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Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Process Safety and Environmental Protection


journal homepage: www.journals.elsevier.com/process-safety-and-environmental-protection

Hydrothermal carbonization of food waste digestate solids: Effect of


temperature and time on products characteristic and
environmental evaluation
Mi Yan a, Feng Chen a, Tian Li b, Li Zhong c, Hongyu Feng a, Zhang Xu a, Dwi Hantoko d,
Haryo Wibowo a, *
a
Institute of Energy and Power Engineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310014, China
b
Department of Energy and Process Engineering, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, 7491 Trondheim, Norway
c
Beijing Huaneng Yangtze Environmental Technology Research Institute Co.,Ltd, Beijing 102209, China
d
Interdisciplinary Research Center for Refining & Advanced Chemicals, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran 31261, Saudi Arabia

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: Food waste digestate solids (FWDS) is the by-product of anaerobic digestion and it contains high moisture.
Food waste digestate solids Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) has the ability to convert wet bio-waste to hydrochar, which is a potential
Hydrothermal carbonization technology for handling FWDS. This study investigates the effect of reaction temperature and residence time on
Pyrolysis
solid and liquid products from HTC process of FWDS. The solid product was named as hydrochars, and their
Combustion
Nitrogen
physicochemical characters were tested and compared. The results showed that temperature had a more sig­
Phosphorus nificant effect on hydrochar properties, compared to residence time. The higher heating value of hydrochar was
15.46 MJ/kg and the yield was 49%, under reaction conditions of 260 ◦ C and 60 min. It was also found that
hydrochar generated at higher temperature had a more stable combustion, higher ignition temperature, higher
burnout temperature. For liquid product, the main organic matter are pyridine derivatives, pyrazine derivatives,
indole derivatives, cyclopentene derivatives and phenolic compounds. It was also discovered that the increase of
temperature can significantly reduce the concentrations of Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) and Total Organic
Carbon (TOC) in liquid product. When reaction temperature increased from 220 ℃ to 260 ℃, the COD decreased
from 23,357 mg/L to 19,658 mg/L, TOC decreased from 9827 mg/L to 6352 mg/L, respectively. After HTC under
the conditions of 260 ◦ C and 60 min, 67% of nitrogen in solid feedstock e migrated from to liquid product, and N-
contained compounds decomposed into ammonia, while phosphorus was mainly remained in the solid phase
(>90%), which mainly existed in the form of apatite.

1. Introduction food waste digestate solids (FWDS), which also contains high amounts of
moisture at around 84%. It is estimated that 0.2–0.47 tons of food waste
Food waste (FW) is defined as organic municipal solid waste (MSW) digestate solids are generated for each ton of food waste treated by
produced from the household kitchens, restaurants, and food industries. anaerobic digestion (Ren et al., 2018). Hence, the amount of FWDS also
Its generated amount is increasing drastically due to population growth increases quickly with the generation of FW. To avoid the issue of FWDS
and modernization (Jin et al., 2021; Safieddin Ardebili et al., 2023). In becoming a secondary waste, various attempts have been made to treat
China, an estimated 120 million tons of FW was produced in 2019 or dispose it. Composting has advantages such as low cost, environ­
(Wang et al., 2016). This issue calls for research into effective, efficient, mental sustainability, and high recycling efficiency (Liu et al., 2023).
and safe disposal of FW. One of the methods being considered is Thus, composting is an effective method in its disposal, but the area of
anaerobic digestion (AD), because of its good ability to treat feedstock agricultural land in which to use these digestate fertilizer is limited and
with high moisture and the additional benefit of producing biogas (Li even decreasing. The possibility of using digestate in agriculture to
et al., 2019). However, this process produces a byproduct in the form of replace synthetic fertilizers is still debated. The use of highly stabilized

* Corresponding author.
E-mail address: haryowibowo83@gmail.com (H. Wibowo).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psep.2023.08.010
Received 29 March 2023; Received in revised form 27 July 2023; Accepted 4 August 2023
Available online 10 August 2023
0957-5820/© 2023 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

