Feedwater pH affects phosphorus transformation during hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge

In this study, the effect of feedwater pH (3–11) on phosphorus (P) transformation during the hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) of sewage sludge (SS) was investigated at a temperature range of 200–260 °C. The HTC significantly accumulated P in the hydrochar. Different feedwater pH stimulated the transformation of various forms of P. An acidic feedwater pH promoted the transformation of apatite phosphorus (AP) to non-apatite inorganic phosphorus (NAIP), and of organic P (OP) to inorganic P (IP). The NAIP tended to transformation to AP and a small part of the IP was transformed to OP when the SS was treated in a basic environment. The combination of three P analysis methods (chemical extractive fractionation, X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS)) showed that metal cations (e.g. Al and Ca) and the pH played important roles in the transformation of different forms of P during the HTC of the SS.