Scenario branches
Interactive Research Twin
Digital Twin Lab
A browser-based 3D control surface for comparing sewage-to-fuel scenarios, model artifacts, and research leads.
Process units shown
New research/tool leads
Current recommended base case. Balances liquid biocrude, aqueous polishing, methane recovery, and fuel-quality limits.
Sludge + Co-feed
Variable primary/secondary sludge, food waste, FOG, or algae blend.
Feedstock composition controls lipid/protein/carbohydrate conversion and nitrogen burden.HTL Reactor
Wet conversion core for biocrude, aqueous phase, gas, and hydrochar.
Recent reviews still rank municipal sludge HTL as a leading wet-sludge liquid-fuel pathway.Aqueous Control
Treat, recover, digest, or oxidize dissolved organics and nitrogen species.
Aqueous phase is both a carbon-recovery opportunity and a scale-up risk.Hydrotreating
Stabilization, hydrodeoxygenation, hydrodenitrogenation, and product-slate control.
Fuel quality remains gated by N, O, S, catalyst life, hydrogen demand, and fractionation.Fuel Product
Marine fuel first, renewable diesel if properties close, SAF only after aviation-pathway proof.
Product slate changes upgrading severity and business case.Residuals + PFAS
Hydrochar, metals, PFAS, salts, nutrients, and disposal/reuse route.
Contaminant routing has to close before fuel claims are promoted.Docker-generated artifacts
RDKit conformers and OpenUSD scene outputs
The modeling container now generates molecule conformers and a USDA process scene under `modeling/reports/`. Those files are intentionally ignored by git so they can be regenerated from the tracked molecule and process data.
Water Research 2026
Three-stage sludge biocrude upgrading and blended fuel-use framing
The review reinforces that industrial implementation is blocked by formation complexity, suboptimal fuel quality, and undefined upgrading methods.
Model actionKeep the digital twin separated into feed chemistry, HTL conversion, aqueous phase, upgrading, product slate, and residual gates.
Open sourceRenewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 2025
Sewage-sludge HTL review highlights catalyst, co-solvent, and pretreatment levers
The review reports mixed sludge as a strong feedstock and summarizes catalyst/pretreatment yield gains, while emphasizing high N and O in biocrude.
Model actionRepresent catalyst and co-feed levers as scenario controls, not guaranteed yield increases.
Open sourceJournal of Cleaner Production 2025
Integrated HTL and wet oxidation can move toward autothermal operation
Wet oxidation of HTL aqueous phase can provide process heat and improve energy return in an integrated configuration.
Model actionAdd an autothermal scenario with lower aqueous burden but higher corrosion, emissions, and heat-integration validation needs.
Open sourceRSC Sustainability 2025
Machine-learning and reaction-engineering models can screen HTL operating space
Open predictive modeling can help rank feed and severity cases before bench experiments consume material.
Model actionUse the twin as a management-facing shell around future Python/RDKit/Pyomo scenario output.
Open sourceOpenUSD documentation
OpenUSD gives the project a portable 3D scene format
OpenUSD stages can carry named process prims that external 3D tools can inspect or convert.
Model actionGenerate a USDA process scene from Docker so the frontend 3D view and offline asset pipeline share one model vocabulary.
Open sourceRDKit conformer documentation
RDKit conformers make the molecule catalog viewable as 3D structures
Fuel markers and aqueous-risk molecules can be exported as 3D SDF records for molecular visualization and review.
Model actionGenerate 3D conformers for catalog entries with SMILES in the Docker modeling workbench.
Open source