Abstract
This study investigated co-hydrothermal carbonisation (co-HTC) of dairy manure (DM) and wood shavings from Larix kaempferi, commonly known as the Japanese larch (JL) to enhance the fuel properties of the resulting hydrochar. The JL was mixed with the DM at 25, 50 and 75 wt.% ratios. Co-HTC was conducted at 260 °C for 20 min. The resulting hydrochars were characterised based on the physicochemical properties and the thermal behaviour. Results showed that the hydrochar solid biofuel properties improved as the ratio of JL was increased. The produced hydrochars were in the region of lignite and closed to the region of the coal with increased fixed carbon, carbon contents and lowered H/C and O/C ratios. Hydrochar with ash content of 7.2 ± 0.5% was obtained at 75 wt.% JL. In addition, the HHV of hydrochar increased remarkably to 26.4 ± 0.02 MJ/kg as the mass ratio of the JL was increased. The surface morphology of the hydrochars were altered and became distinct while the specific surface area (SSA) and the total pore volume (TPV) of the hydrochars increased at increasing the mass ratio of the JL. The surface functional groups were also altered by the co-HTC process. A decline in the combustion performance was observed after the HTC process but improved at 75 wt.% JL after the co-HTC process. The kinetic analysis also revealed that the activation energy decreased after the HTC process but increased to a higher value at 50 wt.% JL after the co-HTC process. Therefore, hydrochar production by co-HTC of DM and JL has proved to be an effective and promising solid biofuel source.Graphical abstract
Highlights
The fast depletion of fossil fuel reserves across the world and subsequent environmental pollution such as the greenhouse gas emission has made biomass an attractive source of energy [1, 2]
Ash is reported to be an inert material that does not participate in hydrothermal carbonisation (HTC) reactions, decreasing ash content of the co-hydrothermal carbonisation (co-HTC) process may have contributed to the decreasing mass yield of hydrochar (MY) [12]
The improved higher heating values (HHV) reported in this study suggested that the coHTC of dairy manure (DM) and Japanese larch (JL) was effective in upgrading the energy property of hydrochar as a solid biofuel
Summary
The fast depletion of fossil fuel reserves across the world and subsequent environmental pollution such as the greenhouse gas emission has made biomass an attractive source of energy [1, 2]. Waste biomass such as animal manure is increasingly gaining attention due to the fast-growing animal husbandry across the world [3]. For this reason, animal manure generation have been reported in billions of tons in some countries annually [3, 4]. There are limitations to the use of animal manure as a combustion feedstock due to its high moisture content, high ash
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