(180ak) Hydrothermal Pathways for Resource Recovery from Indian River Lagoon Sediment

In recent years, an accumulation of sediment from Florida’s Indian River Lagoon also referred to as “muck,” has threatened aquatic safety by compromising the water quality. This threatens to destroy necessary aquatic plants, putting entire ecosystems on the verge of collapse. This has made the removal of the sediment not just a discussion but a necessity, thus leading to the dilemma of what to do with all the recovered muck. The problem of what to do with all the retrieved sediment has arisen as a result of this, making the removal of the sediment, more than merely a topic of conversation. Therefore, in this study, it was desired to study the exiting characteristics of the recovered sediment and then improve those characteristics by creating a hydrochar via hydrothermal carbonization (HTC). Three different HTC temperatures were used: 180, 220, and 260oC. The generated hydrochar was characterized using proximate and ultimate analysis for a detailed chemical composition analysis, scanning electron microscopy for morphology appearance analysis, X-ray powder diffraction for crystallinity analysis, N2 adsorption-desorption for surface porosity quantification, and Fourier transform infrared to observe the hydrochar's functionality. The heavy metal and inorganic characteristics were observed using inductively coupled plasma spectroscopy. Finally, in order to observe the hydrochar’s capacity as a soil amendment, a grow-out study was conducted in which microgreens were grown for 2 weeks, using an optimum carbon-to-nitrogen ratio of 25:1. It was observed that the hydrochar was an effective means in which to not only remove muck but improve the soil for the growth of microgreens.