ARS | Publication request: Hydrothermal carbonization of municipal solid waste for carbon sequestration and energy generation

Submitted to: American Chemical Society National Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: December 18, 2009
Publication Date: March 21, 2010
Citation: Berge, N.D., Flora, J., Ro, K.S., Bae, S. 2010. Hydrothermal carbonization of municipal solid waste for carbon sequestration and energy generation [abstract]. American Chemical Society National Meeting and Exposition, March 21-25, 2010, San Francisco, California.

Technical Abstract: A fairly new, innovative technique, called hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), has the potential to change the way municipal solid waste (MSW) is managed. HTC is a wet, low temperature (180-350°C), low pressure (in a closed system) thermochemical waste treatment/conversion technology that has been shown to convert biomass into a fixed carbonaceous residue (hydrochar). Utilization of such a technique has the potential to substantially reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the waste management sector. HTC of office paper was conducted at 250°C for 20 hours. Results indicate the solid phase retains a significant fraction of carbon (~40%). The energy content of the carbonized paper was 21284 KJ/kg, equivalent to that of lignite coal (19200 kJ/kg). These results suggest carbonization of wastes may effectively sequester carbon and produce a feedstock for subsequent energy generation. Research is being underway to evaluate the feasibility of HTC of a typical MSW. Results from experiments over a range of reaction conditions will be presented.