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Pyrolysis of Municipal Sewage Sludge within a circular economy vision: Production of sustainable Biofuels and Economic Biofertilizers

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Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions (2nd Edition) (EMCEI 2019)

Part of the book series: Environmental Science and Engineering ((ENVSCIENCE))

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Abstract

This study aims to produce renewable biofuels (bio-oil, syngas) and nutrient-rich biofertilizers  (pyrochar or biochar) from Municipal Sewage Sludge (MSS) via the innovative pyrolyis process. The pre-dried MSS was analyzed using proximate and ultimate analyses, FTIR spectroscopy, and DTA-TGA thermogravimetry to evaluate their suitability as a feedstock for thermochemical conversion and biofuels production. The optimization of the pyrolysis reactions was performed using a laboratory-scale fixed-bed reactor and the investigation of the influence of some key operational parameters (final temperature and heating rate) on the pyrolysis products distribution shows that 600 °C and 10 °C/min are the optimal conditions to obtain a maximum bio-oil yield (44.31 wt.%). The characterization of the obtained pyrolysis products indicates (i) a high aliphatic character of the bio-oil, with the occurrence of several organic compounds (n-alkanes, n-alkenes, carboxylic acids and aromatic compounds); (ii) good fuel properties of the pyrolytic oil comparable to those of fossil fuels, promoting its application  as liquid biofuel; (iii) a high calorific value of the obtained syngas (HHV around 16.68 MJ/m3)  encouraging its use as a source of renewable energy or for pyrolysis reactor heating (iv) a highly porous biochar with good carbon and nitrogen contents which could be investigated as a biofertilizer.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Wind Energy Management and Waste Energy Recovery (LMEEVED), Research and Technology Center of Energy (CRTEn), B.P. 95, Hammam-Lif, 2050, Tunisia

    Aïda Ben Hassen Trabelsi, Athar Friaa, Samira Abidi, Slim Naoui & Faycel Jamaaoui

Authors
  1. Aïda Ben Hassen Trabelsi
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  2. Athar Friaa
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  3. Samira Abidi
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  4. Slim Naoui
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  5. Faycel Jamaaoui
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Aïda Ben Hassen Trabelsi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. High Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Mohamed Ksibi

  2. Appliquées et Technologies, Institut Supérieur des Sciences, Gabès, Tunisia

    Achraf Ghorbal

  3. University of Calabria, Rende, Cosenza, Italy

    Sudip Chakraborty

  4. School of Engineering (ISEP), Polytechnic of Porto, Porto, Portugal

    Helder I. Chaminé

  5. Università degli Studi di Roma, Roma, Roma, Italy

    Maurizio Barbieri

  6. University of Naples, Naples, Italy

    Giulia Guerriero

  7. High Institute of Biotechnology, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Olfa Hentati

  8. Faculty of Engineering, Water and Water Structure Engineering Department, Zagazig University, Zagazig, Egypt

    Abdelazim Negm

  9. University of Geneva, Genève, Geneve, Switzerland

    Anthony Lehmann

  10. ECT Oekotoxikologie GmbH, Flörsheim am Main, Hessen, Germany

    Jörg Römbke

  11. Centre for Environmental+Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    Armando Costa Duarte

  12. Department of Geography, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen, Gießen, Hessen, Germany

    Elena Xoplaki

  13. Springer Nature, Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Nabil Khélifi

  14. Gembloux Agro-Bio Tech, University of Liège, Gembloux, Belgium

    Gilles Colinet

  15. University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal

    João Miguel Dias

  16. Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Imed Gargouri

  17. Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris, Université de Paris, Paris, France

    Eric D. Van Hullebusch

  18. FOTOAIR-CIEMAT, Madrid, Madrid, Spain

    Benigno Sánchez Cabrero

  19. Department of Civil Engineering, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Settimio Ferlisi

  20. College of Engineering, Swansea University, Swansea, UK

    Chedly Tizaoui

  21. Sfax National School of Engineering, University of Sfax, Sfax, Tunisia

    Amjad Kallel

  22. Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, Lausanne, Switzerland

    Sami Rtimi

  23. Department of Mining Engineering, Suleyman Demirel University, Isparta, Turkey

    Sandeep Panda

  24. Université Clermont Auvergne, Polytech, Aubière, France

    Philippe Michaud

  25. Institute of Chemical Technology, University of Stuttgart, Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany

    Jaya Narayana Sahu

  26. High School of Science and Technology, University of Sousse, Sousse, Tunisia

    Mongi Seffen

  27. SEED DICIV, University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Vincenzo Naddeo

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Ben Hassen Trabelsi, A., Friaa, A., Abidi, S., Naoui, S., Jamaaoui, F. (2021). Pyrolysis of Municipal Sewage Sludge within a circular economy vision: Production of sustainable Biofuels and Economic Biofertilizers. In: Ksibi, M., et al. Recent Advances in Environmental Science from the Euro-Mediterranean and Surrounding Regions (2nd Edition). EMCEI 2019. Environmental Science and Engineering(). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-51210-1_356

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