TY - JOUR
T1 - Simultaneous implementation of sludge dewatering and solid biofuel production by microwave torrefaction
AU - Zhang, Congyu
AU - Ho, Shih Hsin
AU - Chen, Wei Hsin
AU - Eng, Chun Fong
AU - Wang, Chin Tsan
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by Open Project of State Key Laboratory of Urban Water Resource and Environment , Harbin Institute of Technology (No. QAK201807 ) and the Project of Thousand Youth Talents. The authors also acknowledge the financial support of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan , under the grant numbers MOST 109-2221-E-006-040-MY3 and MOST 109-3116-F-006-016-CC1 for this research.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Elsevier Inc.
PY - 2021/4
Y1 - 2021/4
N2 - Sludge dewatering is a matter of great concern to reduce the volume of sludge, stabilize its organic components, and achieve resource utilization. This study investigates sludge dewatering by microwave torrefaction along with the production of sludge solid biofuel at 480–800 W combined with durations of 5–25 min. Proximate analysis, calorific value analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy observations are employed to evaluate the dewatering degree, fuel properties, and energy efficiency of the torrefaction process. The independent parallel reaction (IPR) model and particle swarm optimization (PSO) analysis are also adopted for sludge pyrolysis kinetics calculation. The results show that microwave torrefaction is efficient for sludge dewatering with a short duration. The produced sludge solid biofuel is similar to stone-like coal, and can be used for civil or industrial boilers after flotation or just co-firing with briquette. The ash content of sludge solid biofuel shows a declining trend and the surface characteristics change from smooth to rough and fluffy with increasing the torrefaction severity. The bio-oil is mainly composed of phenols, siloxanes, and cholesterol. In addition, hydrogen is detected in the torgas. Furthermore, it is found that lower torrefaction power with a shorter duration yields a higher energy efficiency of the torrefaction process.
AB - Sludge dewatering is a matter of great concern to reduce the volume of sludge, stabilize its organic components, and achieve resource utilization. This study investigates sludge dewatering by microwave torrefaction along with the production of sludge solid biofuel at 480–800 W combined with durations of 5–25 min. Proximate analysis, calorific value analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, and scanning electron microscopy observations are employed to evaluate the dewatering degree, fuel properties, and energy efficiency of the torrefaction process. The independent parallel reaction (IPR) model and particle swarm optimization (PSO) analysis are also adopted for sludge pyrolysis kinetics calculation. The results show that microwave torrefaction is efficient for sludge dewatering with a short duration. The produced sludge solid biofuel is similar to stone-like coal, and can be used for civil or industrial boilers after flotation or just co-firing with briquette. The ash content of sludge solid biofuel shows a declining trend and the surface characteristics change from smooth to rough and fluffy with increasing the torrefaction severity. The bio-oil is mainly composed of phenols, siloxanes, and cholesterol. In addition, hydrogen is detected in the torgas. Furthermore, it is found that lower torrefaction power with a shorter duration yields a higher energy efficiency of the torrefaction process.
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U2 - 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110775
DO - 10.1016/j.envres.2021.110775
M3 - Article
C2 - 33497681
AN - SCOPUS:85100067094
SN - 0013-9351
VL - 195
JO - Environmental Research
JF - Environmental Research
M1 - 110775
ER -
