Kinetic Modelling for Hydrothermal Conversion of Food Wastes

Abstract

A kinetic model was developed for the prediction of HTL product yields based on a chemical mechanism. The model was developed after experimental studies on food wastes and food processing wastes. The model parameters were determined by training the model on experimental data on HTL of food wastes. Two other models from the literature were also tested. The calculated yields were compared with a large range of experimental data from the literature. Yields of bio-oil and char can be predicted from the process conditions, temperature, holding time, dry matter content, and the biochemical composition of the resource. Differences in the experimental recovery procedure and polarity of the extraction solvent are taken into account. This study shows that a kinetic model based on compositions allows a more detailed representation of the hydrothermal reactions than models purely based on resources and products. The precision of any model remains, however, largely dependent on the quality of the input data.