Effects of carbonization temperature and time on the characteristics of carbonized sludge

ABSTRACT To investigate the influence of carbonization process parameters on the characteristics of municipal sludge carbonization products, this study selected carbonization temperatures of 300–700 °C and carbonization times of 0.5–1.5 h to carbonize municipal sludge. The results showed that with an increase in temperature and carbonization time, the sludge was carbonized more completely, and the structure and performance characteristics of the sludge changed significantly. Organic matter was continuously cracked, the amorphous nature of the material was reduced, its morphology was transformed into an increasing number of regular crystalline structures, and the content of carbon continued to decrease, from the initial 52.85 to 38.77%, while the content of inorganic species consisting continued to increase. The conductivity was reduced by 87.8%, and the degree of conversion of salt ions into their residual and insoluble states was significant. Natural water absorption in the sludge decreased from 8.13 to 1.29%, and hydrophobicity increased. The dry-basis higher calorific value decreased from 8,703 to 3,574 kJ/kg. Heavy metals were concentrated by a factor of 2–3, but the content of the available state was very low. The results of this study provide important technological support for the selection of suitable carbonization process conditions and for resource utilization.