Visit Licella Technology Development’s Global Centre of Excellence, based in Somersby (Central Coast) NSW, as part of the NSW Bioeconomy Summit.

Originally developed in collaboration with the University of Sydney’s Professor Dr Thomas Maschmeyer Licella commissioned the first generation Cat-HTR™ Small Pilot Plant at Somersby in 2007. Since then the Cat-HTR™ platform has been through three reactor scale-ups to its current commercial-ready module. 

Licella’s Cat-HTR™ platform is based on HydroThermal Liquefaction (HTL) technology that utilises water at supercritical conditions to depolymerise the feedstocks and convert them into renewable biocrude oil. 

As the technology is feedstock agnostic it can be used upon a wide variety of ligno-cellulosic feedstocks including agricultural and forestry residues thereby overcoming the constraints of other technology pathways that are feedstock constrained.

Different biomass and end of life plastic feedstocks have been brought from around the world and processed through the pilot plants to produce the crude, that can be upgraded to produce SAF, Renewable Diesel, Very Low Sulphur Fuel Oil (VLSFO) and other sustainable petrochemicals.  Recently Queensland sugar cane residues were converted into a biocrude that was upgraded into a “SAF” like product with work on certification of this pathway now underway.

Commercial Plants Cat-HTR are now under construction in North America, UK, Europe, Asia and Australia.

Return bus transportation to Somersby from Sydney Central Station and lunch is included in the ticket price.