SUSTAINABLE DROP-IN TRANSPORT FUELS FROM HYDROTHERMAL LIQUEFACTION OF LOW VALUE URBAN FEEDSTOCKS NEXTGENROADFUELS PROJECT Sara Momi, ETA-Florence Renewable Energies Lasse Rosendhal, Aalborg University
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t the end of May 2019, the NextGenRoadFuels project will provide to academics and market experts gathered at the 27th EUBCE a focus on a novel approach for obtaining sustainable transport fuels in Europe. NextGenRoadFuels is a Research and Innovation project funded by Horizon 2020 programme for 4 years (www.nextgenroadfuels.eu) to develop a cost-effective valorisation pathway for multiple urban waste streams such as sewage sludge (from treated wastewater), food waste and construction wood waste. These waste streams will be converted to renewable fuels, fertilizers and proteins, thus fostering the urban transition towards a circular economy. This will be possible thanks to the Hydrothermal Liquefaction (HTL) pathway which enables the production of high-volume, costcompetitive drop-in synthetic gasoline and diesel fuels as well as other hydrocarbon compounds in a sustainable, efficient and economic
way. Part of the novelty is that the urban residues are converted in an HTL implementation that optimizes the carbon and energy conversion efficiency and minimizes the need for external hydrogen. In addition, in NextGenRoadFuels all the biogenic urban resources will be co-processed together in single HTL facilities, thus solving various technological and operational challenges. The overall project approach consists of several processes: from resources’ pre-treatment, through the HTL, till the thermo-catalytic, electro-catalytic and biochemical processes, as well as the posttreatment (or upgrading) phases. The final goal will be using available state-of-the-art pilot facilities in two main replicable scenarios: a standalone model where a full production pathway from urban feedstock to drop-in fuels can be managed at a central facility; a hub-and-spoke model, with several HTL plants close to the sources of feedstock and serving a single
upgrading facility. The project is fully aligned with the SET Plan Key Action 8 on renewable fuels, which calls for an acceleration of the development and deployment of low-carbon technologies in the transport sector. NextGenRoadFuels will also contribute to the renewableenergy-in-transport target, as well as to the GHG emissions reduction objectives, in line with the Renewable Energy Directive (RED II) and the European Energy Roadmap 2050. The produced diesel will be compatible with EN 590 and the same counts for gasoline with EN 228. The GHG reduction is expected to be higher than 70% compared to fossil equivalents by efficient supercritical HTL and upgrading by in-situ electrocatalytic H2 generation. NextGenRoadFuels consortium is working on providing an efficient, sustainable drop-in fuel production pathway in a European context where major challenges are
Fig.1 Above: Continuous bench scale 1 HTL plant, at Aalborg University (DK) ŠMuhammad Salman Haider, Aalborg University (DK)
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