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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.
With increasing energy and resource consumption due to population growth, the biorefinery concept is becoming popular. This concept aims to harness all the properties of biomass by producing energy and recovering useful chemical products. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus play a key role in the world’s food production because they are the main elements used in fertilizer production. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has been presented as a suitable option for energy recovery that can also be used as a pre-treatment for enhanced nutrient recovery. During the HTC process, part of the nitrogen and phosphorus are solubilized into the process water and the other part remains within the hydrochar. Hydrochars are mainly used as soil amendments due to their high content of phosphorus and nitrogen, but in this process, water still contains a considerable concentration of these compounds making it a potential source for their recovery. Therefore, HTC may boost the nutrient recovery strategy by extraction (process water) or densification (hydrochar) from biomass if it is coupled with another nutrient recovery process. This review presents an overview of the phosphorus and nitrogen fate during the HTC process from a perspective of nutrient recovery, presenting existing technologies and future trends.
C.I. Aragón-Briceño; A.K. Pozarlik; E.A. Bramer; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; H. Pawlak-Kruczek; G. Brem. Hydrothermal carbonization of wet biomass from nitrogen and phosphorus approach: A review. Renewable Energy 2021, 171, 401 -415.
AMA StyleC.I. Aragón-Briceño, A.K. Pozarlik, E.A. Bramer, Lukasz Niedzwiecki, H. Pawlak-Kruczek, G. Brem. Hydrothermal carbonization of wet biomass from nitrogen and phosphorus approach: A review. Renewable Energy. 2021; 171 ():401-415.
Chicago/Turabian StyleC.I. Aragón-Briceño; A.K. Pozarlik; E.A. Bramer; Lukasz Niedzwiecki; H. Pawlak-Kruczek; G. Brem. 2021. "Hydrothermal carbonization of wet biomass from nitrogen and phosphorus approach: A review." Renewable Energy 171, no. : 401-415.
Nowadays the sludge treatment is recognized as a priority challenge to the wastewater industry due to the increasing volumes produced and tighter environmental controls for its safe disposal. The most cost-effective process for sewage sludge is the anaerobic digestion but raw digestate still contains high levels of organic matter that can be transformed into an energy carrier by using processes like Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC). In this work, the influence of solid loading (2.5, 5.0, 10.0, 15.0, 17.5, 20.0, 25.0 and 30.0% solids w/w) on the composition of hydrochar and process water was studied, together with an evaluation of product yields, solubilisation of organic carbon and biomethane potential of process waters from HTC processing (250 °C, 30- minute reaction time). Hydrochar yields ranged from 64 to 88%wt, whereas the concentration of soluble organic carbon increased from 2.6 g/L in the raw digestate to a maximum of 72.3 g/L in the process water following HTC at the highest solid loading. Furthermore, process modelling with Aspen Plus shows that the integration of AD with HTC to wastewater treatment works provides a significant positive energy balance when process water and hydrochar are considered as fuel sources for cogeneration.
Christian Aragón Briceño; O. Grasham; A.B. Ross; V. Dupont; M.A. Camargo-Valero. Hydrothermal carbonization of sewage digestate at wastewater treatment works: Influence of solid loading on characteristics of hydrochar, process water and plant energetics. Renewable Energy 2020, 157, 959 -973.
AMA StyleChristian Aragón Briceño, O. Grasham, A.B. Ross, V. Dupont, M.A. Camargo-Valero. Hydrothermal carbonization of sewage digestate at wastewater treatment works: Influence of solid loading on characteristics of hydrochar, process water and plant energetics. Renewable Energy. 2020; 157 ():959-973.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Aragón Briceño; O. Grasham; A.B. Ross; V. Dupont; M.A. Camargo-Valero. 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 157, no. : 959-973.
Christian Aragón Briceño; A.B. Ross; Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero. Evaluation and comparison of product yields and bio-methane potential in sewage digestate following hydrothermal treatment. Applied Energy 2017, 208, 1357 -1369.
AMA StyleChristian Aragón Briceño, A.B. Ross, Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero. Evaluation and comparison of product yields and bio-methane potential in sewage digestate following hydrothermal treatment. Applied Energy. 2017; 208 ():1357-1369.
Chicago/Turabian StyleChristian Aragón Briceño; A.B. Ross; Miller Alonso Camargo-Valero. 2017. "Evaluation and comparison of product yields and bio-methane potential in sewage digestate following hydrothermal treatment." Applied Energy 208, no. : 1357-1369.