Chemical and Combustion Characteristics of Hydrochars Obtained from Various Biomasses by Hydrothermal Carbonization

Abstract

In this work, various waste biomasses were subjected to hydrothermal carbonization under mild conditions. The effect of operating temperature, duration time, and biomass-to-water ratio on the chemical and combustion characteristics of the hydrochars were determined. The results were compared to MKP Alpagut lignite to understand the future of hydrochars as an effective and environmentally friendly solid fuel. It was found that the temperature dominantly affects the yield and the chemical characteristics of the hydrochars compared to the duration time and biomass-to-water ratio for real biomasses. Hydrochars obtained from real biomasses showed higher combustion temperatures and slightly higher ignition temperatures. Moreover, the HHV of hydrochar is significantly higher than the MKP lignite and raw biomass. Our results prove that the hydrothermal carbonization process can be assessed as one of the best techniques for the thermochemical conversion of waste biomass into high-value-added valuable solid fuels.