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Energy and Element Fate of Hydrochar from Hydrothermal Carbonization of Dairy Manure Digestate

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Abstract

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of dairy manure digestate (DMD) was explored in this study. Response surface methodology was used to investigate the influence of temperature, time, and DMD pH on hydrochar properties. Hydrochar obtained in the study exhibited higher heating value (HHV) in the range of 17.5–20.6 MJ kg−1, with energy and hydrochar yields 45.8–72.4% and 57.6–80.1%, respectively. It was demonstrated that temperature was the most significant factor. At higher temperature, the HHV of hydrochar was higher while both energy and hydrochar yields were lower. In particular, hydrochar obtained at temperature ≥ 260 °C had HHV ≥ 20.0 MJ kg−1, which was close to that of lignite and implied its potential as fuel. To gain insights about the fate of various elements during HTC and facilitate overall evaluation of hydrochar, a wide range of elements (30 in total, including macro- and micro-nutrients, as well as heavy metals) was analyzed. Hydrochar had carbon to nitrogen (C/N) ratio between 10 and 12, which was in the suitable range for nutrient availability as soil amendment. Half of the elements remained in the hydrochar, while most of Na, K, and half of S leached into process water, especially at temperature ≥ 260 °C, thus combusting hydrochar can potentially alleviate the slagging and fouling problems associated with direct combustion of dried DMD. The study provided insights for further rational utilization of DMD hydrochar, and integration of HTC into existing on-farm anaerobic digestion was a promising option for reduction disposal of DMD.

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Data Availability

The datasets used or analyzed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by state and federal funds appropriated to The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (SEEDS Award No. OHOA1642). The authors would like to thank Luis Huezo Sanchez, Esha Shrestha, and Mary Wicks for reading through the manuscript and providing useful suggestions. The authors would also like to thank the Shandong Provincial Education Department for partial financial support.

Funding

This work was supported by state and federal funds appropriated to The Ohio State University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (SEEDS Award No. OHOA1642). The authors would also like to thank the Shandong Provincial Education Department, China, for the partial financial support.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food, Agricultural, and Biological Engineering, The Ohio State University, Wooster, OH, 44691, USA

    Zhifang Cui & Ajay Shah

  2. College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Shandong University of Science and Technology, Qingdao, 266590, China

    Zhifang Cui

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ZC: methodology, investigation, writing — original draft preparation. AS: writing— review and editing, resources, project administration, supervision.

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Cui, Z., Shah, A. Energy and Element Fate of Hydrochar from Hydrothermal Carbonization of Dairy Manure Digestate. Bioenerg. Res. 17, 1167–1178 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-022-10470-w

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