Absorbing oxygen carriers promotes phosphorus recovery from sludge via the microwave thermal conversion process.

This study aims to apply the Absorbing oxygen carriers (AOCs) to induce the migration and transformation of phosphorus compounds during the microwave thermal conversion of sludge so the hard-to-extract organic phosphorus (OP) can be converted to easy-to-extract inorganic phosphorus (IP) and be enriched onto the sludge char. The AOCs were recycled by screen separation from the IP-rich sludge char, with the latter being a renewable phosphorus source from sludge. The AOCs in this novel process enhanced the conversion efficiency of OP into non-apatite inorganic phosphorus (NAlP), which was further converted to apatite inorganic phosphorus (AP). Most phosphorus in the sludge char is presented in the form of orthophosphate.

Photocatalytic Degradation and Toxicity Analysis of Sulfamethoxazole using TiO2/BC.

Sulfonamide antibiotics in the environment not only disrupt the ecological balance but can also enter the human or animal body in various forms and cause harm. Therefore, exploring efficient methods to degrade sulfonamide antibiotics is crucial. In this study, we prepared biochar (BC) using corn straw, and TiO2/BC was obtained by doping different proportions of TiO2 into biochar with varying carbonization temperatures using the sol-gel method. Next, we investigated the degradation of sulfamethoxazole (SMX) in solution using the generated TiO2/BC under ultraviolet irradiation and studied the effects of various experimental parameters, such as the type of composite material, composite material addition, solution pH, and initial antibiotic concentration on SMX degradation. Under an initial SMX concentration of 30 mg/L, the composite with the best photocatalytic degradation performance was TiO2/BC-5-300 (i.e., 5 mL of TiO2 doping; 300 °C calcination temperature), with an addition amount of 0.02 g and a solution pH of 3. The degradation efficiency increased from 22.3% to 89%, and the most significant degradation effect occurred during the initial stage of photocatalytic degradation. In the TiO2/BC-5-300 treated SMX solution, the average rhizome length of bean sprouts was significantly higher than that of the untreated SMX solution and slightly lower than that of the deionized aqueous solution (3.05 cm < 3.85 cm < 4.05 cm). This confirmed that the photocatalytic degradation of SMX by the composite was effective and could efficiently reduce its impact on the growth of bean sprouts. This study provides essential data and theoretical support for using TiO2/BC in the treatment of antibiotic-contaminated wastewater.

Application of calcium oxide/ferric oxide composite oxygen carrier for corn straw chemical looping gasification.

Biomass chemical looping gasification (CLG) technology is an important utilization form of renewable energy. In order to obtain high-quality syngas, CaO/Fe2O3 was used as a composite oxygen carrier for biomass CLG in this study. The CLG experiment of corn straw and the study of oxygen carrier recycling were carried out, simultaneously, the reaction mechanism was further discussed. Results shown adding CaO to oxygen carrier could significantly improve the quality of syngas through increasing the H2 and reduce Greenhouse gas (CO2 and CH4, about 14% reduction). Besides, the ratio of Fe2O3 to CaO, steam to biomass, and oxygen carrier to biomass all affected the syngas composition (the H2/CO variation from 1.82 to 2.19), while the temperature had obvious influence on the gas yield of CLG. The most possible reaction mechanism shown that the variation of Ca might be the main factor of gas composition fluctuation.

Chemical-looping gasification of corn straw with Fe-based oxygen carrier: Thermogravimetric analysis.

The chemical-looping gasification kinetics of corn straw with iron-based oxygen carrier to produce syngas were studied using thermogravimetric analysis. The main reactions of corn straw based on iron-based composite oxygen carrier is divided into three stages: the pyrolysis stage (200-500 °C), the gas-solid reaction stage (500-700 °C), and the solid-solid reaction stage (700-1100 °C). The Coats-Redfern method and the Malek method were used to screen the thirty reactions. The activation energies for the most likely main reactions were estimated to be 81.6 kJ/mol (Mample single-line rule), 117.5 kJ/mol (reaction order function), and 140.9 kJ/mol (Ginstling-Brounshtein equation). The chemical-looping gasification of corn straw with Fe-based oxygen carrier involved multi-step reaction mechanisms.

Syngas production by chemical-looping gasification of wheat straw with Fe-based oxygen carrier.

The iron-based oxygen carriers (OC's), Fe2O3/support (Al2O3, TiO2, SiO2 and ZrO2), for chemical looping gasification of wheat straw were prepared using impregnation method. The surface morphology, crystal structure, carbon deposition potential, lattice oxygen activity and selectivity of the yielded OCs were examined. The Fe2O3/Al2O3 OCs at 60% loading has the highest H2 yield, H2/CO ratio, gas yield, and carbon conversion amongst the tested OC's. Parametric studies revealed that an optimal loading Fe2O3 of 60%, steam-to-biomass ratio of 0.8 and oxygen carrier-to-biomass ratio of 1.0 led to the maximum H2/CO ratio, gas yield, H2 + CO ratio, and carbon conversion from the gasified wheat straw. High temperature, up to 950 °C, enhanced the gasification performance. A kinetic network interpreted the noted experimental results. The lattice oxygen provided by the prepared Fe2O3/Al2O3 oxygen carriers promotes chemical looping gasification efficiencies from wheat straw.