For hundreds of years, petroleum crude oil has been used for energy generation. Due to environmental impact and the depletion of petroleum crude oil, biocrude came up as a renewable alternative.
Rukshan Madhawa Jayathilake
Ph.d.-kandidat
Rukshan Madhawa Jayathilake fra Fakultet for teknologi og realfag ved UiA disputerer for ph.d.-graden med avhandlingen «Numerical modelling and validation of Hydrothermal liquefaction of Lignin» tirsdag 3. mai 2022.
Han har fulgt doktorgradsprogrammet ved Fakultet for teknologi og realfag ved UiA, med spesialisering i ingeniørvitenskap, forskningsområde fornybar energi.
For hundreds of years, petroleum crude oil has been used for energy generation. Due to environmental impact and the depletion of petroleum crude oil, biocrude came up as a renewable alternative.
Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a method that mainly produces a liquid biocrude. In the HTL process, initially, the biomass is decomposed into smaller molecules through hydrolysis.
To improve the HTL process and to make better predictions different models are used. Different models provide different advantages and disadvantages.
In this study, an improved biomass decomposition model is proposed using the shrinking core concept.
The shrinking core concept provides a relatively less complex, nonetheless effective way to model liquefaction at the particle level.
Several relevant cases with different operating conditions were tested on the applied models to see how they worked. Some weaknesses were found. These were related to heat transfer, initial kinetic data, and other kinetic parameters such as rate constants.
A wide range of feedstock is used for the HTL process.
Lignin is found to be a useful feedstock to be used in the HTL process. Nevertheless, still, there are many aspects to be investigated related to lignin liquefaction such as char formation and co-liquefaction behavior.
Therefore, the liquefaction performances of lignin and its behavior are investigated in different aspects.
In this PhD research, the developed model is evaluated in different stages for its limitations as well as for its reliability.
Further, the behavior of lignin liquefaction is investigated to uncover its true liquefaction potential.
Prøveforelesning og disputas finner sted i Auditorium C2 040, Campus Grimstad og digitalt i konferanseprogrammet Zoom (lenke under).
Disputasen blir ledet av førsteamanuensis Margrethe Wold, Fakultet for teknologi og realfag, Universitetet i Agder.
Oppgitt emne for prøveforelesning: «Biofuel Production and Application - Challenges and Potential to meet the sustainable goals»
Tittel på avhandling: «Numerical modelling and validation of Hydrothermal liquefaction of Lignin»
Søk etter avhandlingen i AURA - Agder University Research Archive, som er et digitalt arkiv for vitenskapelige artikler, avhandlinger og masteroppgaver fra ansatte og studenter ved Universitetet i Agder. AURA blir jevnlig oppdatert.
Kandidaten: Rukshan Madhawa Jayathilake: (1988, Godakawela, Sri Lanka) BSc in Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering from the University of Ruhuna (2013), Mastergrad (MSc) i fornybar energi fra Universitetet i Agder (2016). I dag arbeider han som forsker i SINTEF Industri.
Førsteopponent: Professor Dr. Manosh C. Paul, University of Glasgow, UK
Annenopponent: Professor Dr. Jorge M. Marchetti, NMBU
Bedømmelseskomitéen er ledet av førsteamanuensis Martin Choux, Universitetet i Agder
Veileder i doktorgradsarbeidet var førsteamanuensis Souman Rudra, Universitetet i Agder
Disputasleder inviterer til spørsmål ex auditorio i innledningen i disputasen, med tidsfrister. Det er en forutsetning at opponenten har lest avhandlingen. Disputasleders e-post er tilgjengelig i chat-funksjonen under disputasen. Spørsmål om ex auditorio kan sendes til disputasleder Margrethe Wold på e-post margrethe.wold@uia.no