The effect of carbonization temperature on textural properties of sewage sludge-derived biochars as potential adsorbents.

This article presents ways of recovering waste in the form of anaerobically digested and dried sewage sludge (average humidity approx. 6 wt%) by carbonization at various temperatures in the range of 400-900 °C. The resulting products, biochars, are investigated in terms of yield, surface properties and Raman spectra analysis. The sorption capacity of biochars differs depending on the carbonization temperature. The experimental amount of adsorbed CO2 slowly increases with the carbonization temperature from 0.212 mmol/g at 400 °C to the highest value of 0.415 mmol/g, which is achieved at 900 °C by slow carbonization at a rate of 10 °C/min. Additionally, there is a strong positive dependence of the adsorption capacity on the micropore volume. Higher carbonization temperatures support the powerful formation of micropores and improve their sorption capacity.

Pyrolysed sewage sludge for metal(loid) removal and immobilisation in contrasting soils: Exploring variety of risk elements across contamination levels.

Efficient treatment of sewage sludge may transform waste into stable materials with minimised hazardous properties ready for secondary use. Pyrolysed sewage sludge, sludgechar, has multiple environmental benefits including contaminant sorption capacity and nutrient recycling. The properties of five sludgechars were tested firstly for adsorption efficiency in laboratory solutions before prospective application to soils. A wide variety of metal(loid)s (As, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sb, and Zn) was involved. Secondly, the sludgechars (3 % v/v) were incubated in five soils differing in (multi)-metal(loid) presence and the level of contamination. The main aim was to evaluate the metal(loid) immobilisation potential of the sludgechars for soil remediation. Moreover, nutrient supply was investigated to comprehensively assess the material's benefits for soils. All sludgechars were efficient (up to 100 %) for the removal of metal cations while their efficiency for metal(loid) anions was limited in aqueous solutions. Phosphates and sulphates were identified crucial for metal(loid) capture, based on SEM/EDS, XRD and MINTEQ findings. In soils, important fluctuations were observed for Zn, being partially immobilised by the sludgechars in high-Zntot soils, while partially solubilised in moderate to low-Zntot soils. Moreover, pH showed to be crucial for material stability, metal(loid) adsorption ability and their immobilisation in soils. Although metal(loid) retention was generally low in soils, nutrient enrichment was significant after sludgechar application. Long-term evaluation of the material sorption efficiency, nutrient supply, and ageing in soil environments will be necessary in future studies.

Complex Study of Straw Suitability for the Production of Nonindustrial Straw Pellets.

Nonindustrial straw pellets should comply with limitations on the content of ash, chlorine, nitrogen, sulfur, and heavy metals, and have a high melting temperature of ash. To produce such pellets, the properties of straw can be improved by leaching. In known papers, the completion of chlorine washing-out was not controlled. Aims of the paper were to study ash solubility at leaching of straw until completion of chlorine removal and to make a conclusion on studied straw suitability for the production of nonindustrial pellets. Aims were achieved by straw soaking with heating to 100 °C and subsequent plug flow flashing with control of leaching completion by the absence of chlorine in leachate; studying the ash, chlorine, nitrogen, sulfur, and heavy metals content of straw; studying the thermal behavior of ash at heating; determining the initial deformation temperature (IDT) of ash; and comparing the properties of original and leached straw with the specification of straw pellets. Straw leaching until completion of chlorine washing-out provided decreasing chlorine, nitrogen, and sulfur contents below limitations, and the ash content decreased from 7.15 to 3.93% at water leaching to 4.29% at leaching with a 10% solution of acetic acid. In the ternary diagram, the composition of straw ash shifted from a zone of low melting eutectics to zones of high-melting tridymite and cristobalite. The IDT of the original straw ash was 847, 1250 °C after water leaching, and above 1275 °C after leaching with an acetic acid solution. Monitoring the absence of chlorine in the leaching liquid can be applied as a control parameter for straw leaching completion. The original straw was not suitable for the production of nonindustrial pellets because of the high contents of Cl, S, and Cr and the low IDT of ash. All indexes of straw were improved due to leaching, but the Cr content was above limitation. Producers of pellets need to assess straw suitability as to heavy metal content both in the original and leached states.

