Biosolids to biochar and platform chemicals

The sustainable application of biosolids to agricultural land is being limited by many contaminants such as microbial pathogens, PFAS, microplastics, and heavy metals. The thermal treatment of biosolids via pyrolysis can destroy the microbial and organic contaminants; however, heavy metals remain a persistent problem with biosolids and its thermally derived products. Therefore, pyrolysis alone may not satisfactorily deal with the limiting problem of heavy metals in biosolids and biochar. This work is developing an integrated acid extraction and pyrolysis process to reduce the heavy metals load in biosolids and convert the pre-treated biosolids to useful carbon and nutrient rich biochar and valuable chemicals.

PhD Thesis underway by Ibrahim Hakeem.