Biochar from cellulose for micropollution elimination
The most obvious resource from sewage… yes.. toilet paper or cellulose. Yearly 6,5 million tonnes of toilet paper ends up in the sewer system and finally in our wastewater treatment plants. 4,5 million tonnes of this toilet paper can be recovered. This theoretically equals 14 million trees per year.
With cellulose sievings, we can already make biochar, acetic acid and bio-oil. Now, we took a next step and activated the biochar into activated carbon for elimination of micropollutants at small and medium sewage treatment plants.
This material then can be used in constructed wetlands as an additional step after the conventional treatment. This application opens possibilities for new markets.
This whitepaper contains the following chapters:
1. Explanation of the general principle of AC production from residual streams
2. Biochar from Cellulose - manufacturing process and possible application
3. Elimination of pollutants using Biochar from cellulose in Constructed Wetlands
4. Constructed Wetlands with biochar - Case study for a small catchment area
5. Circularity measurement & Assessment methodology
6. future challenges
Enjoy reading!
This whitepaper gives an overview of (part of) the results of the Interreg NWE project WOW! - Wider business Opportunities for raw materials from Wastewater. More information about this project can be found on the website of WOW!