digestate caused an increase in the portion of organic carbon in the soil, carbonization to promote the removal of nitrogen from the product
contributing to the improvement of its quality (Zilio et al., 2022). Hydrochar (Zhang et al., 2023). Co-hydrothermal carbonization of
Excessive use of digestate fertilizer could cause the leaking of nutrients sludge and simulated food waste to explore the impact of mutual
which could pollute the surface and groundwater, resulting in eutro­ interaction on nitrogen transformation (Wang et al., 2022). The effect of
phication and hypoxia of soil (Li et al., 2020). Additionally, the utili­ MgCl2 on phosphorus migration. Cow manure is subjected to hydro­
zation of FWDS as fertilizer is also limited by the cost of transportation thermal carbonization for phosphorus recovery (Stobernack and Malek,
(Kratzeisen et al., 2010). The other methods for the disposal of FWDS 2023). As a raw material rich in nitrogen and phosphorus, FWDS lacks
(landfill and incarnation) also have drawbacks such as groundwater research on its hydrothermal carbonization. At the same time, the above
contamination by leachate, bad odor emitted, or greenhouse gas emis­ research only focuses on a single element in nitrogen or phosphorus as
sion (Zala et al., 2019). Therefore, it is essential to find more effective, the research goal, and uses additives to study its impact. There is a lack
efficient, and environmentally friendly methods for the treatment of of synchronous research on nitrogen and phosphorus, and it is unclear
FWDS. whether catalysts have a positive or negative impact on phosphorus
Hydrothermal Carbonization (HTC) is considered a promising while promoting nitrogen migration.
method for the disposal of biomass with high moisture content (Djandja A large number of FWDS produced by anaerobic digestion in industry
et al., 2021). HTC is a wet thermochemical process conducted at tem­ cannot be treated, which has become a bottleneck restricting the
peratures between 180 ◦ C to 300 ◦ C and autogenous pressures (3.5–5.5 development of AD. This study is important when considering that the
MPa). The biomass feed would be converted into hydrochar through a liquid phase is organic wastewater with high pollutant contents, which
series reaction such as hydrolysis reaction, dehydration, and decarbox­ must be studied to understand its safe treatment and utilization. The
ylation during HTC (Mumme et al., 2011). This hydrochar has similar innovation of this study is the comprehensive and detailed analysis of
characteristics with coal and could be used as clean energy carrier (Liu the three-phase products of low-grade FWDS from HTC, including their
et al., 2022). HTC can break down the particles and improve the dew­ properties as blended fuels, possible conversion paths of lignocellulose,
aterability and hydrophobicity property of waste with high moisture contamination analysis of the liquid phase, distribution of nitrogen and
(Kambo and Dutta, 2014). As a result, hydrochar produced from HTC of phosphorus elements, and recovery potential. This study has great
biomass is suitable for use as carbon electrodes (Dat et al., 2020), practical significance for the comprehensive treatment and utilization of
adsorbent (Zhang et al., 2019), fuel (Aragón-Briceño et al., 2020; FWDS.
Mazumder et al., 2020), soil amendment (Mariuzza et al., 2022), and Aiming to fill those research gaps, this paper focused on exploring
gasification feed (Akarsu et al., 2019). Studies have shown that hydro­ the effect of operating parameters (reaction temperature and residence
char from HTC have higher energy densification, shorter capillary suc­ time) in HTC of FWDS and their effect on the physicochemical charac­
tion time, and far higher dehydration capacity compared to untreated teristics of the product hydrochar. The evaluation included solid yield,
food waste digestate solids (Pecchi and Baratieri, 2019). HTC could also pyrolysis characteristic, and combustion characteristic. These values
offer the advantages of minimizing the amount of solid residue pro­ could be used to evaluate the hydrochar’s potential for use as fuel or
duced, more effective utilization of resources, short operating time, and activated carbon. TOC, COD, Total nitrogen (TN), NH+ 4 -N and organic
high energy efficiency (Yan et al., 2022a; Yan et al., 2022b). compounds in the liquid phase was also studied to provide a compre­
Several types of digestate have been investigated for treatment with hensive analysis. In addition, the distribution of nitrogen and phos­
HTC; including food waste (Akarsu et al., 2019), plant fed (Miliotti et al., phorus in the products after hydrothermal carbonization is also analyzed
2020), sewage sludge (Aragón-Briceño et al., 2020), and maize silage for further recovery, and it is expected that this work could provide a
(Mumme et al., 2011). Most of these studies focused on making hydro­ deeper insight into the potential of HTC treatment for FWDS.
char suitable for application as fuel (Kim et al., 2016). The heat value of
hydrochar from digestate was generally found to be between 15 and 30 2. Materials and method
MJ/kg, depending on the type of feed (Cao et al., 2021; Mumme et al.,
2011). Environmental evaluation of spent liquor from HTC is also a 2.1. Materials
significant factor for digestate disposal. HTC could decrease the Total
Organic Carbon (TOC), total N and NH+ 4 . On the other hand, it also Food waste digestate solids were obtained from a food waste treat­
produces liquid phase with high phenol (Akarsu et al., 2019). Scholars ment plant in Hangzhou, China. The average moisture content of the
have studied the addition of phenolics to the hydrothermal carboniza­ FWDS was found to be 83.35%. The content of lignocellulose in FWDS is
tion of high ash sludge, and the results show that phenolic substances about 25.5%. Fig. 1 shows the process for the generation and disposal of
increased the high calorific value of the carbonaceous solid product of FWDS in the waste treatment plant, to provide information about the
HTC (by 1.01–10.01%) and reduced the ash content (by 1.39–25.68%) state.and pretreatment of the FWDS samples. The hydrochar samples
(Wang et al., 2020). It should also be noted that there was little research was denoted as “x + y”, in which x and y represent reaction temperature
on the effect of HTC on the Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD) of the (220 ◦ C, 240 ◦ C, 260 ◦ C) and residence time (30 min, 45 min, 60 min),
liquid product. respectively.
Previous studies have used HCl for FWDS pretreatment and incor­
porate wood chips to improve hydrochar properties (Zhu et al., 2022). 2.2. Hydrothermal treatment
This treatment method however is costly, could incur equipment
corrosion, significantly complicate the process, and focuses on hydro­ HTC experiments were conducted in a 500 mL Hastelloy batch
char while ignoring liquid phase products. HTC has also been success­ reactor equipped with a furnace, electric stirrer, as well as pressure and
fully studied for the conversion of maize silage digestate to hydrochar temperature gauge. Firstly, 120 g undried FWDS (with the moisture
and liquid phase, which was then used for fermentation to produce CH4 content of 83.35%) and 120 mL deionized water were mixed and placed
(Cao et al., 2020). It is worth noting that FWDS has a higher ash content in the reactor which was sealed afterwards. In order to ensure the ma­
and could present a bigger challenge than maize silage digestate. While terials are not oxidized during the reaction and to accurately detect the
there is little research on the comprehensive characteristics of FWDS composition of the syngas after the reaction, pure N2 (99.99%) was used
derived products and processes from HTC. to purge air from the reactor and provide N2 atmosphere for the ex­
The nitrogen and phosphorus elements rich in biomass are also periments. The reactor was then heated to the set temperature at a ramp
research hotspots, such as the influence of HTC parameters on nitrogen rate of 10 ◦ C/min and held at the target temperature for the pre­
in sludge (Chen et al., 2023) and the use of organic acids to recover determined period of time. Then, cooling water was flowed into the
phosphorus (Perez et al., 2022). the catalytic hydrothermal reactor wall cooling system to cool the reactor to ambient conditions.

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

Fig. 1. Food waste digestate solids treatment process.

