# Treatment Methods for Antibiotic Mycelial Residues: A Review
## 3 Treatment Methods for AMR
### Thermochemical Methods  
#### 3.3.1. _Incineration_  
Current Chinese pollution control standards explicitly prohibit co-incineration of hazardous waste in municipal solid waste incinerators. However, a 2010 proposal addressing municipal solid waste incineration pollutants indicated that, given the thermochemical compatibility between AMR and municipal solid waste, co-processing in municipal solid waste incinerators is feasible under stringent operational controls. Specifically, AMR mass input must be limited to \(\leq\)5% of total incinerator capacity to ensure combustion efficiency and emission compliance [94]. Incineration, a high-temperature thermochemical conversion process, achieves AMR mineralization and detoxification via oxidative decomposition. Operating temperatures typically exceed 850 \({}^{\circ}\)C, ensuring complete decomposition of organic components and presumed elimination of antibiotics and ARGs [95]. This technology offers significant engineering advantages, including rapid processing rates and substantial volume reduction (>95% mass reduction) [3]. Residual ash undergoes final disposal via sanitary landfill [96]. Additionally, the heat generated during incineration can be recovered for electricity generation or district heating, enabling resource recycling. [PERSON] et al. [97] conducted an in-depth investigation into the co-combustion characteristics of coal blended with varying proportions of bio-fermentation residue, performing kinetic analysis. Their findings revealed that BR contains combustion-favorable components. Compared to coal, BR exhibits enhanced ignition properties but reduced burnout performance. Based on these results, the optimal blending ratios for BR in coal-fired systems are recommended as: 10.1-42.2% for grate furnaces, 90.7-100% for fluidized beds, and 3.1-86.3% for pulverized coal combustion. Complementing this, [PERSON] et al. [66] demonstrated that increasing AMR blending ratios significantly improves the ignition characteristics, burnout performance, and comprehensive combustion characteristic index of mixed fuels. These findings conclusively validate the positive effects of AMR addition on coal combustion processes. Current incineration technology faces two primary constraints in practical applications. First, the generally high moisture content of AMR necessitates pre-treatment dehydration prior to incineration. However, the inherent bio-colloids or mycelial structures in raw AMR exhibit strong water-binding properties, rendering conventional mechanical dewatering methods (e.g., centrifugation, compression) ineffective [34]. Consequently,advanced dehydration techniques, such as hydrothermal treatment or microwave processing, are typically required, significantly increasing operational costs [34; 68]. Second, similar to most industrial biomass feedstocks, AMR contains elevated nitrogen and sulfur content. This necessitates stringent control of nitrogen oxides (NO\({}_{\text{x}}\)) and sulfur dioxide (SO\({}_{2}\)) emissions from flue gases during combustion. [PERSON] et al. [98] investigated gaseous pollutant emission profiles during AMR incineration using fluidized bed reactors. Their study revealed that concentrations of nitrogen and sulfur oxides in combustion byproducts increase proportionally with elevated incineration temperatures and higher excess air ratios. Although incineration technology demonstrates relative maturity with distinct advantages in volume reduction and detoxification efficiency, its practical implementation faces critical bottlenecks including high operational costs, low resource recovery rates, and energy-intensive dehydration pretreatment requirements. Amid heightened environmental and energy sustainability concerns, conventional incineration systems may no longer represent the optimal solution for AMR management.