Biofuel production by hydro-thermal liquefaction of municipal solid waste: Process characterization and optimization

The significant growth of the global population, as well as the increase in energy demand and the limitations of energy generation from fossil fuels, have become a serious challenge over the world. To address these challenges, renewable energies like biofuels are recently found as a proper alternative to conventional fuels. Although biofuel production by using various techniques such as hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is considered one of the most promising methods to provide energy, the challenges correlated to its progression and development are still striking. In this investigation, the HTL method was employed to produce biofuel from municipal solid waste (MSW). In this regard, the effect of various parameters such as temperature, reaction time and waste-to-water ratio on mass and energy yield were assessed. It should be stressed that the optimization of biofuel production has been accomplished by the Box-Behnken method using Design Expert 8 software. Based on the results, biofuel production has an upward trend by increasing temperature to 364.57 °C and reaction time to 88.23 min Whereas, there is an inverse relationship between the biofuel waste-to-waterater ratio, in both the context of mass and energy yield.