(176c) Evaluation of Fuel Properties of Hydrothermal Carbonization-Derived Shrimp Shell Hydrochar

Shrimp, known as the most consumed seafood, generates a significant quantity of waste which is mostly accounted from its own weight. In order to transform shrimp shell waste into value added product in a sustainable and environment friendly way, hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) process was employed to produce energy-dense hydrochar which can be used as an alternative to fossil fuel. This study focuses on evaluating the fuel, combustion properties, and physical characteristics of shrimp shell hydrochar produced under a wide range of HTC temperature (110°C-290°C) conditions. Although mass yield declines with increasing HTC temperature, higher heating value (HHV) (26.9–27.9 KJ/kg) and energy densification ratio (1.09-1.13) demonstrated a rising tendency. Thermogravimetric analysis demonstrates that increasing the temperature yields more thermally stable hydrochar than raw shrimp shell and CHNS analysis results confirm the presence of 40-43% carbon in the hydrochars. Combustion characteristics evaluated from thermogravimetric analysis reports high comprehensive combustibility index (Si) (3.39× 10-7) and lower maximum weight loss temperature (Tm) (370°C) which ensures vigorous combustion reactivity of the hydrochar prepared at 180°C. Whereas lower burnout index (Db) (0.43× 10-3 %/min3) for the hydrochar at 290°C makes it suitable for ideal ignition and burning. Analysis of results demonstrate hydrothermal carbonization to be a sustainable method of converting shrimp shell waste into potential fuel substitute.