我们对电解反应堆进行了改造和表征，以完善区域和社区规模的废物向燃料或化学品的转换。整个过程必须能够适应各种原料以及具有内在的安全性，并且不应依赖外部设施获得共反应物或增加排热量和供热量。我们目前的方法是基于对含碳废料的水热液化（HTL）生产的生物油进行升级。水热液化可以将各种原料转化为生物油，与其他解构生物质的方式相比，其需要的升级要少得多。我们目前正在研究将电化学过程用于将生物油通过水热液化转化为燃料或更高价值化学品所需的进一步转化。我们和其他研究者已经证明，电化学还原可以提供足够的反应速率，以及在很小的程度上提供一些必要的通用性。此外，电化学反应器必须在反应器的一侧氧化（去除电子）并在另一侧还原（添加电子）。因此，原则上，这两种类型的反应可以结合以升级生物油，并同时改善在上游水热液化中用作反应物和载体的水。在这里，我们对假定流程、可能的转换化学和水热液化电化学过程的经济性进行了概述。

We have adapted and characterized electrolysis reactors to complement the conversion of regional- and community-scale quantities of waste into fuel or chemicals. The overall process must be able to contend with a wide range of feedstocks, must be inherently safe, and should not rely on external facilities for co-reactants or heat rejection and supply. Our current approach is based on the upgrading of bio-oil produced by the hydrothermal liquefaction (HTL) of carbon-containing waste feedstocks. HTL can convert a variety of feedstocks into a bio-oil that requires much less upgrading than the products of other ways of deconstructing biomass. We are now investigating the use of electrochemical processes for the further conversions needed to transform the bio-oil from HTL into fuel or higher value chemicals. We, and others, have shown that electrochemical reduction can offer adequate reaction rates and at least some of the necessary generality. In addition, an electrochemical reactor necessarily both oxidizes (removes electrons) on one side of the reactor and reduces (adds electrons) on the other side. Therefore, the two types of reactions could, in principle, be coupled to upgrade the bio-oil and simultaneously polish the water that is employed as a reactant and a carrier in the upstream HTL. Here, we overview a notional process, the possible conversion chemistry, and the economics of an HTL-electrochemical process.