Faglige nøgleord: Sustainable energy and fuels, Biomass pyrolysis oil, Catalytic upgrading, Hydrotreatment, Continuous slurry reactor
Oplæg tilgængeligt på: Engelsk og portugisisk
My research project is about the upgrading of pyrolysis oil, with the aim of producing a sustainable aviation fuel. Pyrolysis oil (or bio-oil) is an oil produced from wood that has a chemical resemblance to fossil fuels. The upgrading that I perform is a necessary step in the production of this oil, and is carried out in a set-up/reactor that works in continuous mode, with an experiment lasting usually an entire week. It also involves the use of green hydrogen and a catalyst. The catalysts I usually test are provided by the Danish company Topsoe A/S.
My research is relevant for society because it will enable the production of a sustainable fuel, which will have a direct impact on the reduction of CO2 emissions.
After finishing high school I entered straight into university. Coming from Portugal, it is not common to do a gap year as it is in Denmark. Nevertheless, I had the opportunity of discovering Europe while I studied, which helped shaping my personality. Working as a teaching assistant at the university and also in a green fuels company helped me deciding that I wanted to do a PhD. I first came to DTU at the start of my Chemical Engineering Masters degree to do an exchange semester. I liked it so much that after going back to Portugal for 2 semesters, I ended up coming back to DTU to write my Master thesis. And after that I started the PhD within the same research group, with a very similar topic to my Master thesis.
Regarding the presentation, I plan to make the presentation in a way that the students answer questions as I go along, and the answer to the questions are the next topic that I will talk about. I will also prepare a quiz for the end.