CBE Colloquia - Production of Bioenergy and Bioproducts from Organic Solid Wastes
This lecture introduces the roles of biomass/bioresources in carbon neutrality and bioeconomy in the global/national context, biomass/organic solid waste conversion technologies, the advantages of hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) for resourceful utilization of wet biomass and organic solid wastes (food wastes, wastewater sludge, etc.), and the past and recent research by Prof. Xu’s team on HTL of wastewater sludge, algal biomass, food waste, greenhouse waste, crop residues, etc. into biocrude oils. The lecture also highlights some recent efforts of Prof. Xu’s team in developing a continuous-flow process of HTL and process scale-up, as well as the future perspectives of HTL and beyond, focusing on advanced biorefinery technologies.
Prof. Xu is currently Chair Professor of Advanced Biorefinery at City University of Hong Kong, Fellow of Canadian Academy of Engineering (FCAE). He was a professor and the NSERC/FPInnovations Industrial Research Chair in Forest Biorefinery at Western University. His research is focused on conversion of biomass and biowastes (forestry/agricultural residues, food wastes, wastewater sludge, microalgae, lignin, glycerol and sugars, etc.) into biofuels (sustainable aviation fuels, green hydrogen) and green chemicals and biopolymer materials. He has authored/edited 3 books on biorefinery, and published 20+ book chapters and 330+ papers in peer-reviewed journals. According to Google Scholar, his work has received nearly 20,000 total citations with an H-index of 76 to date. With 16 PCT/US/Canadian/Chinese Patents issued/pending, Dr. Xu has made outstanding contributions to applied science and engineering practice. He is the recipient of the 2011 Syncrude Canada Innovation Award and the 2019 Award in Design and Industrial Practice from Canadian Society of Chemical Engineering, and the 2023 Humboldt Research Award from the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation.