PNNL’s hydrothermal liquefaction shows promise for turning toxic algal blooms into biocrude

In Washington, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory has helped the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Research and Development Center take their algae bloom research a step further by investigating blooms as a viable source of biocrude fuel and fertilizer using hydrothermal liquefaction.

The team demonstrated a three-step approach that “cleans” the water, removes the algae and entrained nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus from the water, and transforms the algae into a potential energy source.

The project is called Harmful Algal Bloom Interception, Treatment and Transformation System, or HABITATS.  The goal is to remove blue-green algae from large bodies of water while simultaneously recovering energy and nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus—an approach that mitigates near-term impacts from harmful algal blooms and helps reduce future blooms over time.

PNNL used hydrothermal liquefaction to transform the concentrated algae biomass from Lake Okeechobee into biocrude.