Energy and phosphorous recovery through hydrothermal carbonization of digested sewage sludge

[Display omitted] •Thermal treatment improves digestate P-leachability.•Acid leaching led to lignite-like upgraded hydrochars with HHV.•Leachate neutralisation with CaO enabled the precipitation of P-rich brown solids.•High energy recovery was obtained (hydrochars and methane from AD of PW). This work evaluates the potential of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) to valorize the digestate derived from the anaerobic digestion of sewage sludge into useful materials for P and energy recovery. The hydrothermal treatment of digestate at 180–240 °C did not lead to high-rank hydrochars. On the other hand, inorganic P concentration did not change with the temperature, while as the carbonization temperature increased, the organic P retention yield in hydrochar became lower, increasing the total P in the process water obtained at the highest temperature, up to 25.3%. P recovery from acid leaching of the hydrochar obtained at 180 °C, via precipitation with CaO at pH up to 9, led to a brown solid precipitate with total P content close to 42 mg g−1, in the range of low grade phosphorus ores. Moreover, acid leaching reduced by 50% the ash content, yielding lignite-like upgraded hydrochars with higher heating values in the range of 20.5–23.1 MJ kg−1, fairly interesting as solid fuels. Anaerobic digestion of the process water enabled additional energy recovery in form of biogas (325 and 279 mL CH4 g−1 VS -at standard temperature and pressure; STP- from the process water resulting at 180 and 210 °C, respectively).