IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v14y2021i18p5693-d632678.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Hydrothermal Carbonization of Chemical and Biological Pulp Mill Sludges

Author

Listed:
  • Clara Lisseth Mendoza Martinez

    (School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland)

  • Ekaterina Sermyagina

    (School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland)

  • Esa Vakkilainen

    (School of Energy Systems, LUT University, Yliopistonkatu 34, 53850 Lappeenranta, Finland)

Abstract

A modern pulp mill generates a variety of different by-products and waste streams, some of these can be recycled, refined, sold, or used on-site for energy production. However, some, such as chemical and biological sludges produced in wastewater treatment cannot be reused or disposed of easily, mainly due to their high moisture content and poor drying characteristics. Tightening legislation regarding waste disposal as well as the growing need to increase the process efficiencies of pulp mills act as driving forces to find environmentally friendly and energy-efficient techniques for pulp mill sludge treatment. This study summarizes the current methods for pulp mill sludge handling and evaluates the potential of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), a conversion process through which wet organic substrates can be transformed into a carbonaceous material (hydrochar). Depending on the process parameters, the material’s structure is modified, enabling hydrochar use in energy, soil conditioning and adsorption applications. The sludges were hydrothermally carbonized at 180, 200, 220 and 240 °C for 3 h. The hydrochar and liquid products’ main properties were analyzed. Their potential applications were also evaluated. The effective treatment of sludges from the pulp industry with HTC could transform energy-demanding waste into a value-added source of materials.

Suggested Citation

  • 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.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:18:p:5693-:d:632678
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5693/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/18/5693/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Mäkelä, Mikko & Yoshikawa, Kunio, 2016. "Simulating hydrothermal treatment of sludge within a pulp and paper mill," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 177-183.
    2. Eunhye Song & Seyong Park & Ho Kim, 2019. "Upgrading Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) Hydrochar from Sewage Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-9, June.
    3. Ibrahim Shaba Mohammed & Risu Na & Keisuke Kushima & Naoto Shimizu, 2020. "Investigating the Effect of Processing Parameters on the Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    4. 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.
    5. Mendoza Martinez, Clara Lisseth & Saari, Jussi & Melo, Yara & Cardoso, Marcelo & de Almeida, Gustavo Matheus & Vakkilainen, Esa, 2021. "Evaluation of thermochemical routes for the valorization of solid coffee residues to produce biofuels: A Brazilian case," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    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. Lindomar Matias Gonçalves & Clara Mendoza-Martinez & Elém Patrícia Alves Rocha & Eduardo Coutinho de Paula & Marcelo Cardoso, 2023. "Solar Drying of Sludge from a Steel-Wire-Drawing Industry," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(17), pages 1-18, August.
    2. 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.
    3. Jussi Saari & Ekaterina Sermyagina & Katja Kuparinen & Satu Lipiäinen & Juha Kaikko & Marcelo Hamaguchi & Clara Mendoza-Martinez, 2022. "Improving Kraft Pulp Mill Energy Efficiency through Low-Temperature Hydrothermal Carbonization of Biological Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-16, August.
    4. Tharaka Rama Krishna C. Doddapaneni & Linnar Pärn & Timo Kikas, 2022. "Torrefaction of Pulp Industry Sludge to Enhance Its Fuel Characteristics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-15, August.

    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. 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.
    2. 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.
    3. 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.
    4. 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.
    5. 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.
    6. Zhai, Yunbo & Peng, Chuan & Xu, Bibo & Wang, Tengfei & Li, Caiting & Zeng, Guangming & Zhu, Yun, 2017. "Hydrothermal carbonisation of sewage sludge for char production with different waste biomass: Effects of reaction temperature and energy recycling," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 167-174.
    7. 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.
    8. 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).
    9. Liang, Wang & Wang, Guangwei & Jiao, Kexin & Ning, Xiaojun & Zhang, Jianliang & Guo, Xingmin & Li, Jinhua & Wang, Chuan, 2021. "Conversion mechanism and gasification kinetics of biomass char during hydrothermal carbonization," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 318-328.
    10. Ma, Xiaotong & Li, Yingjie & Duan, Lunbo & Anthony, Edward & Liu, Hantao, 2018. "CO2 capture performance of calcium-based synthetic sorbent with hollow core-shell structure under calcium looping conditions," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C), pages 402-412.
    11. Jung Eun Park & Gi Bbum Lee & Cheol Jin Jeong & Ho Kim & Choong Gon Kim, 2021. "Determination of Relationship between Higher Heating Value and Atomic Ratio of Hydrogen to Carbon in Spent Coffee Grounds by Hydrothermal Carbonization," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-11, October.
    12. Ashraf Elfasakhany, 2021. "State of Art of Using Biofuels in Spark Ignition Engines," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-26, February.
    13. Zhiyu Li & Weiming Yi & Zhihe Li & Chunyan Tian & Peng Fu & Yuchun Zhang & Ling Zhou & Jie Teng, 2020. "Preparation of Solid Fuel Hydrochar over Hydrothermal Carbonization of Red Jujube Branch," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-10, January.
    14. Swarna Saha & Md Tahmid Islam & Joshua Calhoun & Toufiq Reza, 2023. "Effect of Hydrothermal Carbonization on Fuel and Combustion Properties of Shrimp Shell Waste," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(14), pages 1-15, July.
    15. Bingyao Zeng & Naoto Shimizu, 2021. "Hydrogen Generation from Wood Chip and Biochar by Combined Continuous Pyrolysis and Hydrothermal Gasification," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-11, June.
    16. Maria Elizabeth Gemaque Costa & Fernanda Paula da Costa Assunção & Tiago Teribele & Lia Martins Pereira & Douglas Alberto Rocha de Castro & Marcelo Costa Santo & Carlos Emerson Ferreira da Costa & Maj, 2021. "Characterization of Bio-Adsorbents Produced by Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover: Application on the Adsorption of Acetic Acid from Aqueous Solutions," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(23), pages 1-22, December.
    17. 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.
    18. Elem Patricia Rocha Alves & Orlando Salcedo-Puerto & Jesús Nuncira & Samuel Emebu & Clara Mendoza-Martinez, 2023. "Renewable Energy Potential and CO 2 Performance of Main Biomasses Used in Brazil," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(9), pages 1-59, May.
    19. Antonios Nazos & Dorothea Politi & Georgios Giakoumakis & Dimitrios Sidiras, 2022. "Simulation and Optimization of Lignocellulosic Biomass Wet- and Dry-Torrefaction Process for Energy, Fuels and Materials Production: A Review," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(23), pages 1-35, November.
    20. Yessenia Martínez-Ruiz & Diego Fernando Manotas-Duque & Juan Carlos Osorio-Gómez & Howard Ramírez-Malule, 2022. "Evaluation of Energy Potential from Coffee Pulp in a Hydrothermal Power Market through System Dynamics: The Case of Colombia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-19, May.

    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:14:y:2021:i:18:p:5693-:d:632678. 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.