This research team proposes to augment management of food waste produced through the dining halls on UIUC campus, via hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) for biofuel production. This is an expansion of the Environment-Enhancing Energy (E2E) research program focusing on Waste-to Energy. More than 34 million tons of food waste were generated in the US in 2010 (EPA, 2010). According to Kelly Boeger, the Menu Management Dietician at the University of Illinois, 344,559 pounds (dry mass) per year of food goes unused by the cafeterias on campus, which was worth $425,735 or 2.46 % of the overall budget as of 2015 (Hettinger, 2015). Furthermore, this unnecessary spoilage costs at least the same amount for waste disposal and treatment, in addition to environmental burdens. On the other hand, this spoilage presents an opportunity for UIUC to implement new resource recovery technologies to alleviate waste and increase student activities directly related to sustainability.

Hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) is a technology that utilizes elevated temperatures and pressure to convert wet biomass to oil that can be used in motors or asphalts. This process potentiates greater sustainability by simultaneously remediating the food waste and producing renewable energy. During the preliminary study funded by SSC in Fall of 2017, this team collected food waste from Ikenberry Dining Hall with the help of the university dining hall service. This team separated the feedstock into several groups based on biochemical composition of the food waste types. Based on the preliminary results, this team has proven that the food waste, both as a mix and in individual components, can be efficiently converted into biocrude oil with different oil yields under different operating conditions.