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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Florence, South Carolina » Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342215
Research Project: Improvement of Soil Management Practices and Manure Treatment/Handling Systems of the Southern Coastal Plain

Location: Coastal Plain Soil, Water and Plant Conservation Research

Title: Hydrothermal carbonization: modeling, final properties design and applications: a review

Author
item ROMAN, S - University Of Extremadura
item LIBRA, J - Leibniz Institute
item BERGE, N - University Of South Carolina
item SABIO, E - University Of Extremadura
item Ro, Kyoung
item LI, L - University Of South Carolina
item LEDESMA, B - University Of Extremadura
item ALVAREZ-MURILLO, A - University Of Extremadura
item BAE, S - Seoul Women'S University

Submitted to: Energies
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/12/2018
Publication Date: 1/16/2018
Citation: Roman, S., Libra, J.A., Berge, N., Sabio, E., Ro, K.S., Li, L., Ledesma, B., Alvarez-Murillo, A., Bae, S. 2018. Hydrothermal carbonization: modeling, final properties design and applications: a review. Energies. 11:216. https://doi.org/10.3390/en11010216.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/en11010216

Interpretive Summary: Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) is an emerging technology that can convert wet biomass feedstock into value-added solid carbonaceous product called hydrochar. Because HTC process does not require wet biomass feedstock to be dried before conversion, it requires relatively lower energy input compared to other thermochemical processes such as pyrolysis and gasification. Many researchers discovered the potential uses of the hydrochar made from municipal and agricultural wastes for energy, environmental and soil applications. In addition, the process water can further be utilized for production of energy via anaerobic digestion. This paper provides comprehensive review on current state-of-art knowledge on HTC process variables, kinetics, and hydrochar characteristics based mainly on research publications in the last 5 years.

Technical Abstract: Active research on biomass hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) continues to demonstrate its advantages over other thermochemical processes, in particular the interesting benefits associated with carbonaceous solid products called hydrochar (HC). The areas of applications of HC range from biofuel to doped porous material for adsorption, energy storage, and catalysis. At the same time, intensive research is aimed to better elucidate the process mechanisms and kinetics, and how the experimental variables (temperature, time, biomass load, feedstock composition, as well as their interactions) affect the distribution between phases and their composition. This review provides an analysis of the state of the art on hydrothermal carbonization, mainly with regard to the effect of variables on the process, the associated kinetics, and the characteristics of the solid phase (i.e., the hydrochar), as well as some of the more studied applications so far. Research made on these topics during last 5 years has been mainly reviewed.