Author
Javier Ábrego
Other affiliations: Spanish National Research Council, University of Málaga
Bio: Javier Ábrego is an academic researcher from University of Zaragoza. The author has contributed to research in topics: Sludge & Char. The author has an hindex of 15, co-authored 26 publications receiving 1109 citations. Previous affiliations of Javier Ábrego include Spanish National Research Council & University of Málaga.
Topics: Sludge, Char, Pyrolysis, Torrefaction, Sewage treatment
Papers
More filters
TL;DR: A review of the state of the art of sewage sludge pyrolysis for liquid production can be found in this paper, where the main objective of the review is to provide an account of the current state-of-the-art of pyrolynco-salinization.
Abstract: The high output of sewage sludge, which is increasing during recent years, and the limitations of the existing means of disposing sewage sludge highlight the need to find alternative routes to manage this waste. Biomass and residues like sewage sludge are the only renewable energy sources that can provide C and H, thus it is interesting to process them by means of treatments that enable to obtain chemically valuable products like fuels and not only heat and power; pyrolysis can be one of these treatments. The main objective of this review is to provide an account of the state of the art of sewage sludge pyrolysis for liquid production, which is under study during recent years. This process yields around 50 wt% (daf) of liquid. Typically, this liquid is heterogeneous and it usually separates into two or three phases. Some of these organic phases have very high gross heating values, even similar to those of petroleum-based fuels. The only industrial sewage sludge pyrolysis plant operated to date is currently closed due to some technical challenges and problems of economic viability.
466 citations
TL;DR: A review of pyrolysis technologies, focusing on reactor designs and companies commercializing these technologies, is provided in this paper, where the authors present slow, intermediate, fast, and microwave technologies that share commonalities in their designs.
Abstract: This paper provides a review of pyrolysis technologies, focusing on reactor designs and companies commercializing these technologies. The renewed interest in pyrolysis is driven by the potential to convert lignocellulosic materials into bio-oil and biochar and the use of these intermediates for the production of biofuels, biochemicals, and engineered biochars for environmental services. This review presents slow, intermediate, fast, and microwave pyrolysis as complementary technologies that share some commonalities in their designs. While slow pyrolysis technologies (traditional carbonization kilns) use wood trunks to produce char chunks for cooking, fast pyrolysis systems process small particles to maximize bio-oil yield. The realization of the environmental issues associated with the use of carbonization technologies and the technical difficulties of operating fast pyrolysis reactors using sand as the heating medium and large volumes of carrier gas, as well as the problems with refining the resulting hi...
193 citations
TL;DR: Evaluated co-pyrolysis of sewage sludge and digested manure could be a feasible management alternative for these residues in locations where both residues are generated, since the benefits and the drawbacks are similar to those of the pyroglysis of each residue.
131 citations
TL;DR: In this article, the influence of the bed height on the process was experimentally determined using a laboratory-scale BFB reactor, and the effect of increasing bed height was focused on the gas composition, average cold gas efficiency and product distribution.
88 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, undigested dried sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant was pyrolyzed at temperatures between 300 and 900 °C, with an additional hold time at the highest temperature.
Abstract: Undigested dried sewage sludge from a wastewater treatment plant was pyrolyzed at temperatures between 300 and 900 °C, with an additional hold time at the highest temperature. A fixed-bed reactor w...
81 citations
Cited by
More filters
TL;DR: The origin, characteristics, and environmental impacts of oily sludge were introduced and no single specific process can be considered as a panacea since each method is associated with different advantages and limitations.
770 citations
TL;DR: This review describes the recent results in hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass in continuous-flow processing systems, and process models have been developed, and mass and energy balances determined.
729 citations
TL;DR: A review of the state of the art of sewage sludge pyrolysis for liquid production can be found in this paper, where the main objective of the review is to provide an account of the current state-of-the-art of pyrolynco-salinization.
Abstract: The high output of sewage sludge, which is increasing during recent years, and the limitations of the existing means of disposing sewage sludge highlight the need to find alternative routes to manage this waste. Biomass and residues like sewage sludge are the only renewable energy sources that can provide C and H, thus it is interesting to process them by means of treatments that enable to obtain chemically valuable products like fuels and not only heat and power; pyrolysis can be one of these treatments. The main objective of this review is to provide an account of the state of the art of sewage sludge pyrolysis for liquid production, which is under study during recent years. This process yields around 50 wt% (daf) of liquid. Typically, this liquid is heterogeneous and it usually separates into two or three phases. Some of these organic phases have very high gross heating values, even similar to those of petroleum-based fuels. The only industrial sewage sludge pyrolysis plant operated to date is currently closed due to some technical challenges and problems of economic viability.
466 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the effectual parameters of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis process and advantages of this technique have been summarized and concluded that microwave assisted technology is an effectual method to reduce the reaction time and increase the quality of value-added products from different kinds of feedstocks.
Abstract: Pyrolysis is a promising bioconversion technique for energy recovery, waste management, and converting biomass into useful energy products which has attracted considerable attention during the past decades. Char/carbonaceous residue, bio-oil, and syngas are the three main products of the pyrolysis process. The pyrolysis technique is one of the major barriers for large-scale commercialization of this method. This study strives to extensively review the recent work on microwave-assisted technology applied to the pyrolysis process as a way of cost reduction. The fundamentals of microwave irradiation and a brief background of pyrolysis are presented. Additionally, biomass resources which can be the raw material for pyrolysis process have been categorized and reviewed in this paper. The effectual parameters of the microwave-assisted pyrolysis process and advantages of this technique have been summarized. It is concluded that microwave-assisted technology is an effectual method to reduce the pyrolysis reaction time and increases the quality of value-added products from different kinds of feedstocks. In addition, this technique can overcome the needs of feedstock shredding and improves the quality of heating as well. Therefore, it can be a suitable method for decreasing the pyrolysis processing cost and a pathway out of poverty for developing countries.
430 citations
TL;DR: It can be concluded that the single pyrolysis process is an effective waste-to-energy convertor but is not a guaranteed clean solution for MSW disposal.
428 citations