The biosolids management is becoming an increased concern for the wastewater sector in recent times due to production of large volume of biosolids, their higher processing costs and the presence of emerging contaminants. The pyrolysis of biosolids is gaining significant interest in the industry sector as well as research community over the last decade due to its ability to reduce biosolids volume, produce high-value biochar product and minimise the risk associated with contaminants. This paper aims to critically review the literature on biosolids management techniques and their current challenges, biosolids characteristics and its suitability for pyrolysis, pyrolysis product characterisation from different reactor designs and biochar application as a soil amendment, adsorbent and catalyst. The efforts have also been made to critically summarise studies on the process modelling activities and techno-economic assessments including some key pilot-scale demonstrations of recent time. The review concludes that biosolids to biochar can be an effective alternative to biosolids management; however, its commercial viability is limited in the current scenario. In the end, efforts have been made to highlight current challenges including research gaps and future perspectives in improving its commercial viability.

由于大量生物固体的产生，其较高的处理成本以及新出现的污染物的存在，近年来生物固体管理已成为废水部门越来越关注的问题。在过去的十年中，由于生物固体的热解能够减少生物固体的体积，生产高价值的生物炭产品并使与污染物相关的风险最小化，因此在行业和研究界引起了广泛的关注。本文旨在批判性地回顾有关生物固体管理技术及其当前挑战，生物固体特性及其对热解的适应性，来自不同反应器设计的热解产物表征以及作为土壤改良剂，吸附剂和催化剂的生物炭应用的文献。还努力对过程建模活动和技术经济评估进行了关键性的总结研究，包括最近一些关键的试点规模演示。审查得出结论，从生物固体到生物炭可以替代生物固体管理。但是，在当前情况下，其商业可行性受到限制。最后，我们努力强调当前的挑战，包括研究差距和提高其商业可行性的未来前景。