Fast furfural formation from xylose using solid acid catalysts assisted by a microwave reactor

Millán, Gerardo Gómez; Assal, Zouhair El; Nieminen, Kaarlo; Hellstén, Sanna; Llorca, Jordi; Sixta, Herbert

doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2018.10.013

Cited by 24 publications

(8 citation statements)

References 72 publications

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“…Effect of temperature and reaction time on (a) FUR yield, (b) xylose conversion, (c) selectivity to FUR in the dehydration of 186 mmol l -1 xylose when using 2-MTHF as organic solvent with an aqueous to organic phase ratio of 1:1. Lines are to guide the eye.Recent research of the auto-catalyzed system in aqueous phase has been published under similar experimental conditions[33,60]. The maximum FUR yield (48-49%) was reached at reaction temperatures of 210 °C and 220 °C in 1 h and 35 min, respectively, corresponding to a xylose conversion of 100% and 96%, respectively.…”

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confidence: 86%

“…These humins are decomposition products of both xylose and FUR, which react via resinification or condensation [1,[29][30][31][32]. A recent article showed limited FUR yields of 49% in aqueous phase at 210 C in 1 h using a xylose solution of 186 mmol l -1 [33]. Several studies have suggested ways to inhibit the formation of humins and subsequently increase the FUR yield.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A comparative study of water-immiscible organic solvents in the production of furfural from xylose and birch hydrolysate

Millán

Hellstén

King

et al. 2019

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry

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Furfural (FUR) was produced from xylose using a biphasic batch reaction system. Water-immiscible organic solvents such as isophorone, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran (2-MTHF) and cyclopentyl methyl ether (CPME) were used to promptly extract FUR from the aqueous phase in order to avoid the degradation to humins as largely as possible. The effect of time, temperature, organic solvent and organic-to-aqueous ratio on xylose conversion and FUR yield were investigated in auto-catalyzed conditions. Experiments at three temperatures (170, 190 and 210 °C) were carried out in a stirred microwaveassisted batch reactor, which established the optimal conditions for achieving the highest FUR yield. The maximum FUR yields from xylose were 78 mol% when using CPME, 48 mol% using isophorone (due to its phase-behavior nature) and 71 mol% in the case of 2-MTHF at an aqueous to organic phase ratio of 1:1. Birch hydrolysate was also used to show the high furfural yield that can be obtained in the biphasic system under optimized conditions. The present study suggests that CPME can be used as a green and efficient extraction solvent for the conversion of xylose into furfural without salt addition.

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confidence: 86%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A comparative study of water-immiscible organic solvents in the production of furfural from xylose and birch hydrolysate

Millán

Hellstén

King

et al. 2019

Journal of Industrial and Engineering Chemistry

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“…In order to boost the current FUR yield and tackle current process challenges, recent advances to replace mineral acids (H 2 SO 4 and HCl) with solid acids and ionic liquids have been undertaken by academia and industry [6,12,13]. Yemiş and Mazza [14] studied the conversion of xylose and xylan into FUR employing three strong mineral acids (hydrochloric acid, sulfuric acid, and nitric acid) and three weak acids (phosphoric acid, acetic acid, and formic acid).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Furfural production from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor in a biphasic system and techno-economic analysis

Millán

Ashok

Oinas

et al. 2020

Biomass Conv. Bioref.

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Furfural has been highlighted as one of the top ten most rewarding bio-based building blocks by the US Department of Energy. In this study, furfural was produced from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor employing a batch reactor in a biphasic system. The formation of furfural was conducted under auto-catalyzed conditions. 2-sec-Butylphenol was used as extractant to promptly extract furfural from the aqueous phase in order to minimize furfural degradation reactions. The effect of time, temperature, and organic-to-aqueous phase ratio were investigated. The maximum furfural yields from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor as feedstock under auto-catalyzed conditions when employing 2-sec-butylphenol (SBP) were 59 mol% and 54 mol%, respectively. In the monophasic system when using hydrolysate, 46% furfural was yielded. Based on a techno-economic analysis carried out for furfural, the total investment cost for a plant integrated with an existing pulp mill or bio-refinery is estimated as 14 M€. The minimum selling price of furfural found to be 1.62 € kg−1. With a furfural selling price of 1.93 € kg−1, the payback period is approximately 5 years and an internal rate of return (IRR) of 20.7% is achieved at the end of the project lifetime.

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“…Different strategies have been proposed in the literature for improving the furfural yield. The use of microwaves to increase the heating efficiency and the use of co-organic solvents with water to favor the furfural extraction and to avoid condensation reactions improved the catalytic results [13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22]. When using homogeneous catalysts, the effect of microwaves on the increase of the furfural yield appears to be more related to the efficiency of the heating than to the direct action of the microwaves on the reaction [23].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Microwave-Assisted Furfural Production Using Hectorites and Fluorohectorites as Catalysts

et al. 2019

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It has previously been reported that the use of microwave heating, together with the presence of co-solvents, improves the efficiency of furfural production from biomass. Solid acid catalysts can be a good alternative to mineral acids, since they can prevent corrosion and can be reused. However, the formation of humines should be minimized. Several delaminated and fluorinated hectorites, with different types and strengths of acid sites, were synthesized and tested as catalysts for the production of furfural from commercial xylose and from an acid biomass extract of almond shells. A new methodology was developed to prepare crystalline fluorohectorite at 800 • C in just 3 h. The presence of F significantly increased the acidity strength in the protonated fluorohectorite (H-FH) taking into account its high ammonia desorption temperature (721 • C). Additionally, this sample had fourteen times higher total acidity by m 2 than the reference H-βeta acid catalyst. H-FH was the most efficient catalyst at short reaction times (1 h) for the transformation of xylose to furfural under microwaves using toluene as co-solvent, regardless of whether the xylose was commercial (20% furfural yield) or an extract of almond shells (60% furfural yield). However, the acidity of the extract affected the fluorohectorite structure and composition.

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Fast furfural formation from xylose using solid acid catalysts assisted by a microwave reactor

Cited by 24 publications

References 72 publications

A comparative study of water-immiscible organic solvents in the production of furfural from xylose and birch hydrolysate

A comparative study of water-immiscible organic solvents in the production of furfural from xylose and birch hydrolysate

Furfural production from xylose and birch hydrolysate liquor in a biphasic system and techno-economic analysis

Microwave-Assisted Furfural Production Using Hectorites and Fluorohectorites as Catalysts

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