Room: King Willem Alexander
Date: Friday, 22 May 2026
Time: 10:15 - 11:15 CEST
Session code DP.1
Frontiers in converting green molecules to advanced fuels: thermochemical pathways and hybrid systems
Maximizing Jet-fuel from HTL Biocrude: The Challenge of Highly Asphaltenic Biocrude
Short Introductive summary
HTL biocrudes derived from agricultural waste pose major upgrading challenges due to high inorganic content (up to 3000 ppm) and asphaltene levels (70%), which severely limit standard hydroprocessing. This study presents a novel multi-stage upgrading strategy developed within the Horizon Europe project CIRCULAIR, enabling the conversion of such biocrudes into on-spec sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). The process involves four temperature-staged reactors (260–400?°C) and a tailored catalyst sequence (Mo/Al2O3 and sulfided NiMo/Al2O3), operated in a continuous lab-scale hydrotreater. Micro-carbon residue (MCR) was used as a key indicator, decreasing from 26.0% to 0.7%. The final product contained 0.5% heteroatoms and 29% jet-range hydrocarbons. This work demonstrates, for the first time, a viable pathway to process highly challenging HTL biocrudes in continuous systems, offering a scalable solution for SAF production from waste feedstocks.
Presenter
Daniele CASTELLO
Aalborg University, DENMARK
Presenter's biography
Daniele Castello is currently Associate Professor at the Department of Energy (AAU Energy) at Aalborg University, Denmark, where he is vice-lead of the Carbon Lab research group. His research expertise is on hydrothermal processes for biomass, especially HTL and biocrude upgrading to hydrocarbons.
Biographies and Short introductive summaries are supplied directly by presenters and are published here unedited
Co-authors:
A. Achour, Aalborg University, DENMARK
L.K. Rai, Aalborg University, DENMARK
S.S. Toor, Aalborg University, DENMARK
Session reference: DP.1.2