The reactor was then opened and a vacuum extraction filter was used to and heating rate were set to 25 mL/min and 20 ◦ C/min, respectively.
separate solid-liquid mixed products. The solid hydrochar was collected The steps for the pyrolysis experiments were identical to the com­
and dried in a drying oven at 105 ◦ C until the total mass remained un­ bustion experiments described above, with N2 atmosphere instead of air.
changed, then ground and screened for further analysis. The obtained The combustibility index S (%2/◦ C3⋅min2) was considered as the per­
liquid phase was collected and refrigerated for further analysis. Each formance for combustion characteristics of the hydrochar and was
sample of experiments was conducted three times. calculated using Eq. (5):
( dw) ( dw)
2.3. Analytical methods of HTC S= dt max dt mean
× 100% (5)
T 2i Tb

The ultimate analysis of FWDS and hydrochar were carried out by an where, (dw/dt)max and (dw/dt)mean refer to the maximum weight loss
Elemental analyzer (Dlementar vario el cube), with O content obtained rate and the average weight loss rate, respectively. Ti and Tb are the
by difference. The proximate analysis, combustion characteristic, and ignition temperature and the burnout temperature, respectively.
pyrolysis characteristic of FWDS and hydrochar were done with a
thermogravimetric analyzer (Discovery SDT 650). The higher heating
value (HHV) was determined by Automatic calorimeter (LC-CV-430). 2.5. Analysis of liquid product of HTC
The surface morphology of hydrochar was analyzed using scanning
electron microscope (SEM, ZEISS GeminiSEM 300, German). FT-IR of The pH value of liquid samples was determined by a precision pH
the hydrochar was performed by a Nicolet iS20 FT-IR spectrometer meter. The COD concentration of liquid phases was determined by the
(Thermo Scientific, USA). The organic matters in liquid phase were Dichromate method (HJ 828–2017). The TOC concentration was tested
analyzed using GC–MS (Agilent 7890A GC-5975 C MS). The species of by the TOC analyzer (Shimadzu TOC-L, Japan). Total nitrogen (TN) and
nitrogen and phosphorus in the FWDS and the solid products from HTC The TN and NH+ 4 -N concentrations were measured by the potassium

were detected by X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS, Thermo Sci­ persulfate digestion UV spectrophotometry method (HJ 636–2012) and
entific K-Alpha). Nessler’s reagent spectrophotometry (HJ 535–2009), respectively.
The hydrochar yield, the energy densification, and the energy yield
are regarded as main indicators for hydrochar and HTC process. They 3. Results and discussions
are defined by the following Equations. The calculation formula for
higher heating value is Eq. (1), the mass of the raw material and solid 3.1. Physicochemical characteristics of the hydrochar
phase in Eqs. (2) and (3) are both on a dry basis.
Visual inspection of the experiment results appeared to suggest that
HHV(MJ/kg) =0.349C + 1.1783H + 0.1005S − 0.1034O
(1) increase of temperature and residence time in HTC process caused the
− 0.0015N − 0.0221Ash color of hydrochar to gradually vary from brown to black, suggesting an
increase in carbonization degree. This might be caused by more residual
Hydrochar yield(%) =
Mass of hydrochar
× 100% (2) lignocellulosic in the feed decomposing to small compounds at higher
Mass of feedstock HTC temperatures. The internal cellular structure of FWDS appeared to
have been destroyed after HTC above 260 ◦ C, as shown by Fig. 2. In
HHV of hydrochar some cases, due to the inability to directly compare with FWDS, solid
Energy densification(%) = × 100% (3)
HHV of feedstock and liquid phase products produced under reaction conditions of 200 ◦ C
and 30 min were used as the reference material.
Energy yield(%) = Hydrochar yield × Energy densification (4)
The results of ultimate analysis and proximate analysis of hydrochar
are listed in Table 1. The content of fixed carbon (FC) in hydrochar was
2.4. Combustion and pyrolysis analysis of hydrochar at 5% or less for all samples. This was because a lot of organic matter in
FW was already decomposed by microorganisms during AD to produce
Select hydrochar would be used in combustion and pyrolysis ex­ methane. This was in good agreement with the finding of Reza et al.
periments to evaluate their performance as fuel. For TGA test, 10 mg of (Reza et al., 2016) who found that there was very low FC content (as low
dry FWDS/hydrochar sample was first weighed and put into an alumina as 1.5%) in hydrochar. The observed increase of FC content with tem­
crucible, which was then placed in the TGA. The sample was then heated perature increase could be caused by the decrease of VM at high tem­
under the atmosphere of air from 20 ◦ C to 950 ◦ C. The flow rate of air peratures (Poomsawat and Poomsawat, 2021). Additionally,