Sewage sludge treatment methods and P-recovery possibilities: Current state-of-the-art.

With the growing emphasis on environmental protection, the ways of sewage sludge treatment are changing. In this review, we analyse different methods of sewage sludge treatment in terms of potential environmental risk and raw materials recovery. The review begins with a comparison and assessment of existing reviews on this topic. Then, it focuses on the properties and current utilisation of sewage sludge in agriculture and a brief description of sludge thermal treatment methods (mono- and co-incineration, pyrolysis, and gasification). The final part of the review is devoted to technologies for treating sludge ash from mono-incinerators to recover phosphorus, a substance listed as a critical raw material by the EU. Our results show that direct use of sewage sludge likewise composts containing sewage sludge should no longer be considered as a direct source of nutrients and organic matter in agriculture, because of its pollutant content. Co-incineration and landfilling represent a dead-end in sludge treatment due to the loss of raw materials, whereas pyrolysis is sustainable for remote locations with low heavy metal content sludge. Heavy metals also pose a problem for the direct use of sludge ash and must be therefore removed. There are already sludge ash processing technologies that are capable of processing ash to form a variety of raw materials such as phosphorus. These regeneration approaches are currently in their infancy, but are gradually being introduced. The sewage sludge treatment industry is rapidly evolving, and we have attempted to summarise and discuss the current state of knowledge in this review, which will provide a baseline towards the future of sewage sludge suitable treatment.

Effect of pyrolysis temperature on removal of organic pollutants present in anaerobically stabilized sewage sludge.

Sewage sludge was excluded from the list of component materials for the production of EU fertilizing products and it was banned as feedstock to produce pyrolysis & gasification materials in European Commission's technical proposals for selected new fertilizing materials under the Regulation 2019/1009 (STRUBIAS report). This exclusion of pyrolysis as a viable way to treat sewage sludge was mainly due to the lack of data on the fate of organic pollutants at pyrolysis conditions. In this work, we are addressing this knowledge gap. We studied slow pyrolysis as a potential process to efficiently treat organic pollutants present in stabilized sewage sludge. Sewage sludge was pyrolyzed in a quartz fixed bed reactor at temperatures of 400-800 °C for 2 h and the sludge and resulting sludge-chars were analyzed for the presence of four groups of organic pollutants, namely (i) polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), (ii) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), (iii) pharmaceuticals, and (iv) endocrine-disrupting and hormonal compounds. Pyrolysis at ≥ 400 °C effectively removed pharmaceuticals (group iii) to below detection limits, whereas pyrolysis at temperatures higher than 600 °C was required to remove more than 99.8% of the compounds from groups i, ii and iv. Based on these findings, we propose, that high temperature (>600 °C) slow pyrolysis can satisfactory remove organic pollutants from the resulting sludge-char, which could be safely applied as soil improver.

Fertilizer and Soil Solubility of Secondary P Sources-The Estimation of Their Applicability to Agricultural Soils.

The demand for phosphorus (P) sources is increasing with the growing world population, while objections to direct agricultural use of waste P sources, such as sewage sludge, are being raised. Therefore, the need arises to employ safe and efficient secondary P fertilizer sources, originating from P-rich wastes. These recycling sources are commonly tested in accordance with the current fertilizer rules, designed originally for conventional apatite-based P fertilizers. The behavior of sewage sludge ash, an inorganic recycling secondary P source, was investigated under soil-like conditions. Standardized soil P tests, including the soil buffering capacity test and the Olsen, the Mehlich3, and water extraction methods, were employed together with standardized fertilizer P-solubility tests by neutral ammonium citrate and 2% citric acid extraction. In addition, total content and the overall soil mobility of selected metallic elements present in sewage sludge ash were investigated. The suitability of standardized soil tests for the evaluation of recycling P sources was shown. An apparent influence of Ca:Al content ratio on sewage sludge ash behavior under different soil-like conditions shows the inadequacy of the current fertilizer test and the necessity to understand soil-like behavior of secondary P sources, when considering these as possible agricultural P bearers (fertilizers).