Digestate-derived carbonized char and activated carbon: Application perspective.

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science and Engineering
• Waste Management and Valorization
• Circular Economy

Background:

• Anaerobic digestion (AD) is a key waste treatment technology.
• Effective digestate valorization is essential for maximizing AD benefits and achieving a circular economy.
• Current perceptions are shifting from viewing digestate as waste to recognizing its potential as a resource.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review the current status of digestate valorization, with a focus on thermal-chemical methods.
• To summarize novel valorization techniques from recent research.
• To address limitations and future perspectives in digestate valorization.

Main Methods:

• Literature review focusing on thermal-chemical valorization pathways.
• Analysis of methods for preparing digestate-derived activated carbon.
• Investigation of impurity effects on digestate valorization and downstream applications.

Main Results:

• Inherent mineral content and inorganic impurities in digestate can present opportunities for specific downstream uses.
• High surface area and well-developed pore structure are critical for activated carbon performance but not solely determinative.
• Digestate char has potential applications beyond its use as an energy fuel.

Conclusions:

• Digestate valorization is pivotal for sustainable waste management and circular economy principles.
• Thermal-chemical methods and novel approaches offer promising avenues for resource recovery from digestate.
• Further research into impurity management and diverse applications of digestate-derived materials is warranted.