Tao Xu is currently an associate professor with the School of Energy Engineering, Xi'an University of Science and Technology, China. He is a skilled researcher with a Ph.D. degree in Chemical Engineering from Monash University together with eight years' study and research experience in energy conversion of solid fuels in China, Canada, and Australia. He has authored more than 12 technical articles in conferences and journals. His research interests include thermochemical conversion of solid fuels, bioenergy, and low-rank coal utilization.