Hydrothermal liquefaction of sewage sludge into biocrude: Effect of aqueous phase recycling on energy recovery and pollution mitigation

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of sewage sludge is facing the challenges of low biocrude yield, a large number of intractable aqueous phase and heavy metals pollution. In this study, the aqueous phase produced by HTL was recycled as solvent with an aim to improve the biocrude yield and mitigate potential pollution. Results showed that the recycling of aqueous phase increased the biocrude yield from 17.9 to 30.5% and the energy recovery ratio from 40.3 to 61.7%. The recycling could increase the contents of Zn, Cu, Pb and Cr in solid residues by 2.7-3.0 times. It is worth emphasizing that the recycling reduced the COD of aqueous phase by 24.9%. However, the enhanced protein hydrolysis process reduced the calorific value of biocrude from 36.4 to 28.5 MJ/kg, and promoted the migration of the nitrogen to the aqueous phase, which was not environmentally favourable for the direct usage in diesel engines. Analysis showed that the ketones and the phenols in aqueous phase participated in HTL process as reactants, and the acids promoted the hydrolysis of protein in the sludge. Overall, the recycling of aqueous phase effectively improved the energy recovery and alleviated pollution of the sludge HTL.