Heat treatment of wet wood fiber: A study of the effect of reaction conditions on the formation of furfurals

Abstract

Furan monomers are produced when wood is heated at high temperatures. To understand the process conditions for production of furfural (FF) and hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from wood, samples of milled aspen wood were subjected to autohydrolyzis by microwave heating in a sealed Teflon reactor. The experiments were designed to simulate temperature and pressure variables of a fiberboard press and their effect on production of furans from the hemicelluloses that have the potential for promoting self-bonding of the wood fibers. The effect of a Lewis acid catalyst, AlCl₃·6H₂O on the formation of FF and HMF was also studied. The hydrolysates were analyzed for the liberated wood sugars and dehydration products, FF and HMF. The FF and HMF yields under autohydrolyzis conditions increased with increase in severity factor, CS. Under catalyzed hydrolyzis conditions, the FF yield decreased, while the HMF yield increased with increase in severity factor. Under catalyzed hydrolyzis conditions the FF yield decreased presumably due to degradation reactions including resin formation. The increase in HMF yield with increasing severity factor was most likely due to hydrolyzis of glucan from cellulose. These results suggest that FF and resin yields could be enhanced with the addition of a Lewis acid catalyst to the wood particles, but that process variables need to be controlled in order to avoid or minimize degradation of the wood cellulose.

Keywords:

• Aspen
• autohydrolyzis
• catalyzed hydrolyzis
• Lewis acid catalyst
• hemicelluloses
• furfural
• hydroxymethylfurfural

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Fred Matt of the Analytical Chemistry and Microscopy Laboratory at the USDA Forest Laboratory for sample analysis.