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Hydrothermal carbonization of biogenic municipal waste for biofuel production

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Abstract

Biogenic municipal waste (BMW) constitutes a major fraction of municipal solid waste in Bangladesh. Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) can provide a sustainable solution to the increasing generation of BMW by converting it to biofuel feedstock. This study evaluates the fuel properties, reaction yields, and morphology of solid product (i.e., hydrochar) derived via HTC of BMW obtained directly from a landfill in Bangladesh. A partial factorial design was employed over two independent levels of variation for reaction temperature (190 and 220oC), three independent levels of variation for residence time (20, 30, and 40 min), and water loading (70, 80, and 90%). Multivariate analysis was performed to understand the correlation among the dependent and independent variables of HTC experiments. Higher heating value (HHV) of the produced hydrochars showed that high-quality solid biofuel (with up to 15.6 MJ/kg) could be produced from BMW. Empirical models have been developed based on the experimental data to predict product yield and HHV of hydrochars; the models were of acceptable accuracy considering the inhomogeneity of the waste feedstock.

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Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the support of the Energy and Power Research Council (EPRC) of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh for funding this work under contract number EPRC/58-2018-001-01.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemical Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    A. K. M. Kazi Aurnob, Assame Arnob, Kazi Bayzid Kabir, Md. Mominur Rahman & Kawnish Kirtania

  2. Department of Glass and Ceramic Engineering, Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka, 1000, Bangladesh

    Md. Saiful Islam

Authors
  1. A. K. M. Kazi Aurnob
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  2. Assame Arnob
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  3. Kazi Bayzid Kabir
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  4. Md. Saiful Islam
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  5. Md. Mominur Rahman
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  6. Kawnish Kirtania
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Correspondence to Kawnish Kirtania.

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Highlights

• Evaluation of fuel properties of HTC hydrochar from biogenic municipal waste at varying conditions

• Empirical model for predicting product yield and energy content of hydrochar

• Correlation among the variables using multivariate analysis

• Morphological characteristics of HTC hydrochar at different reaction conditions

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Aurnob, A.K.M.K., Arnob, A., Kabir, K.B. et al. Hydrothermal carbonization of biogenic municipal waste for biofuel production. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 12, 163–171 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01437-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01437-6

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