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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%.
Agnieszka Urbanowska; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Christian Aragon-Briceño; Mateusz Wnukowski; Artur Pożarlik; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Marcin Baranowski; Michał Czerep; Przemysław Seruga; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Eduard Bramer; Gerrit Brem. Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance. Energies 2021, 14, 4752 .
AMA StyleAgnieszka Urbanowska, Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Christian Aragon-Briceño, Mateusz Wnukowski, Artur Pożarlik, Lukasz Niedzwiecki, Marcin Baranowski, Michał Czerep, Przemysław Seruga, Halina Pawlak-Kruczek, Eduard Bramer, Gerrit Brem. Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance. Energies. 2021; 14 (16):4752.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAgnieszka Urbanowska; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Christian Aragon-Briceño; Mateusz Wnukowski; Artur Pożarlik; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Marcin Baranowski; Michał Czerep; Przemysław Seruga; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Eduard Bramer; Gerrit Brem. 2021. "Cascade Membrane System for Separation of Water and Organics from Liquid By-Products of HTC of the Agricultural Digestate—Evaluation of Performance." Energies 14, no. 16: 4752.
Gasification of biomass in fixed bed gasifiers is a well-known technology, with its origins dating back to the beginning of 20th century. It is a technology with good prospects, in terms of small scale, decentralized power co-generation. However, the understanding of the process is still not fully developed. Therefore, assessment of the changes in the design of a gasifier is typically performed with extensive prototyping stage, thus introducing significant cost. This study presents experimental results of gasification of a single pellet and bed of particles of raw and torrefied wood. The procedure can be used for obtaining design parameters of a fixed bed gasifier. Results of two suits of experiments, namely pyrolysis and CO2 gasification are presented. Moreover, results of pyrolysis of pellets are compared against a numerical model, developed for thermally thick particles. Pyrolysis time, predicted by model, was in good agreement with experimental results, despite some differences in the time when half of the initial mass was converted. Conversion times for CO2 gasification were much longer, despite higher temperature of the process, indicating importance of the reduction reactions. Overall, the obtained results could be helpful in developing a complete model of gasification of thermally thick particles in a fixed bed.
Hao Luo; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Amit Arora; Krzysztof Mościcki; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Krystian Krochmalny; Marcin Baranowski; Mayank Tiwari; Anshul Sharma; Tanuj Sharma; Zhimin Lu. Influence of Torrefaction and Pelletizing of Sawdust on the Design Parameters of a Fixed Bed Gasifier. Energies 2020, 13, 3018 .
AMA StyleHao Luo, Lukasz Niedzwiecki, Amit Arora, Krzysztof Mościcki, Halina Pawlak-Kruczek, Krystian Krochmalny, Marcin Baranowski, Mayank Tiwari, Anshul Sharma, Tanuj Sharma, Zhimin Lu. Influence of Torrefaction and Pelletizing of Sawdust on the Design Parameters of a Fixed Bed Gasifier. Energies. 2020; 13 (11):3018.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHao Luo; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Amit Arora; Krzysztof Mościcki; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Krystian Krochmalny; Marcin Baranowski; Mayank Tiwari; Anshul Sharma; Tanuj Sharma; Zhimin Lu. 2020. "Influence of Torrefaction and Pelletizing of Sawdust on the Design Parameters of a Fixed Bed Gasifier." Energies 13, no. 11: 3018.
Steady consumption of beer results in a steady output of residues, i.e., brewer’s spent grain (BSG). Its valorization, using hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) seems sensible. However, a significant knowledge gap regarding the variability of this residue and its influence on the valorization process and its potential use in biorefineries exists. This study attempted to fill this gap by characterization of BSG in conjunction with the main product (beer), taking into accounts details of the brewing process. Moreover, different methods to assess the performance of HTC were investigated. Overall, the differences in terms of the fuel properties of both types of spent grain were much less stark, in comparison to the differences between the respective beers. The use of HTC as a pretreatment of BSG for subsequent use as a biorefinery feedstock can be considered beneficial. HTC was helpful in uniformization and improvement of the fuel properties. A significant decrease in the oxygen content and O/C ratio and improved grindability was achieved. The Weber method proved to be feasible for HTC productivity assessment for commercial installations, giving satisfactory results for most of the cases, contrary to traditional ash tracer method, which resulted in significant overestimations of the mass yield.
Mateusz Jackowski; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Magdalena Lech; Mateusz Wnukowski; Amit Arora; Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin; Marcin Baranowski; Krystian Krochmalny; Vivek K. Veetil; Przemysław Seruga; Anna Trusek; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek. HTC of Wet Residues of the Brewing Process: Comprehensive Characterization of Produced Beer, Spent Grain and Valorized Residues. Energies 2020, 13, 2058 .
AMA StyleMateusz Jackowski, Lukasz Niedzwiecki, Magdalena Lech, Mateusz Wnukowski, Amit Arora, Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin, Marcin Baranowski, Krystian Krochmalny, Vivek K. Veetil, Przemysław Seruga, Anna Trusek, Halina Pawlak-Kruczek. HTC of Wet Residues of the Brewing Process: Comprehensive Characterization of Produced Beer, Spent Grain and Valorized Residues. Energies. 2020; 13 (8):2058.
