Fertilizer and activated carbon production by hydrothermal carbonization of digestate

• Published in: Biomass conversion and biorefinery 2018-06, Vol.8 (2), p.423-436
• Main Authors: Zhao, X., Becker, G. C., Faweya, N., Rodriguez Correa, C., Yang, S., Xie, X., Kruse, A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Activated carbon; Biotechnology; Calcium phosphates; Carbonization; Energy; Fractionation; Leaching; Methylene blue; Microporosity; Organic chemistry; Original Article; Renewable and Green Energy; Sulfuric acid; Surface area
• ISSN: 2190-6815; 2190-6823
• DOI: 10.1007/s13399-017-0291-5

In this study, the efficiency of recycling phosphate from digestate through hydrothermal carbonization and subsequent production of an activated carbon with high surface area was investigated. Phosphate fractionation was conducted to understand the phosphate existing forms in hydrochars and the recovery mechanism. Hydrothermal carbonization was conducted in a 250 mL batch reactor at three different temperatures (190, 220, and 250 °C), through this process, more than 92.6% of digestate phosphate was recovered into the hydrochars, mostly in the form of precipitated calcium phosphate. Through leaching the hydrochars with sulfuric acid, 88.9 to 94.3% of the total digestate phosphate was recovered in the acid solution. Untreated and acid-leached hydrochars were subjected to a chemical activation process with KOH. The surface area of the products was comparable to commercial activated carbon and was composed mainly of micropores. The activated carbon generated from acid-leached hydrochar showed higher microporosity (up to 1762 m 2  g −1 ) and better adsorption capacity (656.7 to 788.0 mg methylene blue per gram activated carbon).