IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/renene/v260y2026ics0960148125028137.html

Structure-reactivity insights in combusting rice straw hydrochar: Role of hydrothermal temperature

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Xiaoguang
  • Zou, Qingru
  • Wang, Xindi
  • Huang, Yiqi
  • Zhang, Chiqian
  • Yuan, Shijie
  • Dai, Xiaohu

Abstract

Hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) combined with combustion is promising for the energy use of crop straw. To guide the design and optimization of the integrated process, the structure-reactivity relationship for combusting the hydrochar needs to be explored. This study evaluated the impact of HTC temperature on the chemical composition, fuel properties, surface functional groups, crystalline structure, and combustion behavior of the hydrochar derived from rice straw. Moreover, the structure-reactivity relationship for combustion was built by performing Pearson correlation analysis and Linear regression. During HTC, cellulose and hemi-cellulose were degraded to form aromatic rings, thereby decreasing the H/C and O/C atomic ratios but increasing the aromaticity of the hydrochars. The combustion reactivity was reduced at elevated HTC temperatures. Aromaticity and H/C and O/C atomic ratios are significantly correlated with the comprehensive combustibility index (S) and activation energy (Ea). The structure-reactivity relationship for combustion was revealed by performing linear regression between S and H/C atomic ratio and between Ea and aromaticity. The S increased monotonically with the H/C atomic ratio, whereas the Ea decreased monotonically with the aromaticity. The findings provide guidance for predicting the combustion reactivity and activation energy of the hydrochar derived from rice straw at varying HTC temperatures.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Xiaoguang & Zou, Qingru & Wang, Xindi & Huang, Yiqi & Zhang, Chiqian & Yuan, Shijie & Dai, Xiaohu, 2026. "Structure-reactivity insights in combusting rice straw hydrochar: Role of hydrothermal temperature," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 260(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:260:y:2026:i:c:s0960148125028137
    DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2025.125149
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960148125028137
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.renene.2025.125149?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Tu, Ren & Sun, Yan & Wu, Yujian & Fan, Xudong & Cheng, Shuchao & Jiang, Enchen & Xu, Xiwei, 2021. "A new index for hydrochar based on fixed carbon content to predict its structural properties and thermal behavior," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C).
    2. He, Chao & Giannis, Apostolos & Wang, Jing-Yuan, 2013. "Conversion of sewage sludge to clean solid fuel using hydrothermal carbonization: Hydrochar fuel characteristics and combustion behavior," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 111(C), pages 257-266.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Zhang, Deli & Sun, Zhijing & Fu, Hongyue & Liu, Zhenfei & Wang, Fang & Zeng, Jianfei & Yi, Weiming, 2024. "Upgrading of cow manure by hydrothermal carbonization: Evaluation of fuel properties, combustion behaviors and kinetics," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 225(C).
    2. Dana-Claudia Farcas-Flamaropol & Radu Iatan & Petru Cardei & Ion Durbaca & Elena Surdu & Nicoleta Sporea, 2024. "Dewatering of Sludge Through Vibratory Sieving," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(1), pages 1-16, December.
    3. Xiao, Zhihua & Yuan, Xingzhong & Jiang, Longbo & Chen, Xiaohong & Li, Hui & Zeng, Guangming & Leng, Lijian & Wang, Hou & Huang, Huajun, 2015. "Energy recovery and secondary pollutant emission from the combustion of co-pelletized fuel from municipal sewage sludge and wood sawdust," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 441-450.
    4. Dilvin Cebi & Melih Soner Celiktas & Hasan Sarptas, 2022. "A Review on Sewage Sludge Valorization via Hydrothermal Carbonization and Applications for Circular Economy," Circular Economy and Sustainability, Springer, vol. 2(4), pages 1345-1367, December.
    5. Tiago Teribele & Maria Elizabeth Gemaque Costa & Conceição de Maria Sales da Silva & Lia Martins Pereira & Lucas Pinto Bernar & Douglas Alberto Rocha de Castro & Fernanda Paula da Costa Assunção & Mar, 2023. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover: Structural Evolution of Hydro-Char and Degradation Kinetics," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(7), pages 1-22, April.