Chicago/Turabian StyleMateusz Jackowski; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Magdalena Lech; Mateusz Wnukowski; Amit Arora; Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin; Marcin Baranowski; Krystian Krochmalny; Vivek K. Veetil; Przemysław Seruga; Anna Trusek; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek. 2020. "HTC of Wet Residues of the Brewing Process: Comprehensive Characterization of Produced Beer, Spent Grain and Valorized Residues." Energies 13, no. 8: 2058.
Currently, the reclamation and reuse of water have not reached their full potential, although more energy is needed to obtain and transport freshwater and this solution has a more serious environmental impact. Agricultural irrigation is, by far, the largest application of reclaimed water worldwide, so the proposed concept may result in the production of water that can be used, among others, for crop irrigation. This paper describes a novel installation for the recovery of the agricultural water from the digestate, along with the results of initial experiments. Currently, water is wasted, due to evaporation, in anaerobic digestion plants, as the effluent from dewatering of the digestate is discharged into lagoons. Moreover, water that stays within the interstitial space of the digestate is lost in a similar fashion. With increasing scarcity of water in rural areas, such waste should not be neglected. The study indicates that hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) enhances mechanical dewatering of the agricultural digestate and approximately 900 L of water can be recovered from one ton. Dewatered hydrochars had a lower heating value of almost 10 MJ/kg, indicating the possibility of using it as a fuel for the process. The aim of this Design Innovation Paper is to outline the newly developed concept of an installation that could enable recovery of water from, so far, the neglected resource—i.e., digestate from anaerobic digestion plants.
Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Agnieszka Urbanowska; Weihong Yang; Gerrit Brem; Aneta Magdziarz; Przemyslaw Seruga; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Artur Pozarlik; Agata Mlonka-Mędrala; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Eduard A. Bramer; Marcin Baranowski; Małgorzata Sieradzka; Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin. Industrial Process Description for the Recovery of Agricultural Water From Digestate. Journal of Energy Resources Technology 2020, 142, 1 -33.
AMA StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek, Agnieszka Urbanowska, Weihong Yang, Gerrit Brem, Aneta Magdziarz, Przemyslaw Seruga, Lukasz Niedzwiecki, Artur Pozarlik, Agata Mlonka-Mędrala, Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Eduard A. Bramer, Marcin Baranowski, Małgorzata Sieradzka, Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin. Industrial Process Description for the Recovery of Agricultural Water From Digestate. Journal of Energy Resources Technology. 2020; 142 (7):1-33.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek; Agnieszka Urbanowska; Weihong Yang; Gerrit Brem; Aneta Magdziarz; Przemyslaw Seruga; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; Artur Pozarlik; Agata Mlonka-Mędrala; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Eduard A. Bramer; Marcin Baranowski; Małgorzata Sieradzka; Monika Tkaczuk-Serafin. 2020. "Industrial Process Description for the Recovery of Agricultural Water From Digestate." Journal of Energy Resources Technology 142, no. 7: 1-33.
Agriculture affects both the quantity and the quality of water available for other purposes, which becomes problematic, especially during increasingly frequent severe droughts. This requires tapping into the resources that are typically neglected. One such resource is a by-product of anaerobic digestion, in which moisture content typically exceeds 90%. Application of hydrothermal carbonization process (HTC) to this residue could partially remove organic and inorganic material, improve dewatering, decrease the overall solid mass, sanitize the digestate, change its properties, and eliminate problems related with emissions of odors from the installation. However, a significant gap still exists in terms of the dewatering of the hydrochars and the composition of the effluents. This work presents results of experimental investigation focused on the removal of organic compounds from the HTC effluent. Results of qualitative and quantitative analysis of liquid by-products of HTC of the agricultural digestate showed that acetic acid, 3-pyridinol, 1-hydroxyacetone, and 1,3-propanediol were the main liquid organic products of the process. Application of ultrafiltration process with the use of 10 kDa membrane for liquid HTC by-product treatment allows for the reduction of chemical oxygen demand up to 30%, biological oxygen demand up to 10%, and dissolved organic carbon up to 21%.
Agnieszka Urbanowska; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Mateusz Wnukowski; Przemysław Seruga; Marcin Baranowski; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Monika Serafin-Tkaczuk; Krystian Krochmalny; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. Treatment of Liquid By-Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) of Agricultural Digestate Using Membrane Separation. Energies 2020, 13, 262 .
AMA StyleAgnieszka Urbanowska, Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz, Mateusz Wnukowski, Przemysław Seruga, Marcin Baranowski, Halina Pawlak-Kruczek, Monika Serafin-Tkaczuk, Krystian Krochmalny, Lukasz Niedzwiecki. Treatment of Liquid By-Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) of Agricultural Digestate Using Membrane Separation. Energies. 2020; 13 (1):262.
