Hydrothermal carbonization process (HTC) is a thermochemical process which operates at elevated temperature and pressure, where liquid water is used as a reaction medium [1]. The biomass is converted into a lignite-like solid product called hydrochar [2]. The advantage of hydrothermal treatment is a possibility to convert high moist bio-waste streams without thermal drying. A two-step carbonization process (Figure 5) consisting of HTC and pyrolysis may improve the properties of final biochar (e.g., carbon content, surface area, and electrical conductivity). Hydrothermal conversion occurs using different mechanisms (e.g., hydrolysis and polymerization of intermediates) compared to pyrolysis, due to the liquid water environment, which also improves the heat transfer across the particles [1,3]. Hydrochar can be easily mechanically dewatered, due to higher hydrophobicity than the initial feedstock [2]. The mass of initial biomass is also reduced according to the HTC yield, which results in a lower mass flow of material for pyrolysis reactor and previous drying step. The two-step carbonization concept may spread the range of feedstocks used for biochar production and improve the overall energy efficiency as well as economic feasibility of pyrolysis, using wet biomass streams.
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