Adsorptive Removal of Organic Acids and Furans from Hydrothermal Treatment Process of Biomass

Abstract

Hydrothermal treatment of plant biomass using subcritical water is one of the pretreatment methods for producing valuable chemicals such as D-glucose for producing bio-alcohol. However, this treatment causes side reactions and produces by-products such as organic acids and furans which may inhibit the production of alcohols in the following step. In this study, the adsorption process is applied to remove by-products from products solution. As adsorbents, Cellufine A-200, A-800, DIAION WA21J, and activated carbon were used. Among them, Cellufine A-200 selectively adsorbed organic acids and activated carbon showed the best adsorption performance for furans. DIAION WA21J adsorbed both organic acids and furans.

Keywords:

• Adsorption
• biomass
• organic acids
• separation
• subcritical water

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This work was supported by the Kumamoto University 21st Century COE Program, “Pulsed Power Science,” and NEDO “Development of Technology for High Efficiency Biomass Energy Conversion.”