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

extension of residence time. Increases in both factors decreased the


contents of hydrogen (4.68–4.19%) and nitrogen (3.53–1.57%). HTC
temperature seemed to have more significant effect on the content of the
three elements mentioned before compared to residence time.
It was also noted that the proportion of carbon increase was rela­
tively negligible (only 2.59%) compared with FWDS and hydrochar at
260 + 60. This could probably be explained by the hydrolysis of the
originally insoluble lignocellulose in the process of HTC. Previous
studies have shown that lignin hydrolyzes slowly at temperatures up to
200 ◦ C, causing the occurrence of low levels of dissolved carbon-
containing intermediates in the liquid (Zhuang et al., 2022). Most of
the products obtained from the hydrolysis reaction could continue to
undergo a series of reactions, which would finally generate hydrochar.
However, many carbon-containing intermediate products continued to
remain in the liquid phase.
Atomic ratios was used to study the degree of coalification of the
studied solid samples in this study, and the result is shown in Fig. 3 (Lin
et al., 2022). Lignite, Sub-bituminous, bituminous and Anthracite are
also shown in Fig. 3(a) as comparison to determine the degree of coal­
ification of hydrochar. The H/C and O/C atomic ratio in hydrochar was
found to decrease with the increase in temperature and residence time,
which could indicate that dehydration was the main mechanism in HTC
(Cheng et al., 2022). HTC appeared to promote significant changes in
H/C and O/C in the solid phase; with H/C atomic ratio decreasing from
1.719 to 1.426, while O/C atomic ratio decreased from 0.473 to 0.133
Fig. 2. FWDS and hydrochar after HTC with magnified views (the values in
after HTC. This places the O/C atomic ratios of most hydrochar between
figure are Temperature with ºC + Time with mins).
Lignite and Sub-bituminous coals, while their H/C atomic ratios were
significantly higher than Lignite. HTC significantly changed H/C and
dehydration and decarboxylation reactions have been reported to occur
N/C of FWDS, while temperature and time had slight effect on H/C and
during HTC and could be a contributing factor (Su et al., 2021). The
N/C of FWDS. The dehydration and decarboxylation reactions lead to a
intermediate products of HTC of lignocellulose (fructose and glucose)
decrease in the content of oxygen and hydrogen elements in hydrochar,
undergo dehydration reactions to form aldehydes and organic acids,
and the removal rate is greater than that of the demethanation reaction
such as acetic acid. Some organic acids will generate CO2 after decar­
of carbon elements.
boxylation reaction, while organic acids are dissolved in the liquid
It could also be observed that H/C and O/C atomic ratios in hydro­
phase, CO2 remains in the gas phase, and organic acids and CO2 will not
char dropped significantly with HTC temperature increase. Meanwhile,
participate in the nucleation and growth process of hydrothermal car­
H/C and O/C atomic ratios of hydrochar at 260 ◦ C only reduced slightly
bon. This results in the already low carbon content of FWDS being
with the increase residence time. This indicates that the coalification is
further reduced in the hydrothermal carbon as a product of the HTC
still slowly progressing within 30–60 min at 260 ◦ C. Changes to N/C and
reaction (Zhuang et al., 2022).
O/C atomic ratios in the hydrochar is depicted in Fig. 3(b). The N/C
The elemental compositions of hydrochar changed significantly with
atomic ratio tended to decrease as the reaction intensity increases. This
changes in HTC temperature and time. However, carbon and oxygen
could be explained by higher temperature and longer residence time
remained the main elements in all hydrochar evaluated. HTC conditions
promoting transfer of elements from solid phase to liquid phase, which
at 260 + 30 increased the carbon content in hydrochar from 32.67% to
caused the loss of N in hydrochar. A large amount of nitrogen is retained
34.65% and decreased the oxygen content from 20.60% to 8.37%
in the hydrochar produces a large amount of NOx during its combustion
compared to those in FWDS. Hydrogen and nitrogen were significantly
process (Xie et al., 2022). Low N/C atomic ratio means that the
affected by the increase of reaction temperature, and moderately by the

Table 1
Ultimate analysis, proximate analysis and fuel characteristics of FWDS and Hydrochar.
Itema FWDS 220 + 30 240 + 30 260 + 30 260 + 45 260 + 60
b
Ultimate analysis
C 32.67 33.52 34.20 34.65 35.05 35.26
H 4.68 4.43 4.46 4.34 4.27 4.19
N 3.53 1.87 1.60 1.61 1.67 1.57
S 0.34 0.27 0.29 0.23 0.52 0.29
Oc 20.60 10.75 8.60 8.37 7.48 6.26
atomic H/C 1.72 1.59 1.57 1.50 1.46 1.43
atomic O/C 0.47 0.24 0.19 0.18 0.16 0.13
atomic N/C 0.05 0.02 0.02 0.020 0.02 0.02
Proximate analysis
Moisture 1.94 1.30 1.14 1.12 1.27 1.10
Ash 38.18 49.16 50.85 50.80 51.01 52.43
VM 54.89 46.65 45.1 43.75 42.73 41.44
FC 4.99 2.89 3.50 4.33 4.99 5.03
HHV(MJ/kg) 13.97 14.74 15.20 15.24 15.42 15.46
a
The name of hydrochar “x-y” indicates the temperature is x ◦ C and residence time is y min.
b
on dry basis.
c
O= 100-(C+H+N + S+Ash).

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

Fig. 3. Atomic H/C, N/C and O/C ratios of FWDS and hydrochar.

combustion process can minimize the generation of NOX and reduce solid products decreased with the increase of temperature reported by
polluting gas emissions as much as possible. Martinez et al. (Mendoza Martinez et al., 2021). At fixed HTC temper­
Table 1 also shows the HHV of the hydrochar, results indicated that ature of 260 ◦ C, prolonging residence time showed that the yield of
proper engineering of HTC temperature and residence time could in­ hydrochar decreased from 54.60% to 49.22%. These results suggested
crease HHV of hydrochar from 13.97 MJ/kg (FWDS) to 14.74–15.46 that HTC temperature had significant effect on the yield of hydrochar,
MJ/kg. It must be noted that compared with hydrochar from other while prolonging residence time above 30 min had slight effect.
biomass such as avocado seed (18.6 MJ/kg (Sangaré et al., 2022)), In the process of HTC of FWDS, this happens through the hydrolysis
macadamia nut shells (19.09 MJ/kg (Samaksaman et al., 2021)) and of cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, and other organic matters in FWDS
loblolly pine (24.5 MJ/kg (Reza et al., 2014)), the HHV of the HTC which went undecomposed during AD. Hemicellulose and cellulose have
products of FWDS is relatively low. This was probably caused by sig­ lower hydrolysis temperatures of 180–200 ◦ C and 220 ◦ C respectively.
nificant amounts of organic matter having been decomposed during the While lignin begins to decompose at 250 ◦ C (Brindhadevi et al., 2021;
AD process, resulting in a very low content and relatively high ash Zhang et al., 2021). This explains this study’s earlier finding which
content in the FWDS. On the other hand, excessive ash content will cause showed that at HTC temperature above 260 ◦ C, the volatile matter
slagging and affect combustion negatively (Cao et al., 2021; Dutta et al., content in the hydrochar did not change significantly. This was because
2021). Another study by Parmar et al. found very similar results, that the cellulose, hemicellulose, and most of the lignin in the feedstock have
hydrochar produced from vegetable, garden, and fruit waste digestate been decomposed into glucose and xylose. These compounds were then
contained low carbon content (between 27% and 32%), higher ash dissolved in the liquid phase. These macromolecular compounds would
content (53–59%), and a relatively low HHV of 15 MJ/kg (dry basis) then be decomposed into liquid and gases (CO and CO2), the extent of
(Parmar and Ross, 2019). which increased with the increase in temperature. Under HTC at 220 ◦ C,
only some cellulose degraded. The degradation extent experienced by
3.2. Hydrochar yield and energy recovery the feedstock at this point was similar to that in pyrolysis. Higher tem­
perature was required for the raw material to be fully hydrolyzed and for
Fig. 4 shows trend of hydrochar production and energy yield from polycondensation reaction to occur to form hydrochar. There have been
HTC of FWDS under different temperatures and residence time. From many previous studies on the formation of hydrochar, mainly from
220 + 30–260 + 30, the yield of hydrochar decreased from 71.52% to lignin, cellulose, and hemicellulose. Lignin depolymerizes into aromatic
54.60%. This is in good agreement with the results that the yield of HTC oligomers, which are then hydrolyzed into benzene and phenolic com­
pounds, further nucleating to form aromatic hydrochar. Hemicellulose is
depolymerized to polysaccharides, and then undergoes hydrolysis,
dehydration, condensation to furanone derivatives and monocyclic ar­
omatics, and finally nucleated to form aromatic hydrochar (Zhuang
et al., 2022). Cellulose is hydrolyzed and decomposed into water-soluble
compounds (oligomers) with smaller molecular weights, which are
further decomposed into glucose (monomers), and glucose is partially
isomerized into fructose. The hydrolysis product then undergoes a series
of isomerization, dehydration, and cracking to produce the intermediate
5-HMF or furfural and its derivatives. The intermediate undergoes
polymerization, condensation reaction, intermolecular dehydration and
other reactions, and then undergoes aromatization to finally form
hydrochar (Wang et al., 2018b).
Fig. 4 also shows the energy densification of HHV of hydrochar
compared to the raw materials, which was calculated using Eq. (4). The
lowest energy densification was 1.055 at 220 + 30, and the highest
energy densification was 1.106 at 260 + 60. It shows that the energy
densification of hydrochar only increased very slightly, this was because
Fig. 4. Effects of HTC temperature and residence time on hydrochar yield, the HHV of hydrochar did not change much in HTC. Increasing HTC
energy yield and energy densification.

