Characterization of hydrothermal carbonization products (hydrochars and spent liquor) and their biomethane production performance

Kun Zhao, Yeqing Li*, Ying Zhou, Wenyang Guo, Hao Jiang, Quan Xu

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

66 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

To optimize the energy yield (EY) of food waste (FW) via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), a response surface method was applied. Hydrochars and spent liquor were further conducted to evaluate their characterization and anaerobic digestion potential. Results found that optimal parameters for HTC of FW were suggested as temperature of 260 °C, reaction time of 4 h and moisture of 80%, with higher EY of 66.1%. Higher heating value, good combustion quality, lower H/C and O/C ratios indicated that hydrochar could be utilized as a safe solid fuel. Biochemical methane potential (BMP) experiment showed that spent liquor and hydrochars could be used as feedstocks for anaerobic digestion. Interestingly, hydrochars added in the spent liquor could promote the specific methane yield, which was 2.53 times higher than no addition of hydrochars. The finding of this study could provide useful information for HTC of FW and the utilization of hydrochars and spent liquor.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)9-16
Number of pages8
JournalBioresource Technology
Volume267
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Nov 2018
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Anaerobic digestion (AD)
  • Food waste
  • Hydrochar
  • Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC)
  • Spent liquor

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Zhao, K., Li, Y., Zhou, Y., Guo, W., Jiang, H., & Xu, Q. (2018). Characterization of hydrothermal carbonization products (hydrochars and spent liquor) and their biomethane production performance. Bioresource Technology, 267, 9-16. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.07.006