The Proof-of-Concept: The Transformation of Naphthalene and Its Derivatives into Decalin and Its Derivatives during Thermochemical Processing of Sewage Sludge

Jacek Łyczko, Jacek A. Koziel, Chumki Banik and Andrzej Białowiec
Additional contact information
Jacek Łyczko: Department of Chemistry, Wrocław University of Environmental and Life Sciences, 50-375 Wrocław, Poland
Jacek A. Koziel: Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Chumki Banik: Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
Andrzej Białowiec: Department of Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA

Energies, 2021, vol. 14, issue 20, 1-11

Abstract: One solution for sewage sludge (SS) management is thermochemical treatment due to torrefaction and pyrolysis with biochar production. SS biochar may contain toxic volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). This study aimed to determine the process temperature’s influence on the qualitative PAHs emission from SS-biochar and the transformation of PAHs contained in SS. SS was torrefied/pyrolyzed under temperatures 200–600 °C with 1 h residence time. The headspace solid-phase microextraction (SPME) combined with gas chromatography and mass spectrometry (HS-SPME-GC-MS) analytical procedure of VOCs and PAHs emission was applied. The highest abundance of numerous VOCs was found for torrefaction ranges of temperature. The increase of temperatures to the pyrolytic range decreased the presence of VOCs and PAHs in biochar. The most common VOCs emitted from thermally processed SS were acetone, 2-methylfuran, 2-butanone, 3-metylbutanal, benzene, decalin, and acetic acid. The naphthalene present in SS converted to decalin (and other decalin derivatives), which may lead to SS biochar being considered hazardous material.

Keywords: biochar; PAHs; municipal waste; pyrolysis; torrefaction; VOCs; waste management (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/20/6479/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/14/20/6479/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:14:y:2021:i:20:p:6479-:d:652970

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().