Wet waste streams include a wide variety of products such as food processing residues, sewage sludge but also the organic fraction of municipal solid waste. Humidity typically varies from 50 to above 90 %. Dewatering and drying is possible for most feedstocks but at a significant cost. Hydrothermal liquefaction produces a biocrude that can be further upgraded into biofuels. The conversion takes place at temperatures between 250 and 400 °C and at pressures above the saturation pressure to ensure that water remains in the liquid phase, typically above 100 bar [1]. Even though the basic principles of hydrothermal liquefaction are well known, there are still some significant scientific questions and technical issues. One of the important questions that remain is the heat of reaction and the heat balance of the reaction.
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