marker molecules checked
Docker-Generated Catalyst Screening
Upgrading Severity Lab
A 3D hydrotreating and catalyst workbench for testing whether sewage-sludge biocrude can move from unstable oil to usable hydrocarbon fuel blendstock.
catalyst routes scored
upgrading scenarios
max g H2/kg marker
High-value validation. Use this branch only when hydrogen demand, HDN, HDS, HDO, yield loss, and ASTM-style properties close together.
Two-stage NiMo deep HDN
Strongest route to diesel-range heteroatom removal, but hydrogen consumption and catalyst life become central costs.
HDN kinetics, hydrogen uptake, catalyst deactivation, liquid yield loss, carbon efficiency, and fuel property closure.CoMo diesel polishing bed
Useful as a sulfur/aromatic polishing comparison, but nitrogen inhibition can limit standalone sludge-biocrude duty.
Nitrogen inhibition, sulfur removal, aromatic saturation, cetane, density, and guard-bed needs.Marker molecules include phenol, acetic acid, palmitic acid, oleic acid, pyridine, indole, carbazole, quinoline, dibenzothiophene, and naphthalene. Nitrogen heterocycles carry the highest per-marker hydrogen demand in the generated screen.
Current upgrading decision
Stabilize first, then prove deep denitrogenation before diesel claims
The generated screen keeps mild NiMo stabilization as the near-term handling gate, but ranks continuous slurry hydrotreating and two-stage NiMo deep HDN as the routes that deserve serious scale-up comparison. Nitrogen heterocycles such as pyridine, indole, quinoline, and carbazole remain the hard molecular reason this is not ready as finished fuel.
Operability
71.3Continuous slurry hydrotreating
Pilot comparison suggests slurry operation can remove heteroatoms and crack heavy fractions, with operability still open.
- Catalyst
- Dispersed/slurry hydrotreating catalyst
- Severity
- 350 C, 100 bar, H2 severity 66
- Must prove
- Long-run solids handling, catalyst recovery, fouling, pressure letdown, recycle strategy, and offgas/liquid balance.
Deep hydrotreating
68.2Two-stage NiMo deep HDN
Strongest route to diesel-range heteroatom removal, but hydrogen consumption and catalyst life become central costs.
- Catalyst
- Sulfided NiMo/Al2O3 in stabilization plus severe bed
- Severity
- 400 C, 100 bar, H2 severity 78
- Must prove
- HDN kinetics, hydrogen uptake, catalyst deactivation, liquid yield loss, carbon efficiency, and fuel property closure.
Polishing
58.6CoMo diesel polishing bed
Useful as a sulfur/aromatic polishing comparison, but nitrogen inhibition can limit standalone sludge-biocrude duty.
- Catalyst
- Sulfided CoMo/Al2O3
- Severity
- 380 C, 90 bar, H2 severity 62
- Must prove
- Nitrogen inhibition, sulfur removal, aromatic saturation, cetane, density, and guard-bed needs.
Stabilization
53.3Mild NiMo stabilization
Best near-term stabilization step; it improves storage/handling but should not be sold as finished diesel proof.
- Catalyst
- Sulfided NiMo/Al2O3
- Severity
- 240 C, 100 bar, H2 severity 35
- Must prove
- Viscosity, TAN, oxygen, nitrogen, sulfur, pressure drop, coke, and catalyst activity after long runs.
Co-feed upgrading
50.1Pd/C co-feed hydrotreating
A high-hydrogenation benchmark for cleaner co-feed biocrudes, but precious-metal poisoning risk is material.
- Catalyst
- Pd/C
- Severity
- 340 C, 80 bar, H2 severity 58
- Must prove
- Sulfur/nitrogen tolerance, metals poisoning, regeneration, hydrogen efficiency, and cost versus NiMo/CoMo.
Catalytic cracking
48Dual-base ZSM-5 cracking/upgrading
Newest high-upside sludge-biocrude lead for cracking heavy oil and boosting hydrocarbons, with lifetime risk unresolved.
- Catalyst
- NaOH + TPAOH modified ZSM-5
- Severity
- 380 C, 35 bar, H2 severity 48
- Must prove
- Coking, acid-site loss, nitrogen poisoning, metals tolerance, regeneration, and independent replication.
Pretreatment
36Demetallization plus guard bed
Not a fuel-making step, but it may protect expensive hydrotreating catalyst from metals/ash exposure.
