Production of Solid Fuel through Hydrothermal Carbonization of Organic Solid Waste

Abstract

Lack of energy generation raw materials and lack of proper solid waste collection, management and disposal mechanism create a pressurizing need to tackle the issue. Keeping in mind the current global scenario a renewable and sustainable solution is required. Therefore, addressing two of the major problems in Pakistan i.e. energy crisis and solid waste mismanagement the project highlights an innovative way of energy generation. This project utilizes three major fruits abundantly cultivated and commonly used for juice extraction. The peels and pomaces of three fruits apple, pomegranate, orange, and a mixture of all three of them are processed using a Hydrothermal Carbonization process at 180 oC and a retention time of 2 hours to be used as fuel for energy generation. Hydrothermal carbonization is a thermochemical conversion process that can even convert wet feedstock into hydrochar. The product obtained from this process hydrochar is further analyzed using multiple tests to characterize the fuel properties. The hydrochar produced is analyzed over several characteristic tests to establish whether or not the fuel has potential for energy generation. The tests include higher heating vales, proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and fiber analysis. The applications of this project in industries is also discussed. The samples have high enough HHV values and since these values do not differ significantly the mix of all fruits can also be used in industries. While individual fruits give equally promising results.