Production of Bio-Oil and Biocrude from Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass

Prof. Yulin Hu is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Sustainable Design Engineering at the University of Prince Edward Island. Prof. Hu has extensive research experience in thermochemical conversion of biomass and value-added bioproducts. Prof. Hu has an educational background includes Bioresources Engineering from McGill University and Chemical Engineering from Western University, specializing in biomass valorization, biofuels, and biomaterials. She then conducted postdoctoral research on syngas and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and gained industrial experience in electronic waste recycling through pyrolysis. Till now, she has accumulated over 10 years of research experience in biomass valorization, biofuels, and biocarbon materials. Currently, at UPEI, she is leading a Sustainable Bioproducts Lab and supervising/co-supervising 5 graduate students. Her current research areas include synthesis of engineered biocarbon materials for environmental remediation and fuel application and fundamental studies of kinetics and heat transfer of biomass pyrolysis for bio-oil production. Her commitment to advancing knowledge in clean technology and Renewable Energy is evident through 53 authored/co-authored peer-reviewed publications and 7 book chapters. As a Principal Investigator (PI), she has secured over 88oK in research grants since 2021. She has successfully obtained prestigious and competitive federal and provincial grants, like Natural Science and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) Discovery, NSERC Research Tools and Instruments (RTI), and Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) John R. Evans Leaders (JELF).

Prof. Sophia He is a Full Professor in the Department of Engineering at Dalhousie University. Prof. He has extensive knowledge and experience in thermochemical conversion, biological conversion, and chemical conversion of biomass, biofuels development, and nano-catalyst development and application. Prof. He is a seasoned chemical engineer with more than 20 years' experience in process development, optimization, and scale-up, with a specialization in the thermochemical conversion of biomass and the application of value-added bioproducts. Throughout her tenure, Prof. He has demonstrated exceptional leadership and mentorship, having supervised/co-supervised 11 PhDs, 17 MScs, 13 PDFs and Research Associate, and 24 Co-op and summer students. Since joining Dalhousie University in 2013, Dr. He has successfully secured research funding totaling 3.9M, like NSERC Discovery, Alliance, and CFI.

Prof. Kang Kang is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering at Lakehead University and Research Chair in Biorefining Research Institute. He earned his Ph.D. in Environmental Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada (2017). Prior to joining the NSERC Industrial Research Chair team at ICFAR for Post-doctoral Research, Dr. Kang worked three years as an Assistant Professor at Northwest A&F University in China. Dr. Kang's research expertise lies in bioresources recovery, renewable energy, and water decontamination. The long-term objectives of Dr. Kang's research are to enhance Canada's waste management and sustainable development strategies by promoting community energy access while contributing to a healthy environment. So far, Dr. Kang has 57 papers published in high-quality academic journals, including Waste Management, Environmental Research, Journal of Cleaner Production, Energy Conversion and Management, and Chemical Engineering Journal, etc. Besides the effort to acquire fundamental knowledge, his research also has a solid bond to industrial applications. Many of his projects were completed in close collaboration with government agencies and industrial partners, examples including Mitacs, Bioindustrial Innovation Canada, and Char Technologies.