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Updated: Jun 28, 2025
Evaluation of Integrated Anaerobic Digestion and Hydrothermal Carbonization for Bioenergy Production
Published on: June 15, 2014
Environmental sustainability practice of sewage sludge and low-rank coal co-pyrolysis: A comparative life cycle
Jinyang Zhou1, Mingyue Li1, Xue Han2
1State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Environmental Health Impact Assessment of Emerging Contaminants, School of Environmental Science and Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai 200240, China.
Abstract:
This study attempts to bridge the current research gaps related to the environmental burdens of low-rank coal (LRC) and sewage sludge (SS) co-pyrolysis potentially. The life cycle assessment (LCA), energy recovery and sensitivity analysis were investigated for different proportions of LRC and SS (co-)pyrolysis. The results showed that the LRC/SS pyrolysis mitigated the environmental burden with an average improvement of 43 % across 18 impact categories compared with SS pyrolysis. The best net values of energy and carbon credits were identified in SL-4 with -3.36 kWh/kg biochar and -1.10 CO2-eq/kg biochar, respectively. This study firstly proposed an optimal LRC/SS co-feed proportion at 3 to 7, which achieves the acceptable environmental burden and satisfactory energy recovery. Moreover, sensitivity analysis demonstrated this proportion is robust and adaptable. LRC/SS co-pyrolysis is a promising and sustainable alternative for SS disposal, which could meet the imperative of carbon emission mitigation and resource recycling.