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

temperature and extending its residence time also was found to decrease atmosphere, different from combustion characteristic analysis which
the energy yield slightly. This is probably caused by the high proportion was done under air. The DTG curve of pyrolysis process of FWDS is
of non-combustible ash in hydrochar and the low proportion of FC. shown in Fig. 5(a), and it shows four distinct peaks in common with that
of hydrochar. These four peaks were similar to what have been reported
3.3. Pyrolysis and combustion performance of hydrochar in a previous study (Reza et al., 2016). However, a very significant
difference between the DTG results of FWDS and hydrochar could be
After the characterization of hydrochar was discussed in previous observed in the 2nd and 3rd peaks. the highest peak of DTG curve of
sections, the performance of hydrochar as fuel would be evaluated. This FWDS showed up at around 325 ◦ C (2nd peak), while that of hydrochar
is done by using hydrochar produced under different conditions as was found at around 450 ◦ C (3rd peak). This could be the indication of
feedstock for pyrolysis and combustion processes. FWDS experiencing major mass loss through the degradation of cellu­
lose, as shown by the second peak that corresponds to cellulose. While
3.3.1. Pyrolysis performance for hydrochar, there was only little cellulose left after the anaerobic
TG and DTG curves of FWDS and hydrochar obtained under various digestion of FWDS and it only experienced little mass loss due to the
reaction conditions are shown in Fig. 5. These were done under nitrogen degradation of cellulose. Instead, hydrochar experienced its highest

Fig. 5. TG and DTG curves of pyrolysis process of FWDS and hydrochars: (a) FWDS, (b) 220 + 30, (c) 240 + 30, (d) 260 + 30, (e) 260 + 45, (f) 260 + 60.

301
M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

mass loss at 450 ◦ C with the degradation of lignin (Rodriguez Correa hydrochar, water evaporation, and VM loss.
et al., 2017).
As was mentioned above, cellulose does not degrade completely at 3.3.2. Combustion performance
180 ◦ C. From 220 + 30–260 + 30 (Fig. 5(b)-(d)), the peak of cellulose The TG and DTG curves of the combustion of FWDS and hydrochar
was seen to decrease gradually. When the temperature of HTC reached are presented in Fig. 6, with the combustion characteristic parameters
260 ◦ C as seen in Fig. 5(d), the peak of cellulose has basically dimin­ shown in Table 2. The Chinese National Standard GB/T 33304–2016 (Su
ished. However, the peak of lignin at 450 ◦ C remained unchanged. This et al., 2021) was used to determine the ignition temperature (Ti),
indicated that lignin in hydrochar was not involved in the HTC reaction. maximum combustion rate temperature (Tm), and burnout temperature
There is a small peak at 700–750 ◦ C which could have come from the ash (Tb). The (dw/dt)max, (dw/dt)mean and Tm refer to the maximum weight
content in FWDS that contained calcium carbonate, which decomposed loss rate, average weight loss rate and maximum combustion rate tem­
at this temperature range (Funke et al., 2013). There is also a small peak perature; respectively (Li et al., 2021). VM (range from 150◦ to 450◦ C)
at 100 ◦ C, which might be caused by the escape of adsorbed gas in and FC (range from 450◦ to 650◦ C) in Fig. 6 represent the combustion

Fig. 6. TG and DTG curves of combustion process of FWDS and hydrochars, (a) FWDS, (b) 220 + 30, (c) 240 + 30, (d) 260 + 30, (e) 260 + 45, (f) 260 + 60.