- Catalyst
- Acid wash / sorbent guard before hydrotreater
- Severity
- 80 C, 1 bar, H2 severity 8
- Must prove
- Organic loss, acid consumption, wastewater burden, metals removal, and downstream catalyst-life improvement.
Molecular severity markers
Which molecules drive hydrogen, catalyst, and fuel-spec risk
hydrodeoxygenation
C6H6OPhenol
Phenolics track oxygen removal and catalyst acid/hydrogenation balance.
85.7 g H2/kg markerhydrodeoxygenation
C2H4O2Acetic acid
Light acids flag acidity, corrosion, and aqueous loss before hydrotreating.
100.7 g H2/kg markerhydrodeoxygenation
C16H32O2Palmitic acid
Fatty acids are easier diesel-range precursors but still consume hydrogen.
23.6 g H2/kg markersaturation + hydrodeoxygenation
C18H34O2Oleic acid
Unsaturation adds stabilization demand before finished fuel claims.
28.5 g H2/kg markerhydrodenitrogenation
C5H5NPyridine
Basic nitrogenates inhibit hydrotreating and drive severe HDN needs.
127.4 g H2/kg markerhydrodenitrogenation
C8H7NIndole
Indoles represent persistent nitrogen species in upgraded HTL oils.
120.5 g H2/kg markerdeep hydrodenitrogenation
C12H9NCarbazole
Carbazole is a hard marker for deep denitrogenation and hydrogen demand.
120.6 g H2/kg markerdeep hydrodenitrogenation
C9H7NQuinoline
Quinoline-like bases can poison acidic and sulfided catalyst functions.
124.9 g H2/kg markerhydrodesulfurization
C12H8SDibenzothiophene
Dibenzothiophene is a sulfur-removal marker for fuel specification risk.
43.8 g H2/kg markerhydrodearomatization
C10H8Naphthalene
Aromatic saturation affects cetane, density, smoke point, and hydrogen consumption.
78.6 g H2/kg markerupgrading-mild-hydrotreating-2026
Mild hydrotreatment as stabilization for nitrogen-rich sewage sludge biocrude
Pilot-scale trickle-bed NiMo stabilization study with long operating time and temperature guidance.
Open sourceupgrading-dual-base-zsm5-2026
Dual-base modified ZSM-5 upgrading of municipal sludge hydrothermal biocrude
2026 catalyst lead reporting improved deoxygenation, hydrocarbon content, and heavy-fraction cracking.
Open sourceupgrading-food-waste-catalysts-2026
Pd/C, NiMo, and CoMo hydrotreating comparison for wet-waste HTL biocrude
Catalyst comparison useful for co-feed and catalyst benchmark design.
Open sourceupgrading-water-research-2026
Hydrothermal liquefaction of municipal sludge: production and fuel-quality upgrading
2026 review emphasizing catalyst innovation, fuel quality, byproducts, and pilot integration.
Open sourceupgrading-kinetic-model-2024
Hydrotreatment of sewage sludge-derived HTL biocrude kinetic model
Kinetic model using 15 experiments, distributed lumps, and 100 bar hydrogen treatment.
Open sourceupgrading-slurry-pilot-2024
Continuous slurry hydrotreating of sewage-sludge HTL biocrude
Pilot comparison of slurry and fixed-bed operation for sewage-sludge HTL oil upgrading.
Open sourceupgrading-two-stage-hydrotreating-2020
Two-stage hydrotreatment of highly nitrogenous biocrude
Two-stage stabilization/deep treatment frame with strong denitrogenation but high hydrogen consumption.
Open sourceupgrading-advanced-characterization-2022
Advanced characterization of upgraded sewage-sludge HTL biocrude
FTICR-MS/GC-MS evidence for nitrogen and aromatic species that drive upgrading severity.
Open sourceupgrading-demetallization-2022
Demetallization of nitrogen-rich HTL biocrudes
Demetallization lead for protecting hydrotreating catalyst from metals/ash exposure.
Open sourceupgrading-drop-in-report-2024
IEA Bioenergy Task 39 drop-in biofuels and co-processing update
Frames drop-in fuel and co-processing challenges for biocrude upgrading.
Open sourceupgrading-rsc-wet-waste-2026
Wet-waste HTL TEA/LCA with marine fuel, renewable diesel, and SAF strategies
Product-slate TEA/LCA context for different upgrading severities.
Open source