Scientific Publications

Hydrothermal treatment can convert paper mill biological sludge waste into more energy-dense hydrochar, which can achieve energy savings and fossil CO2 emissions reduction when used for metallurgical applications. This study assesses the basic, combustion and safety performance of bio-sludge hydrochar to evaluate its feasibility of use in blast furnace injection processes.

This study demonstrates the benefits of hydrothermal carbonization for the dewatering of biological paper sludge without the use of dewatering aids such as fiber sludge or polyelectrolytes. The results also demonstrate the successful adaptation of a lab-scale batch process to a pilot-scale continuous flow process for hydrothermal carbonization of industrial wastewater sludge.

This document contains the inventory for the Life Cycle Assessment of the F-CUBED process for the target biogenic residue streams of biological paper sludge, olive pomace and orange peels, including the Life Cycle Impacts for each individual category.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of low quality, wet biogenic residues into intermediate bioenergy carriers can potentially contribute to a more flexible and stable renewable energy system and reduce environmental impacts compared to current residue disposal practices. This study quantifies the environmental impacts via life cycle assessment (LCA) of a novel hydrothermal process for the treatment on an industrial scale of application of three wet biogenic residues (paper bio-sludge, olive pomace, and orange peel) into bioenergy carriers.

The ever-increasing volumes of food waste generated and the associated environmental issues require the development of new processing methods for these difficult waste streams. One of the technologies that can treat these waste streams directly is hydrothermal carbonization. In this work, olive pomace and orange peels were treated via a mild hydrothermal carbonization process (TORWASH®) in a continuous-flow pilot plant.

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising process for the upgrading of wet biomass residues. Models of HTC processes, in particular at continuous pilot-scale, are needed to move HTC from lab-scale to industrial scale. This study presents a process model for mild HTC, dewatering and conversion to intermediate energy carriers (bio-pellets and biogas for power and/or heat production) of three wet biomass residue streams: paper sludge, olive pomace and orange peels, based on lab- and pilot-scale experiments.