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Valorization of Primary Sludge and Biosludge from the Pulp Mill Industry in Uruguay Through Hydrothermal Carbonization

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Abstract

Although nowadays landspreading and incineration are the conventional disposal methods for the primary sludge (PS) and biosludge (BS) generated in the wastewater treatment plants of the pulp mill industry in Uruguay, their direct incineration for energy recovery is the most preferable one. Here, we propose the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) method as a pre-treatment to improve the fuel characteristic of PS and BS. Proximate and ultimate analysis, scanning electron microscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis show that the HTC affects PS and BS differently regarding carbon fixation, energy densification and energy conversion efficiency. Moreover, ash composition measured by X-ray fluorescence indicates that the HTC effectively diminishes the slagging and fouling indexes for both feedstocks, which can increase the life expectancy of boilers. Alternative PS, BS, and their hydrochars were activated with H3PO4 to produce activated carbons, i.g. the BET specific surface area was as high as 800 m2/g for PS-AC, and exhibits CO2 adsorption capacity of 5 mmol/g at 10 bar at 273 K. These studies provide alternatives to direct incineration and landspreading of PS and BS in Uruguay to reduce their environmental impact, either by enhancing their fuel quality or by converting them into much more valuable products to face air pollution.

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Notes

  1. ADt: air dry ton.

  2. Ley 15.921 del 17 de diciembre de 1987, y su Decreto Reglamentario 454/88 del 8 de julio de 1988,

  3. Ley 15.939 del 28 de diciembre de 1987 y modificativas, y su Decreto reglamentario 452/88 del 6 de julio de 1988 y modificativos.

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Acknowledgements

MEC acknowledges Cristian Toncón for the nitrogen sorption measurements, Dimar Villarroel Rocha for carbon dioxide sorption measurements, Mauricio Ohanian for XRF measurements, Gastón Cubas for providing the residues used as feedstocks. MEC acknowledges the Alexander von Humboldt foundation for the Return Fellowship.

Funding

The Agencia Nacional de Investigación e Innovación for financial support (PD_NAC_2018_1_150145).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Ingeniería, Universidad Católica del Uruguay, Av. 8 de Octubre 2738, CP 11600, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Mirian Elizabeth Casco, Valentín Moreno & Martín Duarte

  2. Laboratorio de Sólidos Porosos, INFAP, CONICET-Universidad Nacional de San Luis, Ejército de los Andes 950, San Luis, Argentina

    Karim Sapag

  3. Área Fisicoquímica, DETEMA, Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Av. General Flores 2124, CP 11800, Montevideo, Uruguay

    Andrés Cuña

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Contributions

MEC and MD contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation was performed by VM. Data collection and analysis were performed by MEC, KS and AC. The first draft of the manuscript was written by MEC and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Mirian Elizabeth Casco.

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Casco, M.E., Moreno, V., Duarte, M. et al. Valorization of Primary Sludge and Biosludge from the Pulp Mill Industry in Uruguay Through Hydrothermal Carbonization. Waste Biomass Valor 14, 3893–3907 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12649-023-02105-8

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