Hydrothermal liquefaction technology for co-processing of wastewater sludge and other solid wastes for bioenergy production

一种前景看好的热液液化(HTL)技术(PCT专利正在申请中，文件编号349-264-P)已经开发出来，主要与特洛伊技术公司和其他一些工业合作伙伴合作。该技术实现了高含水率废水、污泥和其他固体废物的联合处理，如城市固体废物(MSW)和林业/农业残渣，用于联产生物油和沼气。在我们之前的实验室规模试验中，在100mL间歇反应器和实验室规模的连续流动HTL反应器(0.6 kg/h)中，基于响应面方法对包括反应温度、反应时间和固体浓度在内的操作条件进行了优化，以实现最大生物原油产量。该工艺产生的两种副产物(生物炭和水溶物)也可用于生产能源。对获得的水溶物进行生物甲烷潜力(BMP)测试，表明其具有良好的厌氧消化(AD)沼气发酵性能。在这个拟议的I2I第一阶段(减少到实践)项目中，我们的目标是通过扩大处理能力为6公斤/小时的混合废物的处理工艺(扩大10倍)来推进HTL-AD工艺。将优化6 kg/h规模高温气冷堆系统的操作条件，以获得最大生物油产量。废活性污泥与木屑、玉米秆、城市生活垃圾等各种固体废物的混合物将在6 kg/h规模的HTL反应器系统中进行研究。此外，还将建造一个5号L间歇生物反应器，除进行骨形态发生蛋白试验外，还将对用于沼气生产的水溶性产品进行AD试验。最后，对规模为16t/h的污泥处理厂进行了技术经济分析，并与常规工艺(厌氧消化消化污泥脱水-填埋或焚烧)进行了比较。该I2I一期工程的研究成果可用于大型高温气冷堆的决策和设计。

A promising hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology (PCT patent pending, file # 349-264-P) has been developed, partnering mainly with Trojan Technologies, and a few other industrial partners. The technology realizes co-processing of high-water-content wastewater sludge and other solid wastes such as municipal solid waste (MSW) and forestry/agricultural residues for co-production of bio oils and biogas. In our previous lab-scale tests in both a 100 mL batch reactor and a lab-scale continuous-flow HTL reactor (0.6 kg/h), the operating conditions including reaction temperature, reaction time and solids concentration were optimized based on the response surface methodology for the maximum bio-crude oil production. The two by-products from this process (bio-char and water-soluble products (WSP)) can be used to produce energy as well.Bio-methane Potential (BMP) test on the obtained WSP demonstrated excellent fermentability for biogas production by anaerobic digestion (AD). In this proposed I2I Phase I (reduction-to-practice) project, we aim to advance this HTL-AD process by scaling up the process for treating mixed wastes at 6 kg/h treatment capacity(10 fold scale up). The operating conditions will be optimized for the 6 kg/h scale HTL reactor system for the maximum bio-oil production. Mixtures of waste activated sludge and various types of solid wastes such as wood sawdust, cornstalk, and MSW will be investigated in the 6 kg/h scale HTL reactor system. In addition, a 5 L batch bioreactor will be constructed for AD tests of the water-soluble products for biogas production in addition to the BMP test. Finally, a techno-economic analysis for a full-scale plant (16 t/h sludge treatment capacity) will be performed, and compared with a conventional process (WAS anaerobic digestion digested sludge dewatering - landfill or incineration) as a benchmark. The research results from this I2I Phase-I project can be used for the decision making and design of full-scale HTL plants.