Environmental Performance of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Four Wet Biomass Waste Streams at Industry-Relevant Scales

Owsianiak, Mikołaj; Ryberg, Morten; Renz, Michael; Hitzl, Martin; Hauschild, Michael Zwicky

doi:10.1021/acssuschemeng.6b01732

Cited by 80 publications

(52 citation statements)

References 36 publications

(64 reference statements)

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“…The solid material (pyrochar or biochar) has lower volatile matter content and higher heating value. Wet torrefaction or “hydrothermal carbonization” proceeds in the presence of water at temperatures around 180–250°C and under autogenous pressures (10–20 bar) in order to take advantage of specific properties of water under critical conditions . The solid product, which is named as hydrochar, is a carbon‐rich material.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Wet torrefaction or "hydrothermal carbonization" proceeds in the presence of water at temperatures around 180-250 C and under autogenous pressures (10-20 bar) in order to take advantage of specific properties of water under critical conditions. [14][15][16] The solid product, which is named as hydrochar, is a carbon-rich material. The liquid product contains various soluble compounds depending on the feedstock used.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Pyrolysis and combustion characteristics and kinetics of wood sawdust and wood sawdust hydrochar

Kabakcı

2019

Env Prog and Sustain Energy

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This study compares the pyrolysis and combustion characteristics with the kinetics of wood sawdust and its hydrochar. Wood sawdust hydrochar was obtained by the hydrothermal treatment of wood sawdust (biomass/water: 1 g/4 mL) at 220°C, where the residence time was set as 90 min. After hydrothermal carbonization, carbon content and heating value were both increased by 14%. Pyrolysis and combustion of wood sawdust and its hydrochar were performed by thermogravimetric analysis at 10, 20, 30, and 40°C/min. Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) method, Friedman method, Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) method, and Kissinger method were used for analyzing the pyrolysis data. For combustion, only KAS and FWO methods were used to determine the kinetic parameters. As compared to wood sawdust pyrolysis, average activation energy of hydrochar pyrolysis was lower (150.36 kJ/mol by using KAS method, 153.05 kJ/mol by using FWO method). Based on mean activation energies, pyrolysis reaction of hydrochar was more favorable than its combustion. In combustion, average activation energy of hydrochar combustion reaction was higher; indicating that combustion of wood sawdust was more favorable.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Pyrolysis and combustion characteristics and kinetics of wood sawdust and wood sawdust hydrochar

Kabakcı

2019

Env Prog and Sustain Energy

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“…Carbon storage benefits from HTC can be either reinforced or counterbalanced by the type of waste management systems that it substitutes. Although the importance of a replaced waste management system has been shown in our earlier study on hydrochar used as solid fuel, here we show that it becomes even more important when hydrochar is used as soil conditioner because there are no benefits from substituting energy sources (Owsianiak et al ., ). As solid waste management systems are site‐ and country‐specific, the overall performance of hydrochar systems will be case‐specific.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…Parameters and data underlying the modeling of HTC plant and post‐treatment equipment are documented in Owsianiak et al . () (see Table S3 in their study).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These life cycle inventories are then translated into impact indicator scores using substancespecific characterization factors for various life cycle impact categories, like climate change (Hauschild, 2005;Hellweg & Mila i Canals, 2014). Studies investigating environmental performance of hydrochars using LCA have focused on its use as solid fuel so far (Berge et al, 2015;Benavente et al, 2016;Owsianiak et al, 2016;Liu et al, 2017). These four studies showed how environmental performance of hydrochar used as solid fuel depends on the type of fuel that the hydrochar substitutes and on the incumbent waste management system that HTC replaces.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Evaluating climate change mitigation potential of hydrochars: compounding insights from three different indicators

et al. 2017

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We employed life cycle assessment to evaluate the use of hydrochars, prospective soil conditioners produced from biowaste using hydrothermal carbonization, as an approach to improving agriculture while using carbon present in the biowaste. We considered six different crops (barley, wheat, sugar beet, fava bean, onion, and lucerne) and two different countries (Spain and Germany), and used three different indicators of climate change: global warming potential (GWP), global temperature change potential (GTP), and climate tipping potential (CTP). We found that although climate change benefits (GWP) from just sequestration and temporary storage of carbon are sufficient to outweigh impacts stemming from hydrochar production and transportation to the field, even greater benefits stem from replacing climate-inefficient biowaste management treatment options, like composting in Spain. By contrast, hydrochar addition to soil is not a good approach to improving agriculture in countries where incineration with energy recovery is the dominant treatment option for biowaste, like in Germany. Relatively small, but statistically significant differences in impact scores (ISs) were found between crops. Although these conclusions remained the same in our study, potential benefits from replacing composting were smaller in the GTP approach, which due to its long-term perspective gives less weight to short-lived greenhouse gases (GHGs) like methane. Using CTP as indicator, we also found that there is a risk of contributing to crossing of a short-term climatic target, the tipping point corresponding to an atmospheric GHG concentration of 450 ppm CO 2 equivalents, unless hydrochar stability in the soil is optimized. Our results highlight the need for considering complementary perspectives that different climate change indicators offer, and overall provide a foundation for assessing climate change mitigation potential of hydrochars used in agriculture.

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Harnessing energy from Australian dairy waste: utilizing five methodologies

Arefin¹,

Nabi²,

McIntosh³

2020

Biofuels Bioprod Bioref

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As dairy industries increase across Australia, the amount of dairy waste is also on the rise. Australia annually production stands at around 377 727 t of cheese, 273 425 t of milk powder and 92 698 t of butter, and it is the third largest exporter of milk. The waste produced by these industries is considered a potentially valuable resource, and an environmental pollutant if not appropriately managed. The focus of this review is to evaluate the potential of converting typical Australian dairy industry waste into sustainable energy. Five fundamental methods including transesterification, pyrolysis, anaerobic digestion, steam reforming, and hydrothermal carbonization are discussed. Their technological merits, demerits and adaptability from the perspective of Australia are examined. The properties of representative wastes are also considered for the different energy conversion processes. This review aims to highlight the potential use of dairy industry wastes as feedstock for the emerging renewable energy sector.

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Environmental Performance of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Four Wet Biomass Waste Streams at Industry-Relevant Scales

Cited by 80 publications

References 36 publications

Pyrolysis and combustion characteristics and kinetics of wood sawdust and wood sawdust hydrochar

Pyrolysis and combustion characteristics and kinetics of wood sawdust and wood sawdust hydrochar

Evaluating climate change mitigation potential of hydrochars: compounding insights from three different indicators

Harnessing energy from Australian dairy waste: utilizing five methodologies

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