New f3 project studies phosphorus recycling from the production of seaweed-based fuels

Viktor Andersson at Chalmers is the project leader of a new f3 project about seaweed-based fuels and how they can be made more attractive for society by performing phosphorus recycling from the products after processing of the seaweeds. The chosen seaweed-to-fuel pathway is hydrothermal liquefaction that results in an oil, an aqueous, and a solid phase. The added value of phosphorus recovery is environmental but also economical, because phosphorus can be sold and used instead of synthetic fertilisers. Hence, there is a clear contribution to the vision of circular economy.

The project output will be a comprehensive analysis of the available phosphorus recycle technologies as well as the results from modelling one recycle technology. Also, the analysis can highlight data gaps for the most promising phosphorus recovery technologies. Process integration with an oil refinery will also be considered.

The work will start in the beginning of March and is planned to deliver results in the end of the year. The project is titled Phosphorus recovery in algae-based biofuels.