The effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration and solid loading on the fractionation of biomass in formic acid.

This study investigated the fractionation of biomass using a decomposing mixture of hydrogen peroxide-formic acid as a pretreatment for the biorefining of Miscanthus × giganteus and of sugarcane bagasse. The main parameters investigated were the hydrogen peroxide concentration (2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 wt%) and biomass loading (5.0 and 10.0 wt%). At the highest hydrogen peroxide concentration used (7.5 wt%), the energy released by the decomposition of the H2O2 could heat the reaction mixture up to 180 °C in a short time (6-16 min). As a result, highly delignified pulps, with lignin removal as high as 92 wt%, were obtained. This delignification process also solubilised a significant amount of pentosan (82-98 wt%) from the initial biomass feedstock, and the resulting pulp had a high cellulosic content (92 wt%). The biomass loading only affected the reaction rate of hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Various analytical methods, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric and elemental analyses, characterized the lignin obtained.

Kinetics of levulinic acid and furfural production from Miscanthus × giganteus.

This study investigated the kinetics of acid hydrolysis of the cellulose and hemicellulose in Miscanthus to produce levulinic acid and furfural under mild temperature and high acid concentration. Experiments were carried out in an 8L-batch reactor with 9%-wt. biomass loading, acid concentrations between 0.10 and 0.53 M H2SO4, and at temperatures between 150 and 200°C. The concentrations of xylose, glucose, furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid were used in two mechanistic kinetic models for the prediction of the performance of ideal continuous reactors for the optimisation of levulinic acid and the concurrent production of furfural. A two-stage arrangement was found to maximise furfural in the first reactor (PFR - 185°C, 0.5M H2SO4, 27.3%-mol). A second stage leads to levulinic acid yields between 58% and 72%-mol at temperatures between 160 and 200°C.

Experimental and kinetic modelling studies on the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of the water hyacinth plant to levulinic acid.

A comprehensive experimental and modelling study on the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of the water hyacinth plant (Eichhornia crassipes) to optimise the yield of levulinic acid (LA) is reported (T=150-175 degrees CH2SO4 = 0.1-1M, water hyacinth intake=1-5wt%). At high acid concentrations (>0.5M), LA was the major organic acid whereas at low acid concentrations (<0.1M) and high initial intakes of water hyacinth, the formation of propionic acid instead of LA was favoured. The highest yield of LA was 53mol% (35wt%) based on the amount of C6-sugars in the water hyacinth (T=175 degrees CH2SO4 =1M , water hyacinth intake=1wt%). The LA yield as a function of the process conditions was modelled using a kinetic model originally developed for the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of cellulose and good agreement between the experimental and modelled data was obtained.