Upgrading fuel potentials of waste biomass via hydrothermal carbonization

Jelena Petrovic,Marija Koprivica,Ivona Nuic,Marija Kojic,Marija Mihajlovic,Marija Simic

doi:10.2298/hemind210507025p

Abstract

In recent decades, massive exploitation of fossil fuels caused a growing demand for the production of energies from renewable sources. Hydrochar obtained from waste biomass via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) possesses good potentials as a biofuel. Therefore, we performed HTC of corn cob, paulownia leaves, and olive pomace at different temperatures (180, 220, and 260oC). The main goal of this study was to comparatively evaluate the influence of HTC conditions on the structure and fuel characteristics of the obtained solids. The results showed that the yields of hydrochar decrease significantly with increasing temperature in all samples. The carbon content and higher heating value increased and reached the highest values in hydrochars obtained at 260?C, while the content of volatile matter decreased. Furthermore, the Van Krevelen diagram reveals that the transformation of feedstock to lignite-like products upon HTC was achieved. In this study, the results showed that processes of dehydration and decarboxylation during HTC provoke intensive biomass transformation and that hydrochars obtained at higher temperatures have significantly enhanced fuel properties and fewer volatiles compared to the feedstock.

Highlights

Over the years, the increasing demand for energy caused extensive depletion of fossil fuels, which led to a series of environmental problems
The results showed that processes of dehydration and decarboxylation during hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) provoke intensive biomass transformation and that hydrochars obtained at higher temperatures have significantly enhanced fuel properties and fewer volatiles compared to the feedstock
The highest mass yield observed for the olive pomace (OP)-180 in comparison to the corn cob (CC)-180 and paulownia leaf (PL)-180 suggests that OP probably contains more cellulose and lignin than more degradable hemicelluloses

Summary

Introduction

The increasing demand for energy caused extensive depletion of fossil fuels, which led to a series of environmental problems To minimize these damaging effects, many countries have turned to the adoption and implementation of the concept of a bio-based economy, which involves the utilization of waste biomass as new valueadded materials, instead of landfilling. The mentioned problems impair the quality and combustion efficiency of the solid fuel and reduce the motivation for waste biomass utilization To overcome these disadvantages, development of thermochemical conversion processes of biomass into multi-functional products received considerable attention. Development of thermochemical conversion processes of biomass into multi-functional products received considerable attention These technologies are torrefaction, pyrolysis, gasification, and hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) [3,4,5]. The last-mentioned technology has been recognized as highly effective for production of carbon-rich material, hydrochar, from wet and waste biomass

Objectives

Methods

Results

Conclusion