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Upgrading renewables, secondary, and waste streams through innovative hydroprocessing catalysts and reaction pathways

Problem statement

Hydroprocessing is a well-implemented and versatile refinery conversion strategy, comprising a wide array of reaction routes such as: (i) hydrotreating, aiming for the hydrogenation of unsaturated hydrocarbons and the removal (hydrogenolysis) of heteroatoms such as sulfur or nitrogen; (ii) hydrocracking, for promoting C–C bond scission and the partial saturation of aromatics; or (iii) hydrodeoxygenation, for the specific removal of oxygen moieties. In this project, we investigate the conversion of highly polyaromatic feedstock like heavy fuel oil (HFO), pyrolysis fuel oil (PFO), or bio-oils from different biomass sources (i.e., agricultural waste, algae) for quality improvement and obtaining products with higher added value.

We seek new (thermo-) catalytic strategies and improved heterogeneous catalysts with increased activity and stability. We put advanced analytical characterization techniques (i.e., nuclear magnetic resonance, high-res mass spectrometry) to work and combine their results with modeling and statistical tools.

Goals

  • Develop a quantitative analytical workflow to analyze and interpret these complex reacting environments
  • Explore novel renewable and waste resources to obtain chemicals and fuels
  • Deploy ad-hoc catalysts and process conditions to incorporate these wastes in the refinery (bio- and waste-refinery)
  • Analyze process dynamics and kinetics
HPC

Related People

Related Publications

Molecular-Level Analytical Platform for Quasi-quantitative Characterization of Bio-oils from a Commercial Biorefinery

by Zambrano, Lezcano, Hita, Gerritsen, Venderbosch, Castaño
Energy & Fuels Year: 2025 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.4c05619

Abstract

Understanding oxygenate transformations during biomass valorization and bio-oil upgrade processes is critical in developing viable, sustainable, and competitive biorefineries. This study introduces a comprehensive analytical platform to clarify the intricate quantitative composition and chemistry of bio-oils across hydrodeoxygenation stages. This platform provides a detailed composition resolution at the molecular and quasi-quantitative levels by integrating data from multiple analytical techniques. The approach involves validating the results using interapparatus relationships and innate compounds as internal standards, merging them into quasi-quantitative data sets representing the entire mixture. A crucial focus of this platform is applying high-resolution mass spectrometry under various ionization conditions to elucidate high molecular weight structures, particularly those with varying oxygen-containing functional groups. This work offers insight into the complex chemical transformations in biorefinery.

Keywords

ANW W2C HPC