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Table 2
Combustion parameters of FWDS and Hydrochar.
Sample Ti Tb Tm (dw/dt)max (dw/dt)mean S
(◦ C) (◦ C) (◦ C) (%/min) (%/min) (%2 /◦ C3⋅min2)
7
FWDS 235 497 300 3.1 2.3 2.84 * 10−
7
220 + 30 220 520 374 2.6 1.8 2.23 * 10−
7
240 + 30 239 580 325 1.5 1.1 1.20 * 10−
7
260 + 30 280 591 486 3.3 2.4 1.08 * 10−
7
260 + 45 270 601 489 1.5 1.0 0.97 * 10−
7
260 + 60 279 536 409 1.8 1.2 0.74 * 10−

areas of volatile matter and fixed carbon, respectively. The FWDS curve
has four obvious peaks. The two larger peaks were associated with VM
degradation and FC combustion, respectively. The curve of 220 + 30
also shows a four-peak structure ((dw/dt)max = − 2.6%), and its mass
variation rate is smaller than FWDS ((dw/dt)max= − 3.1%).
With the increase in HTC temperature and residence time, the four
peaks of FWDS changed into the three peaks of 260 + 60 curve. The
vanishing peak was the one at 325 ◦ C, indicating that the cellulose and Fig. 7. FTIR analysis of raw biomass and hydrochars.
hemicellulose in hydrochar have undergone a complete transformation.
1
The products formed by transformation mainly consists of cyclo­ considerable fall in the relative strength of the signal peak at 600 cm−
pentanoe derivatives, aldehyde compounds, organic acid, aromatic (Nawaz and Kumar, 2023).
structure char, etc (Zhuang et al., 2022). Ti of hydrochar fluctuated with
the change in HTC parameters, but were always higher than Ti of FWDS. 3.5. SEM analysis of FWDS and hydrochars
Higher ignition temperature of hydrochar meant that the storage and
transportation process of the fuel would be safer. The fluctuation phe­ To study the surface morphology of FWDS and hydrochar generated
nomenon might have been caused by high ash content, with the inten­ under different reaction conditions through SEM. As shown in Fig. 8, the
sified hydrothermal reaction at higher temperatures making the release SEM image of FWDS shows a fragmented surface structure and the
of VM easier. Results also suggested that the Tb of hydrochar generally surface Morphogenesis of hydrochar changed significantly. As shown in
increased with the increase in HTC temperature and residence time. Fig. 8(b-c), it can be observed that the surface of hydrochar is more
However, 260 + 45 produced the maximum Tb in the study at 601 ◦ C. fragmented, with larger cracks and pores at 220 + 30 and 240 + 30,
Prolonging the residence time to 60 min (260 +60) produced a lower Tb which may be due to the release of volatile matters and gases during the
of at 536 ◦ C. The stability of compounds in the formation of hydrochar at HTC process (Zhao et al., 2017). During the HTC process, volatile
260 + 60 is related to lower Tb (Balmuk et al., 2023). components (such as CO2 and H2O) escape, leading to the formation of
The average weight loss of hydrochar (dw/dt)mean decreased from many pore structures on the surface. As the HTC temperature increases,
1.8% to 1.2% with increase in HTC temperature and residence time, indi these pore structures gradually collapse and evolve into slender cracks
cating that high-temperature hydrochar would have longer combustion (Zhao et al., 2020). In addition, on the surface of hydrochar, due to the
periods. For comparison, the (dw/dt)mean of FWDS was 2.3%. The destruction of fiber structure, lignocellulose is hydrolyzed and carbon­
combustibility index (S) of hydrochar was lower compared to FWDS, in ized, ultimately aggregating to form a regular microsphere structure in
good agreement with a previous study by Su et al. (Su et al., 2021), and Fig. 8(e).
with the increase of temperature from 220 ◦ C to 260 ◦ C, combustibility
index (S) showed a decreasing trend. Previous studies on HTC of maize 3.6. Environmental evaluation and key elements distribution
silage digestate has shown a trend of increasing temperature and
decreasing combustibility index (S) (Cao et al., 2020). This means that The liquid phase of HTC is rich in nitrogenous substances and organic
high temperature and long residence time would reduce the compre­ matter. Characterization of the form and content of these elements are
hensive combustion performance of hydrochars. Considering its low essential in preventing secondary pollution, as well as for efficient uti­
calorific value, it would be more sensible to use hydrochar as an auxil­ lization of the liquid product. The pollutant characteristics of the HTC
iary fuel. liquid phase are shown in Fig. 9. The pH values of the liquid phase
ranged from 7.85 to 8.4. While no trend was observed, there were small
3.4. FTIR Analysis of FWDS and hydrochars fluctuations in pH that might be caused by the hydrolysis of some re­
sidual lipids and proteins of the feedstocks in the hydrothermal process
The FTIR spectra of the raw FWDS and hydrochars generated at to generate organic acids (Ghanim et al., 2016; Hoekman et al., 2012). In
different HTC temperatures and residence time are shown in Fig. 7. The temperatures above 240 ◦ C, the decomposition of organic acids into
peak distribution and density of FWDS and hydrochar vary with reaction small molecular compounds could also contribute to the change in pH.
conditions. The 3434 cm− 1 is related to O-H stretching (Soh et al., The intermediate product glucose, 5-HMF, or organic acids formed by
2023). The reduction of this band in hydrochar indicates that hydrochar the decomposition of furfural will be further converted. Formic acid for
is more hydrophobic (Reza et al., 2014). The peaks of 2920 cm− 1 (C-H example, would convert further to form CO2 (Hoekman et al., 2011),
tensile vibration) and 2850 cm− 1 (C-H deformation vibration) relate to causing pH changes. However, Fig. 9 shows that this effect is miniscule.
the retention of aliphatic structures after HTC (Volpe et al., 2018). The The COD of HTC liquid phase was measured to reflect the degree of
absorption band at 1640 cm− 1 is attributed to the stretching vibration of water pollution by reducing substances, with the results shown in Fig. 9.
C–– C of lignin (Jamari and Howse, 2012). The absorption band at During HTC, the organic matters in solid phase of feedstocks would be
1600–1100 cm− 1 is attributed to the aromatic ring skeleton and C-O transferred to the liquid phase. This resulted in high COD in the liquid
stretching (Kai et al., 2017). The broadband of around 1030 cm− 1 is phase, reaching 23,357 mg/L at 220 + 30. HTC temperature increases
attributed to the stretching vibration of C-O-C in cellulose. When the from 220 ◦ C to 260 ◦ C resulted in COD change from 23,357 mg/L to
HTC temperature increases, the band decreases due to the degradation 19,658 mg/L, the COD decrease ratio is 15.84%. While residence time
of cellulose (Liang et al., 2019). The skeletal C-O stretching caused a seemed to fluctuated the COD by about 9% compared with 260 + 30.

