Bio-Crude Production through Recycling of Pretreated Aqueous Phase via Activated Carbon

The management and optimization of the aqueous phase are the major challenges that hinder the promotion of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology on a commercial scale. Recently, many studies reported about the accumulation of the N-content in the bio-crude with continuous recycling of the aqueo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergies (Basel) Vol. 14; no. 12; p. 3488
Main Authors Shah, Ayaz Ali, Toor, Saqib Sohail, Nielsen, Asbjørn Haaning, Pedersen, Thomas Helmer, Rosendahl, Lasse Aistrup
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2021
Subjects
Activated carbon
Algae
Amides
aqueous phase recycling
Atomic emission spectroscopy
bio-crude
Carbohydrates
Cellulose
Chemical oxygen demand
Emission analysis
Energy
Energy recovery
Heterocyclic compounds
HTL
Inductively coupled plasma
Lignin
Liquefaction
Nitrogen
Optimization
Organic acids
Particle size
Raw materials
Recycling
Sewage sludge
Solid phases
Water treatment
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Summary:The management and optimization of the aqueous phase are the major challenges that hinder the promotion of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology on a commercial scale. Recently, many studies reported about the accumulation of the N-content in the bio-crude with continuous recycling of the aqueous phase from high protein-containing biomass. In the present study, sewage sludge was processed at 350 °C in an autoclave. The produced aqueous phase was treated with activated carbon, and its subsequent recycling effect on the properties of the bio-crude and aqueous phase was investigated. By contacting the aqueous phase with activated carbon, 38–43% of the total nitrogen was removed from the aqueous phase. After applying the treated aqueous phase recycling, the energy recovery of the bio-crude increased from 50 to 61% after three rounds of recycling. From overall carbon/nitrogen recoveries, 50 to 56% of the carbon was transferred to the bio-crude phase and more than 50% of the nitrogen remained in the aqueous phase. The aqueous phase contained mostly of N&O-heterocyclic compounds, small chain organic acids, and amides. ICP-AES analysis showed that more than 80% of the inorganic elements were concentrated into the solid phase.
ISSN:1996-1073
1996-1073
DOI:10.3390/en14123488