Evaluation of Anaerobically Digested Biomass in Catalytic Supercritical Water Gasification for Biofuel Production

Abstract

Digested water hyacinth with activated sludge as inoculum were obtained after anaerobic digestion at 35 and 45°C. High organic content of digested biomass were evaluated through gasification at supercritical conditions of water in the absence and presence of catalysts (KOH, NaOH, LiOH and K₂CO₃) with 10 wt.% of volatile solid in feed. Supercritical water gasification of digested biomass was performed in batch reactor system at temperature and pressure ranges of 500–600°C and 350–450 bar, respectively. The highest carbon gasification efficiency, hydrogen and methane yields were reached at 600°C (with samples digested at 45°C) in the absence of catalyst as 84.6 (g C in gaseous/g C in digestate), 53.0 (mol H₂%) and 12.5 (mol CH₄%), respectively. High organic content of digested biomass was converted by supercritical water gasification to hydrogen and methane rich gas, and aqueous products (aliphatic hydrocarbons, phenol, substituted phenols, N-heterocyclic, substituted N-heterocyclics, and substituted benzene) that can be evaluated as platform chemicals.

Keywords

• Water Hyacinth,Supercritical Water Gasification,Hydrogen,Methane

References

1. [1] Möller K, Müller T. Effects of anaerobic digestion on digestate nutrient availability and crop growth: a review. Eng Life Sci 2012; 12: 242–257.
2. [2] Scano EA, Asquer C, Pistis A, Ortu L, Demontis V, Cocco D. Biogas from anaerobic digestion of fruit and vegetable wastes: Experimental results on pilot-scale and preliminary performance evaluation of a full-scale power plant. Energ Convers Manage 2014; 77: 22–30.
3. [3] Alburquerque JA, Fuente C, Ferrer-Costa A, Carrasco L, Cegarra J, Abad M, Bernal MP. Assessment of the fertiliser potential of digestates from farm and agroindustrial residues. Biomass Bioenerg 2012; 40: 181–189.
4. [4] Wang H, Miao R, Yang Y, Qiao Y, Zhang Q, Li C, Huang J. Study on the catalytic gasification of alkali lignin over Ru/C nanotubes in supercritical water. J Fuel Chem Technol 2015; 43: 1195–1201.
5. [5] Pooya A, Sami K, Friederike S, Faraz A, Ramin F. Hydrogen production from cellulose, lignin, bark and model carbohydrates in supercritical water using nickel and ruthenium catalysts. Appl Catal B-Environ 2012; 117–118: 330–338.
6. [6] Ning D, Ramin A, Ajay KD, Janusz AK. Catalytic gasification of cellulose and pinewood to H2 in supercritical water. Fuel 2014; 118: 416–425.
7. [7] Weijin G, Binbin L, Qingyu W, Zuohua H, Liang Z. Supercritical water gasification of landfill leachate for hydrogen production in the presence and absence of alkali catalyst. Waste Manage 2017; In Press, Corrected Proof, Available online 18 December 2017 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.wasman.2017.12.015).
8. [8] Sheikhdavoodi MJ, Almassi M, Ebrahimi-Nik M, Kruse A, Bahrami H. Gasification of sugarcane bagasse in supercritical water; evaluation of alkali catalysts for maximum hydrogen production. J Energy Inst 2015; 88: 450–458.

