Hydrothermal processing of fermentation residues in a continuous multistage rig - Operational challenges for liquefaction, salt separation, and catalytic gasification

Desalination was observed at a salt separator set point temperature of 450 °C and 28 MPa; however, some of the salts could not be withdrawn as a concentrated brine. At 430 °C no salt separation took place. Higher temperatures in the salt separator were found to promote tar and coke formation, resulting in conflicting process requirements for efficient biomass liquefaction and desalination. In the salt separator effluent, solid crystals identified as struvite (magnesium ammonium phosphate) were found. This is the first report of struvite formation from a supercritical water biomass conversion process and represents an important finding for producing a fertilizer from the separated salt brine.