Catalytic co-hydrothermal carbonization of food waste digestate and yard waste for energy application and nutrient recovery.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) provides a promising alternative to valorize food waste digestate (FWD) and avoid disposal issues. Although hydrochar derived from FWD alone had a low calorific content (HHV of 13.9 MJ kg-1), catalytic co-HTC of FWD with wet lignocellulosic biomass (e.g., wet yard waste; YW) and 0.5 M HCl exhibited overall superior attributes in terms of energy recovery (22.7 MJ kg-1), stable and comprehensive combustion behaviour, potential nutrient recovery from process water (2-fold higher N retention and 129-fold higher P extraction), and a high C utilization efficiency (only 2.4% C loss). In contrast, co-HTC with citric acid provided ∼3-fold higher autogenous pressure, resulting in a superior energy content of 25.0 MJ kg-1, but the high C loss (∼74%) compromised the overall environmental benefits. The results of this study established a foundation to fully utilize FWD and YW hydrochar for bioenergy application and resource recovery from the process water. Copyright © 2021 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Citation

Mingjing He, Xiefei Zhu, Shanta Dutta, Samir Kumar Khanal, Keat Teong Lee, Ondrej Masek, Daniel C W Tsang. Catalytic co-hydrothermal carbonization of food waste digestate and yard waste for energy application and nutrient recovery. Bioresource technology. 2022 Jan;344(Pt B):126395

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PMID: 34822987

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