Bioenergy and bioproducts have traditionally been developed as separate biomass processing technologies such as pyrolysis, combustion, gasification etc. However, there are several obstacles to the full commercialisation of bioenergy and bioproducts via these technologies, which include the resourcing of biomass, inadequate biomass refinery technologies, a lack of cost-competitive bioproducts and a limited and/or unstable supply of biofuels and bioproducts. The biomass processing technologies of the future needs a whole life cycle approach to processing to ensure its economic sustainability by maximising the potential of the feedstock valorisation. In this study, the potentials of different biomass feedstocks (Rapeseed, Whitewood and Seaweed) in integrated hydrothermal processing technologies (gasification, liquefaction, and carbonisation) were investigated for bioproducts and bioenergy applications. Hydrothermal treatments of these biomass feedstocks were investigated in a continuous hydrothermal process rig under the following conditions: 100°C (4-180bar) for low-temperature extraction, 200°C (55-240bar) for carbonisation, 300°C (140-240bar) for liquefaction and 375°C (240bar) for gasification at 1.5-2.0 h. The extracted liquefied bioproducts were identified using high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). The hydrochars (or residues) were investigated in energy and water treatment applications as the potential integrated processes applications. The energy applications of hydrochars were identified with intrinsic reactivity in the thermogravimetric analysis (TGA); approximately 15-25 mg of hydrochar (or residue) was heated from ambient temperature to 900 °C with a heating rate of 5 °C/min under an airflow rate of 100 ml/min. The combustion kinetics of the hydrochars and raw biomasses were identified using the distributed activation energy model. The water treatment applications were carried out in dye (methylene blue) adsorption; 20 mg of hydrochar with 10 mL of 300 mg/L methylene blue solution at 30 °C using an incubator at 160 rpm and the dye solutions were then analysed by UV–Vis spectrophotometry. The water treatment and energy applications were assessed as the integrated process to hydrothermal processing technology for different biomasses feedstocks and the optimal routes were identified for each kind of biomasses with a life cycle analysis model to establish the environmental impact of the integrated process.

Optimisation of hydrothermal processing technologies for different kind of biomass feedstocks: Integration of water treatment technology

ACS Spring Meeting 2021

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