Work

Scoping Assessment of Hydrothermal Carbonization for Resource Recovery from Waste-Activated Sludge

Year: 2025

Type: conference-paper

Abstract: Wastewater treatment plants are transitioning into water resource recovery facilities as an important steptowards energy and climate neutrality. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is a promising sludge treatmentoption to balance contaminant removal with resource recovery. This study investigated HTC of waste activatedsludge under different conditions followed by biochemical methane potential tests. The results showed thataqueous hydrothermal liquor (AHL) produced higher methane yields than untreated waste-activated sludge(WAS), but due to organic material loss to hydrochar, total biogas production decreased. However, HTCallows the plant to process more sludge while hydrochar can serve as an additional by-product for resourcerecovery. Further research is needed to optimize trade-offs in energy and nutrient recovery, contaminantremoval and emission mitigation.

Source: Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.17182321

Authors: Tibbetts, Harry, Ahmad Shahnawazi, Ali, Carvalho, Lara, Schwede, Sebastian

Institution: Mälardalen University

Language: English

Topic: Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Production

Subfield: Building and Construction

Field: Engineering

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDGs: Responsible consumption and production, Affordable and clean energy, Clean water and sanitation, Climate action

Open Access status: green

OpenAlex ID: W7083167289

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