Exciting news: FUEL-UP project will be presented at AIChE – American Institute of Chemical Engineers – Meeting 2025 in Boston, USA, on 5 November 2025 with the presentation “Re-Parametrization of NRTL Model for C₁₊ Organics and Alcohols Recovery from Aqueous Phase in Biofuel Production”.

What will be the discussion about?

Green methods like hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), pyrolysis, and fermentation can turn renewable sources and waste into valuable chemicals and clean fuels instead of using fossil fuels.

A key step in these processes is separating and purifying valuable chemicals like alcohols, carboxylic acids, and ketones from the water they are mixed in to sell them as side products on the market and therefore increase the economic sustainability of biofuels production. To make this process efficient and profitable, it’s crucial to have accurate thermodynamic models.

However, a current challenge, highlighted by the FUEL-UP project, is that existing models, specifically the NRTL model are not reliable enough to correctly predict how these complex mixtures behave.

The work that will be presented by SINTEF at AICHE 2025 aims at improving the NRTL model by using a large database of experimental data to recalibrate the model.

Further info: https://aiche.confex.com/aiche/2025/meetingapp.cgi/Paper/711991