The effects of sulfur-acid treatment on the thermal properties of wood biomass and chicken litter mixtures
摘要
The study focuses on Bulgaria’s circular economy and how low-carbon practices can lessen the impact of climate change. In Bulgaria, the production of livestock has traditionally included poultry farming, with an estimated 22 million birds raised industrially, of which 8–10 million are hens. According to projections, there will be more than 100 billion livestock worldwide by 2050—more than ten times the number of people predicted to exist at that time. Currently, there are over 60 billion livestock worldwide. Poultry waste contributes 33.7 million metric tons of CO2 equivalent annually to the other site. 0.64% of agricultural GHG emissions are represented by this. Inadequate manure management is typically the cause of nutrients, pathogens, and heavy metal pollution in soil and water. The aim of the present study is to explore technological approaches for treating wood biomass and chicken litter mixtures with sulfuric acid in order to minimize waste generated by poultry farms by developing and proposing new strategies for their conversion into valuable products, thus enabling the implementation of a closed life cycle. The proposed novel solution is based on mixtures derived from poultry farm waste combined with additional industrial residues and biomass. The products obtained from the tested components underwent physicochemical treatment and were analyzed using chemical, thermal, scanning electron microscopy, and infrared spectroscopy methods to demonstrate their potential as soil enhancers. The treatment of wood biomass with sulfuric acid accelerates mineralization processes by reacting with both the inorganic and organic components. It eliminates the impact of pathogens, bacteria, and fungi, while promoting the transformation of nutrients from waste into plant-available forms such as mono- and dicalcium hydrogen phosphates, potassium nitrate, and ammonium sulfate from the inorganic fraction. Within the organic fraction, mineralization and esterification reactions occur, converting primary amines and carboxylic acids into secondary/tertiary amines, esters, and carbonyl compounds. The study concludes that the chosen wastes and other raw materials possess a structure and composition that characterize them as carriers of vital micronutrients without excessive heavy or toxic elements, allowing them to be classified as appropriate components for creating soil improvers.