Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of sludges/biosolids for the production of bio-crude oils – Development of low-footprint energy-selfsufficient new sludge treatment processes based on HTL

Conventional wastewater treatment process includes primary treatment (clarifier), secondary treatment (aeration tanks) and anaerobic digestion (AD) of primary sludge (PS) and waste activated sludge (WAS), followed by disposal of the bio-solids from of the AD process. It is estimated that the sludge treatmenUdisposal processes account for approximately 40% of the costs for a wastewater treatment plant. Currently three main approaches are: land application, landfill disposal, and incineration/thermal technologies. These approaches are facing great challenges due to various concerns related to the secondary emissions, limited land availability and costs. Compared with the conventional sludge disposal approaches, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) technology using hot-pressed water converts sludges/bio-solids into valuable products such as bio-oil, bio-char and aqueous product (AP). The HTL technology is particularly promising for processing high-water-content biomass resources such as sludge and bio-solids as it eliminates the need of costly de watering/drying process that is otherwise required in other thermal/thermo-chemical processes.

Faculty Supervisor:

Charles Xu

Student:

Partner:

Trojan Technologies;BioFuelNet

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Construction and infrastructure; Manufacturing

University:

Western University

Program: