Description:
Abstract
In this study, a process for the continuous recovery of phosphorus and generation of gas from sewage
sludge is investigated for the first time using supercritical water gasification (SCWG). A continuous reactor
was employed and experiments were conducted by varying the temperature (500–600 °C) and residence
time (5–60 s) while fixing the pressure at 25 MPa. The behavior of phosphorus during the SCWG process
was studied. The effect of the temperature and time on the composition of the product gas was also
investigated. A model of the reaction kinetics for the SCWG of sewage sludge was developed. The organic
phosphorus (OP) was rapidly converted into inorganic phosphorus (IP) within a short residence time of
10 s. The gaseous products were mainly composed of H2, CO2, and CH4. The reaction followed first order
kinetics, and the model was found to fit the experimental data well.