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

Fig. 8. SEM images of FWDS and hydrochars: (a) FWDS, (b) 220 + 30, (c) 240 + 30, (d) 260 + 30, (e) 260 + 45, (f) 260 + 60.

time caused TN and NH+ 4 -N concentration to also decrease and then


increase. The difference is that the change of TN and NH+ 4 -N concen­
tration caused by temperature rise is greater than that caused by time
extension, which again suggested the more significant effect of HTC
temperature compared to residence time. It must be said that the con­
centration of NH+ 4 -N and TN in the liquid phase is very high, making it
potentially a good source of nitrogen fertilizer. It could be seen in Fig. 9
that when the temperature rose from 220 ◦ C to 240 ◦ C however, the
concentration of NH+ 4 -N decreased from 2126 mg/L to 1557 mg/L
(26.76% decrease). This phenomenon might be caused by the hydro­
lyzation of carbohydrates from cellulose decomposition to form
reducing sugar, which would then crack and react with NH+ 4 to form
pyrazines. Pyrrole, pyridine, and some nitrogen-containing compounds
participate in the formation of hydrochar, while on the other hand,
proteins in FWDS are still decomposing into nitrogen-containing organic
Fig. 9. The contents of COD, TOC, TN, NH+
4 -N and pH in liquid fraction.
compounds and NH+ 4 -N. The above reaction processes are influenced by
temperature and time, resulting in fluctuations in the concentration of
TN and NH+ 4 -N. More in-depth research is needed on the conversion and
These results suggested that both temperature and residence time played
consumption of nitrogen during HTC.
a crucial role in the COD reduction of HTC liquid phase.
According to the Integrated Wastewater Discharge Standard (GB
The TOC of HTC liquid phase was also studied. Fig. 9 shows that TOC
8978–1996) and the Discharge Standard of Pollutants for Municipal
in liquid phase decreased with HTC temperature increase, while resi­
Wastewater Treatment Plants (GB 18918–2002) of the People’s Re­
dence time appeared to have very slight positive effect on TOC. TOC
public of China, the COD in sewage must be less than 60 mg/L, the
decreased from 9827 mg/L to 6352 mg/L with temperature increased
ammonia nitrogen less than 15 mg/L, the TN is less than 20 mg/L, and
from 220 ◦ C to 260 ◦ C, the TOC decrease ratio is 35.32%. At the reaction
the TOC is not more than 20 mg/L. The pollutants in the liquid phase
temperature of 260 ◦ C, TOC and COD contents increased when the
obtained from the hydrothermal carbonization of FWDS far exceed the
residence time was 60 min, which may be related to the accelerated
standard, indicating that the hydrothermal waste liquid needs to be
depolymerization of lignin and its dissolution in the liquid phase to
treated by a sewage plant in order to meet the discharge standards.
produce many carbon-containing compounds. Some carbons (carbon-
containing compounds) are typically transferred from the solid feed­
stock to the liquid phase during HTC, resulting in higher content of 3.7. The GC-MS analysis of liquid phase
carbon in liquid phase.
Fig. 9 shows that the concentration of TN and NH+ 4 -N fluctuated with The results of the hydrothermal liquid phase obtained by the hy­
the change of HTC temperature and time. The maximum concentrations drothermal carbonization of FWDS after GC-MS detection are shown in
of TN and NH+ 4 -N were 4520 mg/L and 2224 mg/L, respectively. At HTC Table S1. As various components of FWDS undergo a variety of reactions
residence time of 30 min, and the concentrations of TN and NH+ 4 -N during the HTC process, the HTC liquid phase is rich in various organic
decreased first and then increased with the increase in temperature. The compounds. There are pyridine derivatives, pyrazine derivatives, indole
lowest concentrations of TN and NH+ 4 -N were 2980 mg/L and 1557 mg/ derivatives, cyclopentene derivatives and phenolic compounds in the
L at 240 ◦ C, respectively. At HTC temperature of 260 ◦ C, the extension of liquid phase obtained under 220 + 30 reaction condition. FWDS con­
tains protein that could undergo depolymerization, hydrolysis to

