HYDROTHERMAL LIQUEFACTION: ENHANCED PERFORMANCE AND FEEDSTOCK FLEXIBILITY FOR EFFICIENT BIOFUEL PRODUCTION - HYFLEXFUEL

© Copyright Andreas Pilz (DBFZ)

Hydrothermal liquefaction:
Enhanced performance and
feedstock flexibility for
efficient biofuel production
Development of a process chain
to produce sustainable liquid fuels
based on hydrothermal liquefaction
of various types of biomass feedstock

        This project has received funding from the European Union‘s Horizon 2020 research
        and innovation programme under grant agreement No 764734 (HyFlexFuel)

Project overview

HyFlexFuel works on advancing hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) as key technology
for truly sustainable and economically competitive production of drop-in fuels from
biomass. HTL offers the possibility to convert essentially any type of biogenic material
into liquid fuels without the requirement of prior energy-intensive drying.

Objectives:

▪▪  Demonstrate the viability of all individual process steps under relevant operational
    conditions

▪▪  Demonstrate compatibility of HTL-based fuel production with a diverse biomass
    feedstock portfolio, including algae and waste streams, such as sewage sludge

▪▪  Increase energy and carbon efficiency of HTL through improved heat integration
    and product recovery

▪▪  Valorise organic and inorganic components in residual process streams

▪▪  Upgrade biocrude from HTL by catalytic hydrotreatment to fuel products and
    demonstrate their drop-in capability

▪▪  Assess technical, socio-economic and environmental performance potentials

The HyFlexFuel process

In HyFlexFuel a broad range of biomass feedstock is converted into drop-in capable
liquid fuels via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) as primary conversion technology.
The specific process steps are:

▪▪  Primary conversion of feedstock into biocrude via HTL

▪▪  Catalytic upgrading of biocrude and distillation to final fuel products

▪▪  Energetic valorisation of organic components in the HTL process water through
    hydrothermal gasification and anaerobic digestion

▪▪  Recovery of inorganic salts as marketable fertilisers

Expected results

▪▪ Increased technology readiness (up to TRL 5) of all individual process steps of
   the HyFlexFuel production chain

▪▪ Validation of all process steps under relevant operational conditions

▪▪ In-depth understanding of the impact of different feedstocks on required process
   conditions and quality of the yielded products

▪▪ Optimised overall process configuration through combination of experimental
   findings with assessed techno-economic and environmental performance
   potentials

The results of HyFlexFuel will provide the knowledge base for the next step of
development on the path towards industrial implementation of HTL as a technology
for sustainable and economically competitive biofuel production.

The partners

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Contact us
Project at a glance
Topic:       LCE-08-2016-2017 Development of next-generation
             biofuel technologies
Duration:    October 2017 – September 2021
Budget:      5 038 344 €

Project Coordinator                        Project Office
Dr. Arne Roth
Bauhaus Luftfahrt e. V.                    ARTTIC
Willy-Messerschmitt-Str. 1                 Oskar-von-Miller-Ring 29
82024 Taufkirchen, Germany                 80333 Munich, Germany
arne.roth@bauhaus-luftfahrt.net            hyflexfuel-arttic@eurtd.com

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