Hydro-char production from press-mud wastes of the sugarcane industry by hydrothermal treatment with natural zeolite addition

Abstract

Hydrothermal treatment (HT) is a biomass conversion by thermal process that using water as solvent and reactant. This technology is superior in treating biomass with a high water content into char and liquid product. This research aims to observe the zeolite incorporation in HT as an additive material to increase the acidity for hydrolysis enhancement. The effects of temperature and zeolite addition on biochar of press-mud biomass characteristic has been observed. The temperature variation were 180, 200, and 220°C with a water-biomass ratio of 1:5 and residence time of sixty minutes. Zeolite was added as much as 20% of the sample weight. The HT char was characterized using proximate analysis, heating value, and FTIR. The solid product had a heating value from 1886.419 to 2047.559 cal/g. It is observed that temperature variation affect the caloric value, ash content, fix carbon, and energy densification, while zeolite addition increased solid yield, energy yield, and liquid product acidity.