Guest Editor(s)
Assist. Prof. Mohammad Yusuf
Email: myusuf@kfu.edu.sa
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Homepage:
Research Interests: energy & fuels, hydrothermal liquefaction, fluid flow and reactor design
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Zaid Abdulhamid Alhulaybi Albin Zaid
Email: zalhulaybi@kfu.edu.sa
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Homepage:
Research Interests: chemical engineering, circular economy, sustainability
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Abdulrazak Jinadu Otaru
Email: aotaru@kfu.edu.sa
Affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, College of Engineering, King Faisal University, Al-Ahsa, Saudi Arabia
Homepage: (https://www.kfu.edu.sa/en/Pages/Home.aspx)
Research Interests: modelling and simulation, porous media, CFD, thermal analysis
Summary
In response to the increasing global demand for sustainable energy pathways and efficient waste valorization strategies, hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) has emerged as a highly promising thermochemical process for converting wet biomass and organic residues into bio-crude oil and value-added products. Compared with conventional dry thermochemical conversion routes, HTL offers a unique advantage by directly processing high-moisture feedstocks, thereby reducing pre-drying energy requirements and improving overall process sustainability.
Among the various HTL configurations, continuous-flow systems have attracted growing scientific and industrial interest due to their superior scalability, enhanced heat and mass transfer characteristics, improved operational stability, and greater suitability for industrial deployment. These features make continuous-flow HTL a key enabling technology for large-scale biofuel production and integrated waste-to-energy systems.
Despite significant progress, several fundamental and engineering challenges remain unresolved, including reactor design optimization, phase behavior under extreme conditions, fouling and clogging mitigation, reaction kinetics under continuous operation, energy efficiency enhancement, and reliable scale-up from laboratory to pilot and industrial scales. Addressing these issues requires a multidisciplinary approach combining fluid mechanics, reaction engineering, multiphase transport, and system-level process integration.
This Special Issue aims to provide a focused platform for recent advances in continuous-flow HTL systems, highlighting both fundamental understanding and applied developments. Contributions addressing theoretical, experimental, computational, and industrial perspectives are welcomed.
Themes:
· Design and optimization of continuous-flow HTL reactors
· Fluid dynamics and mass/heat transfer in HTL technology
· Advanced material development for HTL reactors
· Development of catalysts and catalytic HTL technologies
· Valorization of biomass, algae, sewage sludge, and wastes via HTL
· Enhancing heat transfer and energy recovery
· Challenges of intensification and scaling up in HTL technology
· Computational fluid dynamics and multiphase modeling for HTL
· Supercritical and sub-critical water-based technologies
· Product distribution, upgrading of bio-crude and fuel quality
· Plugging, fouling and stability issues in continuous HTL reactors
· Techno-economic analysis and LCA of HTL technology
· Integrating HTL into renewable and circular economy concepts
· AI, ML, and digitalization in HTL process optimization
· Applications of continuous HTL technologies in industry
Keywords
continuous-flow hydrothermal liquefaction, biomass conversion fluid dynamics and heat transfer, catalytic hydrothermal processing, waste-to-energy technologies
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