Method for biomass assisted separation of particulate matter from a liquid stream and upgrading of the combined solids

1. A method of wastewater treatment comprising the steps of;

providing a filter aid prepared by extrusion of lignocellulosic feedstocks harvested within three weeks before use as a filter aid or by extrusion of wet lignocellulosic feedstocks having dry matter content 30-75% (w/w);

using the filter aid to collect particulate matter from an aqueous stream and thereby obtain a spent filter aid; and

using the spent filter aid with collected particulate matter as a substrate for thermo-chemical conversion

wherein the aqueous stream is a suspension of algae, bacteria or yeast or a wastewater stream selected from the group consisting of municipal, domestic and/or industrial sewage wastewater, grey water, storm water and industrial wastewaters from breweries, dairies, abattoirs, chemical manufacturing industry, petroleum/gas fracking, mineral processing and mining industry.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the spent filter aid with collected particulate matter has a dry matter content in the range 13-30% w/w.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the filter aid comprises at least 30% (w/w) extruded lignocellulosic plant material having a particle size in the range 0.2 mm to 5 mm.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein no drying and/or de-watering step is performed with the spent filter aid with collected particulate matter prior to its use as a substrate for thermo-chemical conversion.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the filter aid is used to collect particulate matter in an appropriate mass ratio such that the spent filter aid with collected particulate matter has between 10% and 80% of its solids content provided by the filter aid and between 90% and 20% of its solids content provided by the collected particulate matter.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the spent filter aid with collected particulate matter has a dry matter content (w/w) within the range 13-30%.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the particulate matter is sewage sludge collected from sewage wastewater.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the substrate for thermo-chemical conversion exhibits positive synergies in hydrothermal liquefaction such that greater oil yields are obtained than could be obtained from sewage sludge and extruded biomass separately.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the filter aid is fluffy in consistency and has <1% w/w of hard particles.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein extrusion is conducted using a twin screw extruder.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the filter aid is mixed with the aqueous stream to be treated prior to its use in collecting particulate matter.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the thermo-chemical conversion is hydrothermal liquefaction.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the lignocellulosic feedstock is miscanthus, willow or switchgrass.

14. A substrate for hydrothermal liquefaction comprising a filter aid prepared by extrusion of lignocellulosic feedstocks harvested within 3 days before use as a filter aid or by extrusion of wet lignocellulosic feedstock with dry matter content 30-75% (w/w) and particulate matter filtered from an aqueous stream using the filter aid in which between 10% and 80% of the substrate dry matter is provided by the filter aid and between 90% and 20% of the substrate dry matter is provided by the collected particulate matter.

15. A method of hydrothermal liquefaction of particulate matter comprising the steps of

providing a substrate for hydrothermal liquefaction according to claim 14 , and

subjecting the substrate to hydrothermal liquefaction.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the thermo-chemical conversion is selected from the group consisting of hydrothermal carbonization, hydrothermal liquefaction, thermal hydrolysis, combustion, solvothermal liquefaction, hydro-thermal gasification, pyrolysis, and thermocatalytic reforming (TCR).