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

peptide substances (dipeptides, cyclic dipeptides), further dehydration [(401.74 ± 0.22)eV], protein-N [(399.80 ± 0.18)eV], pyridine-N
to amino acids, and amino acid reforming to produce pyrrole and pyr­ [(399.42 ± 0.21)eV], nitrile-N [(398.83 ± 0.10)eV], NSiO2 [(402.5)
idine (Changi et al., 2015). Indole derivatives could also be derived from eV], Nitrate [ (>405) eV].
amino acids, such as tryptophan. Pyrazines are also derived from amino FWDS contains inorganic-N, protein-N and nitrile-N. After HTC, the
acids and can be obtained through the Maillard reaction. Cyclopentene nitrile-N in the hydrothermal carbon obtained under the reaction con­
derivatives are mainly derived from polysaccharides and mono­ dition of 220 ◦ C + 30 min disappeared and NSiO2 was obtained. With
saccharides generated by the depolymerization and hydrolysis of the further increase of temperature, hydrochar containing pyridine-N
hemicellulose and cellulose (Zhuang et al., 2022). Further dehydration can be obtained at 240 ◦ C, and some protein remains at this time. At
and condensation of carbohydrate substances can produce cyclopentene 260 ◦ C, the protein will be completely decomposed, resulting in the
derivatives, furanone derivatives and monocyclic aromatics, and fur­ disappearance of protein in the solid phase and the generation of new
anone derivatives and monocyclic aromatics can further nucleate to nitrates. Protein-based organic nitrogen has been reported to be very
form hydrochar (Sevilla and Fuertes, 2009; Titirici et al., 2008). Lignin sensitive to temperature during the hydrolysis process, this causes the
can be depolymerized to produce aromatic oligomers, and further hy­ hydrolysis process to be very slow when the temperature is lower than
drolysis of intermediate products can produce phenolic compounds and 230 ◦ C and significantly accelerated at the temperature above 230 ◦ C
methoxybenzene compounds (Falco et al., 2011). In addition, with the (Aragón-Briceño et al., 2021). It has been reported that nitrogen
increase of reaction temperature and the extension of residence time, continually transformed during HTC process. Multiple factors affect the
some organic acids and alkanes were formed in the hydrothermal liquid N transformation; such as temperature, residence time, pressure, metal
phase, such as palmitic acid produced by 260 + 30, n-pentadecanoic ions (Ca2+, Mg2+) in the raw materials, etc. Previous study has explained
acid and stearic acid produced by 260 + 60, and undecane, dodecane that there are two main forms of nitrogen in biomass: inorganic nitrogen
- - -
and tridecane produced by 260 + 45. (NH+ 4 , CN , NO3, NO2) and organic nitrogen (proteins and pyridine-N)
(Wang et al., 2018a). From the perspective of transformation path,
inorganic-N, protein-N and a small amount of nitrile-N in FWDS are
3.8. Distribution of nitrogen and phosphorus in HTC products
further decomposed with the rise of temperature, inorganic-N is hy­
-
drolyzed and converted into NH+ 4 and NO3, and protein is hydrolyzed to
3.8.1. N distribution in HTC products
produce intermediate products through peptide bond cleavage. These
In addition to the fuel potential of the solid hydrochar, the nitrogen
intermediate products are further deaminated to produce NH+ 4 , and
and phosphorus contained in the solid and liquid phases of the products
nitrile-N is hydrolyzed and deaminated to produce NH+ 4 (Zheng et al.,
after the HTC of biogas residue have the value of recycling. In order to
2022).
achieve this goal, it is necessary to study the distribution and
morphology of nitrogen and phosphorus in the product.
3.8.2. P distribution in HTC products
Fig. 10 shows that the nitrogen element in the FWDS migrates to the
The forms of phosphorus mainly include total solid P (TSP), non-
liquid phase during the hydrothermal process from. With the increase of
apatite inorganic P (NAIP), apatite (AP), inorganic P (IP) and organic
temperature (220–260 ◦ C), the proportion of nitrogen in the solid phase
P (OP),Among them, TSP=IP+OP, IP=NAIP+AP, NAIP refers to
shows a downward trend (38–25%), while the proportion of nitrogen in
various forms of phosphorus combined with oxides and hydroxides of
the liquid phase shows an upward trend (53–65%). During HTC process,
- Fe, Al, Mn, etc., called unstable phosphorus, while AP refers to various
inorganic N would be transformed into NH+ 4 -N and NO3-N. While
forms of phosphorus combined with Ca2+.
organic N would be transformed into inorganic N, such as NH+ 4 -N (Xiao
After HTC, P in FWDS is transferred to the solid and liquid phases in
et al., 2019). This phenomenon caused TN and NH+ 4 -N values to rise
the product. Phosphorus in the product is mainly distributed in the solid
rapidly in the liquid phase with the increase in temperature. Amino
phase (>85%), and the phosphorus in the solid phase increases slightly
acids were derived from the decomposition of proteins, which were
with the increase of temperature. For instance, With the increase of
deaminated to produce ammonia gas that would later be dissolved in
temperature, the proportion of phosphorus distribution in the solid
liquid phase as NH+ 4 (Wang et al., 2021). The variation of residence time
phase increased from 88.5% to 91.3%. Fig. 12 shows the main forms of
had no obvious influence on the fraction of N in HTC products.
P-compounds in FWDS and hydrochars.
XPS analysis of N-containing compounds in solid is shown in Fig. 11.
P in FWDS mainly exists in the form of IP, Hydrochars produced
Several N-containing compounds were observed, including inorganic-N
under different reaction conditions are also the same. The main part of
IP is AP, and with the rise of temperature, OP will convert to IP, from
53% (FWDS) to 74% (260 ◦ C), which is caused by OP hydrolysis in HTC
alkaline environment, and the main conversion product is AP.
Fig. 13 shows the XPS analysis results of some products. There are
two peaks for FWDS and all hydrochars, of which the peak of P2p3/2
orbital is about 133 eV, and the peak of P2p1/2 orbital is about 134 eV,
which indicates that the main product in the solid phase before and after
hydrothermal treatment is metal phase. Zhu et al. (Zhu et al., 2011)
revealed the main components of AP are Can/2H3− nPO4 (n = 1, 2, 3).

4. Conclusion

In this study, a comprehensive analysis was conducted on the


products of hydrothermal carbonization of food waste digestate solids
(FWDS), the main conclusions could be extracted as follows:

1) After HTC process at 260 + 60, carbon content in the solid product
increased by 8% and oxygen contents decreased by 69.6% compared
with FWDS, and the atomic ratio of H/C and O/C reached 1.46 and
0.158.
Fig. 10. N distribution in HTC products.

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

Fig. 11. XPS analysis of N-containing compound in solid phase.

2) Hydrochar yield significantly decreased with the increase of reaction characteristics. However, the intensification of HTC can lead to a
temperature to 49.3% at 260 + 60, while prolongation of residence decrease in the combustion index S.
time had a minor influence on the solid yield. The HHV of hydrochar 4) The pollutants (COD, TOC, NH+ 4 -N and TN) in liquid phase decreased
reach up to 15.46 MJ/kg at 260 + 60, considering the high ash significantly with HTC temperature increasing. The main organic
content and low HHV of hydrochar, it is suitable to be burned matter in the liquid phase is siloxane and its derivatives containing
together with coal as a blended fuel, so it is preferable to maintain a nitrogen heterocycles and phenols, which is highly risk for envi­
high HHV. ronment pollution. After HTC at 260 + 60, 67% of nitrogen in solid
3) Based on the pyrolysis and combustion testing, the hydrolysis of feedstock e migrated from to liquid product, and N-contained com­
cellulose and hemicellulose was almost completed during HTC at pounds decomposed into ammonia, while phosphorus was mainly
260 + 30. The hydrochar produced from higher temperature HTC remained in the solid phase (>90%), which mainly existed in the
had higher ignition temperature and stable combustion form of apatite.

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M. Yan et al. Process Safety and Environmental Protection 178 (2023) 296–308

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