Biomass as source for hydrochar and biochar production to recover phosphates from wastewater: A review on challenges, commercialization, and future perspectives.

Shyam, Sivaprasad; Arun, Jayaseelan; Gopinath, Kannappan Panchamoorthy; Ribhu, Gautam; Ashish, Manandhar; Ajay, Shah

Biomass as source for hydrochar and biochar production to recover phosphates from wastewater: A review on challenges, commercialization, and future perspectives.

Embargo End Date

2023-07-22

Type

Article

Authors

Shyam, Sivaprasad
Arun, Jayaseelan
Gopinath, Kannappan Panchamoorthy
Ribhu, Gautam
Ashish, Manandhar
Ajay, Shah

KAUST Department

Clean Combustion Research Center
Clean Combustion Research Center, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, Thuwal, 23955, Saudi Arabia.

Online Publication Date

2021-07-22

Print Publication Date

2022-01

Date

2021-07-15

Submitted Date

2020-11-29

Abstract

Excessive phosphate run-off with total phosphorus concentration greater than 20 μg P L−1 triggers the growth of harmful algal species in waterbodies and potentially leads to eutrophication. This has severe negative implications on aquatic environment and impacts human health. The annual economic impact of harmful algal blooms is reported to be as high as $$$25 million for public health and commercial fishery sector, $$$29 million for recreation/tourism sector and $$$2 million for monitoring and management. Adsorption is widely considered as an effective and economic strategy to achieve extremely low concentration of phosphorus. The char produced by valorizing various waste biomasses have been gaining attention in phosphorus remediation owing to their availability, their ability to regenerate and reuse. This review paper exclusively focuses on utilizing hydrochar and biochar synthesized from waste biomass, respectively, through hydrothermal carbonization and slow pyrolysis to mitigate phosphorus concentration and potential strategies for handling the spent char. The key mechanisms involved in phosphate adsorption are electrostatic interaction, ion exchange and complexation. The maximum adsorption capacity of hydrochar and biochar ranges from 14–386 mg g−1 and 3–887 mg g−1, respectively. Hydrochar and biochar are cost-effective alternative to commercial activated carbon and spent char can be used for multiple adsorption cycles. Furthermore, extensive research studies on optimizing the feedstock, reaction and activation conditions coupled with technoeconomic analysis and life cycle assessment could pave way for commercialization of char-based adsorption technology.

Citation

Shyam, S., Arun, J., Gopinath, K. P., Ribhu, G., Ashish, M., & Ajay, S. (2022). Biomass as source for hydrochar and biochar production to recover phosphates from wastewater: A review on challenges, commercialization, and future perspectives. Chemosphere, 286, 131490. doi:10.1016/j.chemosphere.2021.131490

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the state and federal funds appropriated to The Ohio State 570 University, Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (SEEDS Award No. 571 OHOA1642).