title: Effects of hydrolysis and carbonization reactions on hydrochar production.
abstract: Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a thermal conversion process which converts wet biomass into hydrochar. In this study, a low-energy HTC process named "Two-stage HTC" comprising of hydrolysis and carbonization stages using faecal sludge as feedstock was developed and optimized. The experimental results indicated the optimum conditions of the two-stage HTC to be; hydrolysis temperature of 170 °C, hydrolysis reaction time of 155 min, carbonization temperature of 215 °C, and carbonization reaction time of 100 min. The hydrolysis reaction time and carbonization temperature had a statistically significant effect on energy content of the produced hydrochar. Energy input of the two-stage HTC was about 25% less than conventional HTC. Energy efficiency of the two-stage HTC for treating faecal sludge was higher than that of conventional HTC and other thermal conversion processes such as pyrolysis and gasification. The two-stage HTC could be considered as a potential technology for treating FS and producing hydrochar.
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand. Electronic address: p-krai@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Fakkaew
authors.affiliation: Environmental Engineering and Management, School of Environment Resources and Development, Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Koottatep
authors.affiliation: Department of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Thammasat University, Thailand.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Polprasert
mesh_terms: D057919:Biological Oxygen Demand Analysis; D018533:Biomass; D002244:Carbon / Q000737:chemistry*; D004867:Equipment Design; D005243:Feces; D006868:Hydrolysis; D012722:Sewage / Q000737:chemistry*; D013696:Temperature; D014865:Waste Disposal, Fluid / Q000295:instrumentation / Q000379:methods*
chemical_list: D012722:Sewage; D002244:Carbon
keywords: Carbonization; Faecal sludge; Hydrochar; Hydrolysis; Hydrothermal carbonization