ahmed & Ehsan, M Monjurul & Karim, Md Rezwanul & Bhuiyan, Arafat A. & Ahiduzzaman, Md & Karim, Azharul, 2023. "Thermochemical pretreatments to improve the fuel properties of rice husk: A review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 215(C).
    16. Gallifuoco, Alberto & Taglieri, Luca & Papa, Alessandro Antonio, 2020. "Hydrothermal carbonization of waste biomass to fuel: A novel technique for analyzing experimental data," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 149(C), pages 1254-1260.
    17. Djandja, Oraléou Sangué & Duan, Pei-Gao & Yin, Lin-Xin & Wang, Zhi-Cong & Duo, Jia, 2021. "A novel machine learning-based approach for prediction of nitrogen content in hydrochar from hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 232(C).
    18. 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).
    19. Yan, Mi & Liu, Jianyong & Yoshikawa, Kunio & Jiang, Jiahao & Zhang, Yan & Zhu, Gaojun & Liu, Yu & Hantoko, Dwi, 2022. "Cascading disposal for food waste by integration of hydrothermal carbonization and supercritical water gasification," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 186(C), pages 914-926.
    20. 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).

    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:gam:jeners:v:12:y:2019:i:5:p:858-:d:211018. 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: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    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.