Physical pretreatments of wastewater algae to reduce ash content and improve thermal decomposition characteristics

Wan Ting Chen; Junchao Ma; Yuanhui Zhang; Chao Gai; Wanyi Qian

doi:10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.076

Physical pretreatments of wastewater algae to reduce ash content and improve thermal decomposition characteristics

Wan Ting Chen, Junchao Ma, Yuanhui Zhang, Chao Gai, Wanyi Qian

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

Previous study showed high ash content in wastewater algae (WA) has a negative effect on bio-crude oil formation in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). This study explored the effect of different pretreatments on ash reduction and the thermal decomposition of WA. Single-stage (e.g. centrifugation) and two-stage pretreatments (e.g. centrifugation followed by ultrasonication, C+U) were used. The apparent activation energy of the thermal decomposition (E_a) of pretreated algae was determined. HTL was conducted to study how different pretreatments may impact on bio-crude oil formation. Compared to untreated samples, the ash content of algae with centrifugation was reduced from 28.6% to 18.6%. With C+U pretreatments, E_a was decreased from 50.2kJ/mol to 35.9kJ/mol and the bio-crude oil yield was increased from 30% to 55%. These results demonstrate that pretreatments of C+U can improve the thermal decomposition behavior of WA and enhance the bio-crude oil conversion efficiency.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	816-820
Number of pages	5
Journal	Bioresource Technology
Volume	169
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.076
State	Published - Oct 2014

Keywords

Activation energy
Algae
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL)
Physical pretreatment
Wastewater

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Bioengineering
Environmental Engineering
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Waste Management and Disposal

Online availability

10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.076

Library availability

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@article{5561524c5ccd4d47bb67181eb94bf7e7,

title = "Physical pretreatments of wastewater algae to reduce ash content and improve thermal decomposition characteristics",

abstract = "Previous study showed high ash content in wastewater algae (WA) has a negative effect on bio-crude oil formation in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). This study explored the effect of different pretreatments on ash reduction and the thermal decomposition of WA. Single-stage (e.g. centrifugation) and two-stage pretreatments (e.g. centrifugation followed by ultrasonication, C+U) were used. The apparent activation energy of the thermal decomposition (Ea) of pretreated algae was determined. HTL was conducted to study how different pretreatments may impact on bio-crude oil formation. Compared to untreated samples, the ash content of algae with centrifugation was reduced from 28.6% to 18.6%. With C+U pretreatments, Ea was decreased from 50.2kJ/mol to 35.9kJ/mol and the bio-crude oil yield was increased from 30% to 55%. These results demonstrate that pretreatments of C+U can improve the thermal decomposition behavior of WA and enhance the bio-crude oil conversion efficiency.",

keywords = "Activation energy, Algae, Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), Physical pretreatment, Wastewater",

author = "Chen, {Wan Ting} and Junchao Ma and Yuanhui Zhang and Chao Gai and Wanyi Qian",

note = "Funding Information: The authors appreciate the financial support from Ministry of Education of Republic of China (Taiwan) and Zhejiang University Education Foundation . The authors also thank USDA and the Innoventor Endowment for providing experimental supplies for the research. Sincere gratitude goes to the wastewater treatment plants in Urbana-Champaign District for providing algae. TGA and SEM were carried out in part in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Facilities in University of Illinois. The authors thank Elizabeth Eves in the Microanalysis Laboratory (Urbana, IL) for her help on elemental analyses. Appreciation also goes to Mei-Hsiu Lai for her knowledgeable discussion about the experimental design of pretreating algae. The authors thank Dr. Yigang Sun, Dr. Lance Schideman, Steve Ford, Peng Zhang, Tom Burton, and Chih-Ting Kuo for their kind help. ",

year = "2014",

month = oct,

doi = "10.1016/j.biortech.2014.07.076",

language = "English (US)",

volume = "169",

pages = "816--820",

journal = "Agricultural Wastes",

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AU - Chen, Wan Ting

AU - Ma, Junchao

AU - Zhang, Yuanhui

AU - Gai, Chao

AU - Qian, Wanyi

N1 - Funding Information: The authors appreciate the financial support from Ministry of Education of Republic of China (Taiwan) and Zhejiang University Education Foundation . The authors also thank USDA and the Innoventor Endowment for providing experimental supplies for the research. Sincere gratitude goes to the wastewater treatment plants in Urbana-Champaign District for providing algae. TGA and SEM were carried out in part in the Frederick Seitz Materials Research Laboratory Central Facilities in University of Illinois. The authors thank Elizabeth Eves in the Microanalysis Laboratory (Urbana, IL) for her help on elemental analyses. Appreciation also goes to Mei-Hsiu Lai for her knowledgeable discussion about the experimental design of pretreating algae. The authors thank Dr. Yigang Sun, Dr. Lance Schideman, Steve Ford, Peng Zhang, Tom Burton, and Chih-Ting Kuo for their kind help.

PY - 2014/10

Y1 - 2014/10

N2 - Previous study showed high ash content in wastewater algae (WA) has a negative effect on bio-crude oil formation in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). This study explored the effect of different pretreatments on ash reduction and the thermal decomposition of WA. Single-stage (e.g. centrifugation) and two-stage pretreatments (e.g. centrifugation followed by ultrasonication, C+U) were used. The apparent activation energy of the thermal decomposition (Ea) of pretreated algae was determined. HTL was conducted to study how different pretreatments may impact on bio-crude oil formation. Compared to untreated samples, the ash content of algae with centrifugation was reduced from 28.6% to 18.6%. With C+U pretreatments, Ea was decreased from 50.2kJ/mol to 35.9kJ/mol and the bio-crude oil yield was increased from 30% to 55%. These results demonstrate that pretreatments of C+U can improve the thermal decomposition behavior of WA and enhance the bio-crude oil conversion efficiency.

AB - Previous study showed high ash content in wastewater algae (WA) has a negative effect on bio-crude oil formation in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL). This study explored the effect of different pretreatments on ash reduction and the thermal decomposition of WA. Single-stage (e.g. centrifugation) and two-stage pretreatments (e.g. centrifugation followed by ultrasonication, C+U) were used. The apparent activation energy of the thermal decomposition (Ea) of pretreated algae was determined. HTL was conducted to study how different pretreatments may impact on bio-crude oil formation. Compared to untreated samples, the ash content of algae with centrifugation was reduced from 28.6% to 18.6%. With C+U pretreatments, Ea was decreased from 50.2kJ/mol to 35.9kJ/mol and the bio-crude oil yield was increased from 30% to 55%. These results demonstrate that pretreatments of C+U can improve the thermal decomposition behavior of WA and enhance the bio-crude oil conversion efficiency.

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KW - Physical pretreatment

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JO - Agricultural Wastes

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ER -

Physical pretreatments of wastewater algae to reduce ash content and improve thermal decomposition characteristics

Abstract

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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