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Scientific Article details

Title Life cycle assessment of a novel strategy based on hydrothermal carbonization for nutrient and energy recovery from food waste
ID_Doc 12423
Authors Sarrion, A; Medina-Martos, E; Iribarren, D; Diaz, E; Mohedano, AF; Dufour, J
Title Life cycle assessment of a novel strategy based on hydrothermal carbonization for nutrient and energy recovery from food waste
Year 2023
Published
DOI 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163104
Abstract In this work, a novel strategy for food waste valorization was evaluated from an environmental life-cycle perspective. A system based on acid-assisted hydrothermal carbonization of food waste combined with the exploitation of hydrochar by combustion and process water through nutrient recovery stage and subsequent anaerobic digestion, was assessed and compared with stand-alone anaerobic digestion as the reference system. This combination of processes aims to re-cover both nutrients in a stage of struvite precipitation from process water and energy through hydrochar and biogas combustion. Both systems were modeled in Aspen Plus (R) to identify and quantify their most relevant input and output flows and subsequently evaluate their environmental performance through the life cycle assessment methodology. The novel combined system was found to generally involve a more favorable environmental performance than the refer-ence stand-alone configuration, which would be closely linked to the substitution of hydrochar for fossil fuels. In ad-dition, the impacts associated with soil application of the struvite produced in the integrated process would also be reduced compared to the use of the digestate generated in the stand-alone anaerobic digestion process. Following these results and the evolving regulatory framework for biomass waste management, mainly in the field of nutrient recovery, combined process based on acid-assisted hydrothermal treatment plus nutrient recovery stage and anaerobic digestion is concluded to be a promising circular economy concept for food waste valorization.
Author Keywords Anaerobic digestion; Environmental life cycle assessment; Food waste valorization; Hydrochar; Struvite
Index Keywords Index Keywords
Document Type Other
Open Access Open Access
Source Science Citation Index Expanded (SCI-EXPANDED)
EID WOS:000976535500001
WoS Category Environmental Sciences
Research Area Environmental Sciences & Ecology
PDF https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.163104
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