Experimental study on the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of microalgae in a batch reactor for the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF)

IMT Atlantique is a leading French engineering and management graduate school resulting from the merger of Mines Nantes and Télécom Bretagne. With its different campuses, the institution offers a diverse range of undergraduate and postgraduate programs spanning fields such as computer science, telecommunications, electrical engineering, energy, environmental engineering, and management. Renowned for its impactful research and innovation initiatives, IMT Atlantique collaborates closely with industry partners, providing students with practical experience and ensuring their readiness for the workforce. The institute places a strong emphasis on international collaboration, entrepreneurship, and innovation, fostering a dynamic campus life that encourages extracurricular engagement. Overall, IMT Atlantique stands out as a leading institution in French higher education, equipping students with the skills and knowledge needed for success in various engineering and management disciplines.

Aviation and maritime sectors are often referred to as the most difficult sectors to be electrified in the upcoming decades. Their pathways to decarbonation by 2050 will pass through sustainable fuels, including biobased ones. ASTM International has so far certified 8 pathways to produce sustainable aviation fuels (SAF), and new ones are under development and testing, including hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) followed by an upgrading step. This latter, offers several advantages including its ability to process wet biomass like microalgae (having a high potential as a feedstock of advanced biofuels) and its flexibility in terms of feedstock and final fuel ranges (for shipping, road and aviation). The internship offers lies in the framework of COCPIT (sCalable solutions Optimisation and decision tool Creation for low impact SAF Production chain from a lIpid-rich microalgae sTrain) a project funded by EU under the Horizon Europe, cluster 5, agreement n° 101122101. It gathers 11 partners from 6 EU countries and coordinated by IMT Atlantique. One of the tasks of COCPIT consists of characterizing the feedstock and studying the HTL process inside a continuous reactor, especially designed for the process, in order to determine the operating conditions affecting biocrude production yields and characteristics and to test the use of supercritical alcohol for mild upgrading of produced biocrude.

The main objective of this internship is illustrated in two main goals; 1) Screening this process at different system configurations and variable reaction times in order to optimise the yield and understand the system behaviour under different conditions. 2) using a batch system in order to perform supercritical alcohol upgrading of the HTL biocrude and compare it to some standard pyrolytic oils.

Tasks:

• Conducting HTL testing of microalgal feedstock, over a residence time range varying between 7 – 25 minutes and CSTR volumes varying from 100 to 250 ml.

• Investigating the biocrude upgrading using catalytic supercritical alcohol treatment

• Assessing the nitrogen and mineral contents in the produced biocrude.

• Obtaining the characteristics of the produced biocrude, including its density, viscosity, acidity, elemental composition, ash and moisture content, and heating values.

• Analysing the chemical composition of the produced biocrude using gas chromatography coupled to mass spectrometry.

We are looking for candidates having a Msc degree in one of the following domains: Msc in process engineering, chemical engineering, or mechanical engineering.