Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass is emerging as an effective technology to efficiently valorize different types of (wet) biomass feedstocks, ranging from lignocellulosics to algae and organic wastes. Significant research into HTL has been conducted in batch systems, which has provided a fundamental understanding of the different process conditions and the behavior of different biomass. The next step towards continuous plants, which are prerequisites for an industrial implementation of the process, has been significantly less explored. In order to facilitate a more focused future development, this review—based on the sources available in the open literature—intends to present the state of the art in the field of continuous HTL as well as to suggest means of interpretation of data from such plants. This contributes to a more holistic understanding of causes and effects, aiding next generation designs as well as pinpointing research focus. Additionally, the documented experiences in upgrading by catalytic hydrotreating are reported. The study reveals some interesting features in terms of energy densification versus the yield of different classes of feedstocks, indicating that some global limitations exist irrespective of processing implementations. Finally, techno-economic considerations, observations and remarks for future studies are presented.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of biomass is establishing itself as one of the leading technologies for the conversion of virtually any type of biomass feedstock into drop-in biofuels and renewable materials. Several catalysis strategies have been proposed for this process to increase the yields of the product (biocrude) and/or to obtain a product with better properties in light of the final use. A number of different studies are available in the literature nowadays, where different catalysts are utilized within HTL including both homogeneous and heterogeneous approaches. Additionally, catalysis plays a major role in the upgrading of HTL biocrude into final products, in which field significant developments have been observed in recent times. This review has the ambition to summarize the different available information to draw an updated overall picture of catalysis applied to HTL. The different catalysis strategies are reviewed, highlighting the specific effect of each kind of catalyst on the yields and properties of the HTL products, by comparing them with the non-catalyzed case. This allows for drawing quantitative conclusions on the actual effectiveness of each catalyst, in relation to the different biomass processed. Additionally, the pros and cons of each different catalysis approach are discussed critically, identifying new challenges and future directions of research.

This study demonstrates the economic feasibility of producing renewable transportation drop‐in fuels from lignocellulosic biomass through hydrothermal liquefaction and upgrading. An Aspen Plus^® process model is developed based on extensive experimental data to document a techno‐economic assessment of a hydrothermal liquefaction process scheme. Based on a 1000 tonnes organic matter per day plant size capacity, three different scenarios are analyzed to identify key economic parameters and minimum fuel selling prices (MFSP). Scenario I, the baseline scenario, is based on wood‐glycerol co‐liquefaction, followed by thermal cracking and hydroprocessing. Results show that a minimum fuel selling price (MFSP) of 1.14 $ per liter of gasoline equivalent (LGE) can be obtained. In Scenario II, only wood is used as feedstock, which reduces the MFSP to 0.82 $/LGE. Scenario III is also based on a pure wood feedstock, but investigates a full saturation situation (a maximum hydrogen consumption scenario), resulting in a slightly higher MFSP of 0.94 $/LGE. A sensitivity analysis is performed identifying biocrude yield, hydrogen, and feedstock prices as key cost factors affecting the MFSP. In conclusion, the study shows that renewable fuels, via HTL and upgrading, can be highly cost competitive to other alternative fuel processes. © 2017 The Authors. Biofuels, Bioproducts and Biorefining published by Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a promising technology for the production of bio-crude. However, some unresolved issues still exist within HTL, which need to be resolved before its promotion on a commercial scale. The management of the aqueous phase is one of the leading challenges related to HTL. In this study, the sewage sludge has been liquefied at 350 °C with and without catalyst (K₂CO₃). Subsequently, aqueous phase recycling was applied to investigate the effect of recycling on bio-crude properties. Obtained results showed that the energy recovery in the form of bio-crude increased by 50% via aqueous phase recirculation, whereas nitrogen content in the bio-crude was approximately doubled after eight rounds of recycling. GCMS characterization of the aqueous phase indicated acetic acid as a major water-soluble compound, which employed as a catalyst (0.56 M), and resulted in a negligible increase in bio-crude yield. ICP-AES highlighted that the majority of the inorganics were transferred to the solid phase, while the higher accumulation of potassium and sodium was found in the aqueous phase via successive rounds of recycling.