9. [9] Aaron KG, Gregory LR. Reaction rates for supercritical water gasification of xylose in a micro-tubular reactor. Chem Eng J 2010; 163: 10–21.
10. [10] Nanda S, Reddy SN, Hunter HN, Dalai AK, Kozinski JA. Supercritical water gasification of fructose as a model compound for waste fruits and vegetables. J Supercrit Fluid 2015; 104: 112–121.
11. [11] Watanabe M, Inomata H, Osada M, Sato T, Adschiri T, Arai K. Catalytic effects of NaOH and ZrO2 for partial oxidative gasification of n-hexadecane and lignin in supercritical water. Fuel 2003; 82: 545–552.
12. [12] Yoshida T, Matsumura Y. Gasification of cellulose, xylan, and lignin mixtures in supercritical water. Ind Eng Chem Res 2001; 40: 5469–5474.
13. [13] Kruse A, Meier D, Rimbrecht P, Schacht M. Gasification of pyrocatechol in supercritical water in the presence of potassium hydroxide. Ind Eng Chem Res 2000; 39: 4842–4848.
14. [14] Madenoğlu TG, Yildir E, Sağlam M, Yuksel M, Ballice L. Improvement in hydrogen production from hard-shell nut residues by catalytic hydrothermal gasification. J Supercrit Fluid 2014; 95: 339–347.
15. [15] Muangrat R, Onwudili JA, Williams PT. Alkali-promoted hydrothermal gasification of biomass food processing waste: A parametric study. Int J Hydrogen Energ 2010; 35: 7405–7415.
16. [16] Onwudili JA, Lea-Langton AR, Ross AB, Williams PT. Catalytic hydrothermal gasification of algae for hydrogen production: Composition of reaction products and potential for nutrient recycling. Bioresour Technol 2013; 127: 72–80.
17. [17] Guan Q, Wei C, Ning P, Tian S, Gu J. Catalytic gasification of algae nannochloropsis sp. in sub/supercritical water. Procedia Environ Sci 2013; 18: 844–848.
18. [18] Gong M, Wang Y, Fan Y, Zhu W, Zhang H, Su Y. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon formation during the gasification of sewage sludge in sub- and supercritical water: Effect of reaction parameters and reaction pathways. Waste Manage 2018; 72: 287–295.
19. [19] Amrullah A, Matsumura Y. Supercritical water gasification of sewage sludge in continuous reactor. Bioresour Technol 2018; 249: 276–283.
20. [20] Boukis N, Hauer E, Herbig S, Sauer J, Vogel F. Catalytic gasification of digestate sludge in supercritical water on the pilot plant scale. Biomass Convers Biorefin 2017; 7: 415–424.
21. [21] Molino A, Giordano G, Migliori M, Lauro V, Santarcangelo G, Marino T, Larocca V, Tarquini P. Process innovation via supercritical water gasification to improve the conventional plants performance in treating highly humid biomass. Waste Biomass Valori 2016; 7: 1289–1295.
22. [22] Gungoren T, Saglam M, Yuksel M, Madenoglu H, Isler R, Metecan IH. Near-critical and supercritical fluid extraction of industrial sewage sludge. Ind Eng Chem Res 2007; 46: 1051–1057.
23. [23] Kabay N. ITOB-OSB’de Enerji Bitkileriyle Atik Su Aritimi ve Aritimda Kullanilan Bitkilerin Anaerobik Fermantasyonuyla Biyogaz Üretimi (San-Tez Project), The Ministry of Science, Industry and Technology of Turkish Republic, Grant Number: STZ.0330.2013-2, 2013.
24. [24] Madenoğlu TG, Sağlam M, Yuksel M, Ballice L. Simultaneous effect of temperature and pressure on catalytic hydrothermal gasification of glucose. J of Supercrit Fluid 2013; 73: 151–160.
25. [25] Watanabe M, Aizawa Y, Iida T, Levy C, Aida TM, Inomata H. Glucose reactions within the heating period and the effect of heating rate on the reactions in hot compressed water. Carbohyd Res 2005; 340: 1931–1939.
26. [26] Matsumura Y, Minowa T, Potic B, Kersten SRA, Prins W, van Swaaij WPM. Biomass gasification in near- and supercritical water: status and prospects. Biomass Bioenerg 2005; 29: 269–292.
27. [27] Sinag A, Kruse A, Schwarzkopf V. Key compounds of the hydropyrolysis of glucose in supercritical water in the presence of K2CO3. Ind Eng Chem Res 2003; 42: 3516–3521.
28. [28] Elliott DC, Butner RS, Sealock Jr LJ. Low temperature gasification of high-moisture biomass, Res Thermochem Biomass Convers 1988; 696–710.
29. [29] Tsai WT, Lee MK, Chang JH, Su TY, Chang YM. Characterization of bio-oil from induction-heating pyrolysis of food-processing sewage sludges using chromatographic analysis. Bioresour Technol 2009;100: 2650–2654.
30. [30] Cao C, Guo L, Yin J, Jin H, Cao W, Jia Y. Supercritical water gasification of coal with waste black liquor as inexpensive additives. Energy Fuels 2015; 29: 384–391.
31. [31] Noordman WH, Janssen DB. Rhamnolipid stimulates uptake of hydrophobic compounds by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Appl Environ Microbiol 2002; 68: 4502–4508.
32. [32] Cao W, Cao C, Guo L, Jin H, Dargusch M, Bernhardt D, Yao X. Hydrogen production from supercritical water gasification of chicken manure. Int J Hydrogen Energ 2016; 41: 22722–22731.
33. [33] Kang S, Li B, Chang J, Fan J. Antioxidant abilities comparison of lignins with their hydrothermal liquefaction products. BioResources 2011; 6: 243–252.
34. [34] Kruse A, Maniam P, Spieler F. Influence of proteins on the hydrothermal gasification and liquefaction of biomass. 2. Model compounds. Ind Eng Chem Res 2007; 46: 87–96.