The properties and combustion behaviors of hydrochars derived from co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and food waste

• Published in: Bioresource technology 2019-08, Vol.285, p.121347-121347, Article 121347
• Main Authors: Zheng, Chupeng, Ma, Xiaoqian, Yao, Zhongliang, Chen, Xinfei
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Food waste; Hydrothermal carbonization; Sewage sludge; Solid fuel
• ISSN: 0960-8524; 1873-2976
• DOI: 10.1016/j.biortech.2019.121347

•The effects of temperature and mixing ratio were investigated.•N and S content of sewage sludge declined after HTC.•The HHV and S values of hydrochars derived from co-HTC were enhanced.•Combustion behaviors of the hydrochars from co-HTC were upgraded. The experiments of co-hydrothermal carbonization (co-HTC) of sewage sludge and food waste in different mixing ratio (30%, 50% and 70%) and process temperature (180 °C, 230 °C and 280 °C) were conducted in this paper. And the hydrochars properties and thermal behaviors were investigated to determine the effects of the conditions. The results showed that the hydrochars derived from co-HTC possessed higher C content, higher HHV compared with the hydrochar of sewage sludge. Meanwhile, it maintained low N, S and O content relatively. It ascribed to the carbonization, dehydration and decarboxylation reactions according to the ultimate analysis and proximate analysis. And the TGA indicated that the combustion behaviors got better compared with the hydrochar of sewage sludge. Therefore, the co-HTC with food waste is an effective way to transform sewage sludge into clean solid fuel in the field of energy utilization.