Enhanced thermodynamic modelling for hydrothermal liquefaction

Hydrothermal liquefaction is a promising technology to produce drop-in biofuels from wet biomasses. In this paper a thermodynamic analysis, including chemical equilibrium and gas-liquid equilibrium in high-pressure conditions was conducted. The chemical equilibrium model is based on the minimization of the Gibbs free energy, while the high-pressure gas-liquid equilibrium model is implemented by using the modified universal functional activity coefficient (UNIFAC) model and the Soave-Redlich-Kwong (SRK) equation of state. The Gibbs free energy minimization is performed through the minimization algorithm based on Sequential Least SQuares Programming (SLSQP) available in the Python environment. The research aims at providing an engineering predictive tool to support the design of biomass hydrothermal liquefaction and optimize its operation.