    6. Gao, Pin & Zhou, Yiyuan & Meng, Fang & Zhang, Yihui & Liu, Zhenhong & Zhang, Wenqi & Xue, Gang, 2016. "Preparation and characterization of hydrochar from waste eucalyptus bark by hydrothermal carbonization," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 238-245.
    7. Zhang, Zhikun & Zhu, Zongyuan & Shen, Boxiong & Liu, Lina, 2019. "Insights into biochar and hydrochar production and applications: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 581-598.
    8. Okey Francis Obi & Temitope Olumide Olugbade & Joseph Ifeolu Orisaleye & Ralf Pecenka, 2023. "Solid Biofuel Production from Biomass: Technologies, Challenges, and Opportunities for Its Commercial Production in Nigeria," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(24), pages 1-22, December.
    9. Pablo J. Arauzo & María Atienza-Martínez & Javier Ábrego & Maciej P. Olszewski & Zebin Cao & Andrea Kruse, 2020. "Combustion Characteristics of Hydrochar and Pyrochar Derived from Digested Sewage Sludge," Energies, MDPI, vol. 13(16), pages 1-15, August.
    10. Doyoon Ryu & Jongkeun Lee & Doyong Kim & Kyehwan Jang & Jongwook Lee & Daegi Kim, 2022. "Enhancement of the Biofuel Characteristics of Empty Fruit Bunches through Hydrothermal Carbonization by Decreasing the Inorganic Matters," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(21), pages 1-10, November.
    11. Lu, Xiaoluan & Ma, Xiaoqian & Chen, Xinfei, 2021. "Co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and lignocellulosic biomass: Fuel properties and heavy metal transformation behaviour of hydrochars," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 221(C).
    12. Chen, Lichun & Wen, Chang & Wang, Wenyu & Liu, Tianyu & Liu, Enze & Liu, Haowen & Li, Zexin, 2020. "Combustion behaviour of biochars thermally pretreated via torrefaction, slow pyrolysis, or hydrothermal carbonisation and co-fired with pulverised coal," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 867-877.
    13. Ibrahim Shaba Mohammed & Risu Na & Keisuke Kushima & Naoto Shimizu, 2020. "Investigating the Effect of Processing Parameters on the Products of Hydrothermal Carbonization of Corn Stover," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-21, June.
    14. Yu, Yang & Lei, Zhongfang & Yang, Xi & Yang, Xiaojing & Huang, Weiwei & Shimizu, Kazuya & Zhang, Zhenya, 2018. "Hydrothermal carbonization of anaerobic granular sludge: Effect of process temperature on nutrients availability and energy gain from produced hydrochar," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 229(C), pages 88-95.
    15. Bryan Chiguano-Tapia & Elena Diaz & M. Angeles de la Rubia & Angel F. Mohedano, 2025. "Co-Hydrothermal Carbonization of Swine Manure and Soybean Hulls: Synergistic Effects on the Potential Use of Hydrochar as a Biofuel and Soil Improver," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(11), pages 1-18, May.
    16. Wang, Liping & Chang, Yuzhi & Li, Aimin, 2019. "Hydrothermal carbonization for energy-efficient processing of sewage sludge: A review," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 423-440.
    17. Liu, Xiaoguang & Gu, Jinna & Chen, Yongdong & Wang, Hong & Zhang, Chiqian & Yuan, Shijie & Dai, Xiaohu, 2024. "Acid-catalyzed co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and mixed straws to produce high-quality solid fuel," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 237(PC).
    18. Lee, Jongkeun & Lee, Kwanyong & Sohn, Donghwan & Kim, Young Mo & Park, Ki Young, 2018. "Hydrothermal carbonization of lipid extracted algae for hydrochar production and feasibility of using hydrochar as a solid fuel," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 913-920.
    19. Siti Zaharah Roslan & Siti Fairuz Zainudin & Alijah Mohd Aris & Khor Bee Chin & Mohibah Musa & Ahmad Rafizan Mohamad Daud & Syed Shatir A. Syed Hassan, 2023. "Hydrothermal Carbonization of Sewage Sludge into Solid Biofuel: Influences of Process Conditions on the Energetic Properties of Hydrochar," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(5), pages 1-16, March.
    20. Ma, Jing & Chen, Mengjun & Yang, Tianxue & Liu, Zhengang & Jiao, Wentao & Li, Dong & Gai, Chao, 2019. "Gasification performance of the hydrochar derived from co-hydrothermal carbonization of sewage sludge and sawdust," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 732-739.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:renene:v:260:y:2026:i:c:s0960148125028137. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/renewable-energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.