Chicago/Turabian StyleAgnieszka Urbanowska; Małgorzata Kabsch-Korbutowicz; Mateusz Wnukowski; Przemysław Seruga; Marcin Baranowski; Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Monika Serafin-Tkaczuk; Krystian Krochmalny; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. 2020. "Treatment of Liquid By-Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) of Agricultural Digestate Using Membrane Separation." Energies 13, no. 1: 262.
This study compares a staged thermal processing of the sewage sludge, with single step, integrated thermal processing. The aim of this study is to find the optimal conditions for drying and subsequently for carbonization/torrefaction of sewage sludge, regarding the energy consumption. This study presents the results of the drying tests performed at laboratory scale convective dryer for different parameters of drying agent (air). The tests were focused on finding and developing a method of drying that allows to minimize the energy consumption. Subsequently, both dry and vapothermal torrefaction was performed in the presence of oxygen. The kinetics of drying, using low quality heat as well as the properties of products and by-products of torrefaction in both regimes were determined. The process was characterized by mass yield and energy yield in both of the cases. There has been only scarce amount of literature studies published on the torrefaction of sewage sludge so far, without a detailed study of the composition of the torgas and tars of such origin. Performed study enables a comparison of two distinct scenarios of the processing, i.e., drying followed by dry torrefaction with a single stage of vapothermal torrefaction.
Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Mateusz Wnukowski; Krystian Krochmalny; Mateusz Kowal; Marcin Baranowski; Jacek Zgora; Michal Czerep; Michal Ostrycharczyk; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. The Staged Thermal Conversion of Sewage Sludge in the Presence of Oxygen. Journal of Energy Resources Technology 2019, 141, 1 .
AMA StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek, Mateusz Wnukowski, Krystian Krochmalny, Mateusz Kowal, Marcin Baranowski, Jacek Zgora, Michal Czerep, Michal Ostrycharczyk, Lukasz Niedzwiecki. The Staged Thermal Conversion of Sewage Sludge in the Presence of Oxygen. Journal of Energy Resources Technology. 2019; 141 (7):1.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek; Mateusz Wnukowski; Krystian Krochmalny; Mateusz Kowal; Marcin Baranowski; Jacek Zgora; Michal Czerep; Michal Ostrycharczyk; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. 2019. "The Staged Thermal Conversion of Sewage Sludge in the Presence of Oxygen." Journal of Energy Resources Technology 141, no. 7: 1.
The paper presents the experimental and numerical study on the behavior and performance of an industrial scale boiler during combustion of pulverized bituminous coal with various shares of predried lignite. The experimental measurements were carried out on a boiler WP120 located in CHP, Opole, Poland. Tests on the boiler were performed during low load operation and the lignite share reached over to 36% by mass. The predried lignite, kept in dedicated separate bunkers, was mixed with bituminous coal just before the coal mills. Computational fluid dynamic (CFD) simulation of a cofiring scenario of lignite with hard coal was also performed. Site measurements have proven that cofiring of a predried lignite is not detrimental to the boiler in terms of its overall efficiency, when compared with a corresponding reference case, with 100% of hard coal. Experiments demonstrated an improvement in the grindability that can be achieved during co-milling of lignite and hard coal in the same mill, for both wet and dry lignite. Moreover, performed tests delivered empirical evidence of the potential of lignite to decrease NOx emissions during cofiring, for both wet and dry lignite. Results of efficiency calculations and temperature measurements in the combustion chamber confirmed the need to predry lignite before cofiring. Performed measurements of temperature distribution in the combustion chamber confirmed trend that could be seen in the results of CFD. CFD simulations were performed for predried lignite and demonstrated flow patterns in the combustion chamber of the boiler, which could prove useful in case of any further improvements in the firing system. CFD simulations reached satisfactory agreement with the site measurements in terms of the prediction of emissions.
Halina Pawlak-Kruczek; Robert Lewtak; Zbigniew Plutecki; Marcin Baranowski; Michal Ostrycharczyk; Krystian Krochmalny; Michal Czerep; Jacek Zgora; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. The Impact of Predried Lignite Cofiring With Hard Coal in an Industrial Scale Pulverized Coal Fired Boiler. Journal of Energy Resources Technology 2018, 140, 062207 .
AMA StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek, Robert Lewtak, Zbigniew Plutecki, Marcin Baranowski, Michal Ostrycharczyk, Krystian Krochmalny, Michal Czerep, Jacek Zgora, Lukasz Niedzwiecki. The Impact of Predried Lignite Cofiring With Hard Coal in an Industrial Scale Pulverized Coal Fired Boiler. Journal of Energy Resources Technology. 2018; 140 (6):062207.
Chicago/Turabian StyleHalina Pawlak-Kruczek; Robert Lewtak; Zbigniew Plutecki; Marcin Baranowski; Michal Ostrycharczyk; Krystian Krochmalny; Michal Czerep; Jacek Zgora; Lukasz Niedzwiecki. 2018. "The Impact of Predried Lignite Cofiring With Hard Coal in an Industrial Scale Pulverized Coal Fired Boiler." Journal of Energy Resources Technology 140, no. 6: 062207.