(390a) LCA Comparison of Char Impregnation and Direct Chemical Activation for Synthesizing Ultraporous Superactivated Hydrochars from Food Waste

Food waste management creates an enormous concern, which has made it urgently necessary to upcycle it into usable materials, such as ultraporous adsorbent. Chemical activation of food waste hydrochar with potassium hydroxide (KOH) has developed as one of the approaches for increasing the porosity of such waste-derived porous sorbents. Direct chemical activation (DCA) and char impregnation (CI) are the two separate processes used to produce ultraporous adsorbent. The purpose of this study is to compare the environmental impacts of DCA and CI utilizing the life cycle assessment method (LCA). The results demonstrate that CI is a more environmentally friendly method of producing ultraporous carbons from food waste, with freshwater ecotoxicity (57.2%) being the category with the greatest environmental impact. This is primarily due to acid neutralization in the mixer unit of the CI technique of activation, whereas the dryer unit, which is powered by natural gas combustion, was the category with the greatest environmental impact. Hence, as a substitute, the use of renewable solar energy (from solar thermal power plants) was also explored, and the findings emphasized the prospect of achieving lower climate change and acidification potential.