Membrane-Based Treatment of Hydrothermal Carbonization Effluent from Municipal Biowaste

The treatment of hydrothermal carbonization (HTC) liquor derived from municipal solid waste (MSW) remains a key challenge due to its high organic load. This work compares, for the first time, the direct application of polymeric microfiltration (MF) and ultrafiltration (UF) with a multi-stage cascade configuration (MF → UF → nanofiltration, NF) for MSW depuration. Single-stage UF proved effective for turbidity removal (>97%) but achieved limited reductions in organic content. By contrast, the cascade system significantly enhanced performance, with COD, TOC, and TN removals reaching 89%, and >93% when optimized.