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Co-pyrolysis and HTC refined biomass-biosolid-mixes: combustion performance and residues

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Abstract

Corn stover (CS) and biosolids (BS), two easily accessible biomass (BM) resources, were combined in Co-pyrolysis (Co-Pyr) and Co-hydrothermal carbonization (Co-HTC) processes. The beneficial or catalytic effects of BS on CS in this process were identified by characterizing the following measured parameters of the produced char: ultimate and proximate analysis, higher heating value (HHV), van-Krevelen-diagram, activation energy (AE), and combustibility index S. The influence of the BS on CS was indicated by comparing the stated values of the CS/BS-mixed samples with the results of the pure BS- and CS-samples and the values of the unprocessed original BS and CS. The following developments were recognized: HHV of pure CS increased to 21–23 MJ/kg, that of pure BS was reduced to 7–9 MJ/kg, and for the mixed samples, one CS:BS-ratio showed beneficial interactions and resulted in 20–21 MJ/kg. The carbonization rate was advanced for the Pyr samples, ranging in the areas of coal and lignite, and most HTC samples in the area of peat and the original BM. The AE decreased from 65 and 41 kJ/g for the starting materials to an average of 30–40 kJ/g for most samples, and several samples reached 20–25 kJ/g. Hydrochars made from combined BM presented advanced combustibility index S values, passed 1 × 10–6, compared to Co-Pyr, and its biochar did not reach this combustibility index. CS and BS in pure and mixed forms, treated with Pyr or HTC, led to advanced solid fuels for different aspects of the analysis focus and depending on the composition of the sample.

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Fig.1
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© 2018 Itoh et al., 'van Krevelen diagram of raw manure and manure treated at 90 °C', used under CC BY / This figure is an excerpt of the original, replacing the original H/C- and O/C-sample-ratios)

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Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this published article (and its supplementary information files).

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Not applicable.

Abbreviations

ash-wt:

Ash content in %

A E :

Activation energy

BC:

Biochar

BM:

Biomass

BS:

Biosolids

CS:

Corn stover

CY:

Char yield

EY:

Energy yield

FC:

Fixed carbon

FTIR:

Fourier-transform infrared

HHV:

Higher heating value

HC:

Hydrochar

SS:

Sewage sludge

TGA:

Thermogravimetric analysis

TL:

Trendline

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Acknowledgements

The authors are thankful to the Municipal Colleges and Universities Innovation Ability Promotion Projects of Beijing Municipal Education Commission (J2014QTXM0204), The International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Anhui Province (1403062015), and The Science and Technology Project of Anhui Province (2013AKKG0398) for supporting this research. All figures were created using BioRender.com software.

Funding

This research was supported by the Municipal Colleges and Universities Innovation Ability Promotion Projects of Beijing Municipal Education Commission under Grant J2014QTXM0204; The International Science and Technology Cooperation Project of Anhui Province under Grant 1403062015; and The Science and Technology Project of Anhui Province under Grant 2013AKKG0398. The funding sources had no direct influence on the research but financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Sebastian Weihrich

  2. School of Automobile and Transportation Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, Anhui, People’s Republic of China

    Xianjun Xing

  3. Institute of Advanced Energy Technology & Equipment, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, Anhui, 230009, People’s Republic of China

    Xianjun Xing

  4. School of Mechanical Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, Hefei, 230009, Anhui, China

    Xuefei Zhang

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  1. Sebastian Weihrich
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  2. Xianjun Xing
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study's conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by SW, XJX, and XZ. The first draft of the manuscript was written by SW and all authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Xianjun Xing.

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Weihrich, S., Xing, X. & Zhang, X. Co-pyrolysis and HTC refined biomass-biosolid-mixes: combustion performance and residues. Int J Energy Environ Eng 13, 657–669 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-021-00453-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40095-021-00453-6

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