(599c) Hydrolysis of Bio-Oil Anhydrosugars Derived from Autothermal Pyrolysis of Cellulosic Biomass
AIChE Annual Meeting
2021
2021 Annual Meeting
Sustainable Engineering Forum
Chemical and Catalytic Conversions and Processes for Renewable Feedstocks
Thursday, November 11, 2021 - 1:00pm to 1:15pm
The requirement of pressurized vessel at hydrolysis temperature (~2.7 bar at 135°C), complex handling of high concentrations of sulfuric, and difficulty of handling water-insoluble solids associated with the use of some common neutralization agents (e.g. calcium hydroxide) could increase the overall cost of production of biofuel and biochemicals from biomass. Furthermore, a high sulfuric acid concentration could be detrimental to the downstream fermentation unit if it ends up as a neutralized salt surpassing the admissible toxicity level for the fermenting microorganisms to remain reactive for glucose conversion.
We have a developed a process for hydrolyzing pyrolytic bio-oil at relatively mild conditions, with temperatures as low as 95-105°C and sulfuric acid concentrations of only 50-150 mM. A response surface method was used to optimize the hydrolysis reaction conditions for levoglucosan. Overall, a 95% conversion of levoglucosan could be achieved and a high concentration of glucose (160.8 g/L) could be produced at 115°C using only 150 mM sulfuric acid at 3 h of reaction time. Modeling of bio-oil hydrolysis shows a good overall fit with first order conversion of levoglucosan to glucose with possibility of other C6 anhydrosugars conversion to excess glucose.