Thesis-2015-Afolabi.pdf (7.16 MB)
An investigation into human biowaste management using microwave hydrothermal carbonization for sustainable sanitation
thesis
posted on 2015-11-24, 09:59 authored by Oluwasola O.D. AfolabiThe prolonged challenges and dire consequences of poor sanitation, especially in
developing economies, call for the exploration of new sustainable technologies. These
need to be: capable of effectively treating human faecal wastes without any health or
environmental impacts; scalable to address rapid increases in population and
urbanization; capable of meeting environmental regulations and standards for faecal
management; and competitive with existing strategies. Further and importantly, despite
its noxiousness and pathogenic load, the chemical composition of human biowaste
(HBW) indicates that it may be considered to be a potentially valuable, nutrient-rich
renewable resource, rather than a problematic waste product. This doctoral study
therefore investigated microwave hydrothermal carbonization (M-HTC) as a sanitation
technology for processing HBW – to convert it into a safe, pathogen-free material, while
also recovering inherent value and providing an economic base to sustain the
technology. To this end, the products of M-HTC treatment of sewage sludge, human
faecal sludge, synthetic faecal simulant and human faeces were characterized with a
suite of techniques and tests to demonstrate pathogenic deactivation, and the intrinsic
value of the resultant solid char and liquor. [Continues.]
Funding
Loughborough University, Graduate School (RTT Project under Professor M. Sohail). Nigeria, Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF).
History
School
- Science
Department
- Chemistry
Publisher
© Oluwasola Olakunle Daniel AfolabiPublisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Publication date
2015Notes
A Doctoral Thesis. Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of Doctor of Philosophy of Loughborough University.Language
- en