Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL), pyrolysis, and fermentation are emerging green pathways to produce sustainable fuels for the opportunity they offer to replace fossil fuels with renewable carbon sources and wastes, leading to reduced emissions and improved circularity. These processes generate an aqueous phase that is rich in valuable chemicals (alcohols, carboxylic acids, esters, etc.). To increase the economic sustainability of biofuels production, there is growing interest in recovering these valuable chemicals from water, and then purifying the extracted compounds to sell them as side products on the market. 

However, designing the equipment to separate these complex mixtures requires highly accurate thermodynamic models—specifically Vapor-Liquid Equilibrium (VLE) data. This gap in existing literature makes it impossible to accurately design and upscale the extraction process. In the FUEL-UP project, SINTEF addressed this gap by retuning and re-parametrising the Non-Random Two-Liquids (NRTL) model, and by designing and modelling a process to recover at the highest possible purity methanol and ethanol, the only components which are present in concentrations >3%, from the aqueous phase generated during the pyrolysis oil upgrading process.

Matteo Gilardi, Research Scientist, will present this modelling process with the poster presentation “Re-parametrisation of NRTL model for organics and alcohols recovery from aqueous phase in pyrolysis oil production” at Escape Conference 2026 in Sheffiled, UK, on 24 June 2026.

Further information: https://virtual.oxfordabstracts.com/event/75694/titles