Thermal Activation of Digested Sewage Sludges for Carbon Dioxide Removal from Biogas
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Sample Preparation
2.2. Physical Activation and Adsorption Test Equipment
3. Results and Discussion
3.1. Char Yield
- -
- Temperature (200–600 °C);
- -
- Residence time (1–2 h);
- -
- Flow rate (300 Nml·min−1);
- -
- Heating rate (10 °C·min−1);
- -
- Flowing agent (N2, CO2, air).
3.2. Microscopic Characteristics
3.3. CO2 Adsorption Capacity
- -
- Biogas flow rate: 153.8 Nml·min−1;
- -
- GHSV (gas hourly space velocity): 131·h−1;
- -
- Cb: CO2 breakthrough concentration limit: 2.5%.
- -
- is the CO2 adsorbed in mg per g of sorbent;
- -
- is the breakthrough time;
- -
- is the simulated biogas flow rate;
- -
- (ppmv) is the total CO2 concentration in the mixture;
- -
- ( is the CO2 molar weight;
- -
- is the molar volume of an ideal gas;
- -
- is the mass of the sorbent;
- -
- is the unit conversion from ppmv to molar concentration.
- -
- It gives a higher amount of the solid fraction produced during the physical activation due to the greater yield value (53.7 vs. 46.6%);
- -
- It results in lower energy costs during the thermal treatment for char production.
- -
- Temperature: 600 °C;
- -
- Dwell time: 2 h;
- -
- Drying temperature: 170–180 °C;
- -
- Physical activation flow rate: 300 Nml·min−1;
- -
- Heating rate: 10 °C·min−1.
4. Conclusions
Supplementary Materials
Author Contributions
Funding
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Nomenclature
BET C | Brunauer–Emmett–Teller analytical method carbon content (%) |
Cb | CO2 breakthrough concentration limit |
CHP | Combined Heat and Power |
CO2cap | CO2 adsorption capacity (mgCO2·gsorb−1) |
CO2conc | CO2 concentration (ppmv) |
Dry_x | biochar samples which received further post-drying treatment at the “x” temperature |
EDS | Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry |
GHSV | Gas Hourly Space Velocity (h−1) |
H IUPAC | hydrogen content (%) International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry |
mchar | mass of char (g) |
mraw | mass of feedstock (g) |
msorb | mass of sorbent (g) |
N | nitrogen content (%) |
N2/CO2/Air/N2-CO2 | Respectively, nitrogen used only, carbon dioxide used only, air used only, nitrogen for the transitory phase and carbon dioxide for the stationary phase (one-stage method) |
P | phosphorous content (%) |
PID | proportional–integral–derivative controller |
Q | simulated biogas flow rate (l min−1) |
S | sulfur content (%) |
SBET | active surface evaluated with BET method (m2/g) |
SOFC | Solid Oxide Fuel Cell |
SS | sewage sludge |
Stot.pores | total surface of pores (m2/g) |
St-plot ext | active surface evaluated with t-plot method (m2/g) |
tb | breakthrough time (s) |
Vpores (d < 1.308 nm) | microporous pores (cm3/g) |
Vpores (d < 44.9 nm) | mesoporous pores (cm3/g) |
vwc | variable water content |
WWTP | WasteWater Treatment Plant |
ychar | Char yield (%) |
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C (%) | 35 ± 0.8 | As (mg/kg) | 5.6 ± 0.28 |
H (%) | 4.8 ± 0.3 | Cd (mg/kg) | 1.55 ± 0.08 |
N (%) | 4.7 ± 0.1 | Cr (mg/kg) | 224 ± 5.8 |
S (%) | <2 | Hg (mg/kg) | 0.89 ± 0.03 |
P (%) | 2.9 ± 0.08 | Ni (mg/kg) | 147 ± 1.28 |
SBET (m2/g) | 0.33 ± 0.016 | Pb (mg/kg) | 77 ± 3.4 |
St-plot ext (m2/g) | 0.377 ± 0.015 | K (mg/kg) | 1801 ± 41 |
Vpores (d < 1.308 nm) (cm3/g) | 0.00002 ± 1·10−6 | Cu (mg/kg) | 388 ± 4.2 |
Vpores (d < 44.9 nm) (cm3/g) | 0.00121 ± 6·10−5 | Se (mg/kg) | 3.15 ± 0.34 |
Stot.pores (m2/g) | 0.111 ± 4.3·10−3 | Zn (mg/kg) | 1109 ± 13 |
Sample Label | SBET (m2/g) | St-Plot ext (m2/g) | Vpores (d < 1.308 nm) (cm3/g) | Vpores (d < 44.9 nm) (cm3/g) | Stot.pores (m2/g) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
S0 | 0.32 | 0.38 | 0.00002 | 0.0012 | 0.11 |
S1 | 2.65 | 3.27 | 0.00038 | 0.0139 | 2.06 |
S2 | 3.29 | 3.82 | 0.00024 | 0.0191 | 3.48 |
S23N | 2.32 | 2.75 | 0.00015 | 0.0146 | 2.4 |
S24N | 4.32 | 4.7 | 0.00074 | 0.0226 | 3.41 |
Sample Label | Adsorption Capacity vwc (mgCO2·g−1) | Adsorption Capacity Dry (mgCO2·g−1) |
---|---|---|
S0 | 4.0 | 9.9 |
S11 | 2.4 | 4.6 |
S12 | 3.7 | 11.1 |
S1 | 4.4 | 20.1 |
S21 | 4.9 | 6.3 |
S22 | 7.7 | 9.4 |
S2 | 16.1 | 26.2 |
S23 | 19.6 | 49.1 |
S24 | 35.0 | 35.5 |
S11N | 5.2 | 6.4 |
S12N | 9.9 | 11.9 |
S13N | 10.6 | 17.2 |
S21N | 5.1 | 8.9 |
S22N | 10.9 | 13.4 |
S23N | 27.7 | 43.5 |
S24N | 36.5 | 62.3 |
S25N | 47.7 | 68.5 |
SA1 | - | 5.7 |
SA2 | - | 13.0 |
SA3 | - | 15.5 |
SB1 | - | 18.4 |
SB2 | - | 45.7 |
SB3 | - | 42.5 |
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Tinnirello, M.; Papurello, D.; Santarelli, M.; Fiorilli, S. Thermal Activation of Digested Sewage Sludges for Carbon Dioxide Removal from Biogas. Fuels 2020, 1, 30-46. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels1010004
Tinnirello M, Papurello D, Santarelli M, Fiorilli S. Thermal Activation of Digested Sewage Sludges for Carbon Dioxide Removal from Biogas. Fuels. 2020; 1(1):30-46. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels1010004
Chicago/Turabian StyleTinnirello, Mirko, Davide Papurello, Massimo Santarelli, and Sonia Fiorilli. 2020. "Thermal Activation of Digested Sewage Sludges for Carbon Dioxide Removal from Biogas" Fuels 1, no. 1: 30-46. https://doi.org/10.3390/fuels1010004