Manufacture of Furfural from Xylan-containing Biomass by Acidic Processing of Hemicellulose-Derived Saccharides in Biphasic Media Using Microwave Heating

Abstract

Furfural was produced in biphasic media using a microwave-heated reactor. Diverse substrates were considered: xylose (considered as a reference compound) or hemicellulosic saccharides from Eucalyptus globulus wood or corncobs. Operation was carried out at 170°C for the desired reaction time in the presence of an acidic catalyst (sulfuric acid or HCl). The best furfural yields (67.8% and 72.5% from E. globulus wood and corncobs, respectively) were obtained operating for 10 min or 20 min with 1% or 0.5% HCl, respectively. These results were slightly lower than the ones obtained using xylose (a model substrate) under comparable reaction conditions, a fact ascribed to differences in the complexity of substrates and to the presence of contaminants.

KEYWORDS:

• Furfural
• hemicellulose
• MIBK
• microwave heating
• wood
• xylan

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the Spanish “Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness” for supporting this study in the framework of the research project “Advanced processing technologies for biorefineries” (reference CTQ2014-53461-R), partially funded by the FEDER program of the European Union.

FUNDING

Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness. Spain (CTQ2014-53461-R)