This study proposed a low temperature hydrothermal carbonization to treat and recycle sewage sludge and determined the optimal conditions for the biochar production. The physical and chemical properties of biochar were analyzed and its sorption capacity for heavy metals was evaluated. To produce biochar, 50 g of sewage sludge was heated at 220, 230, and $240^{\circ}C$ for 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10 hours in a reactor. The optimal conditions to produce biochar was $230^{\circ}C$ and 8 hours. Sorption capacity tests were conducted for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni). Among them, lead was shown the highest heavy metal adsorption efficiency of biochar, followed by copper, cadmium, zinc, and nickel, but arsenic was hardly adsorbed overall.

Keywords: HTC (Hydrothermal Carbonization);Biochar;Sewage sludge;Heavy metal adsorption;