Separation and Purification Technology, Vol.149, 407-412, 2015
Production of furfural from an industrial pre-hydrolysis liquor
Pre-Hydrolysis Liquor (PHL) produced from the prehydrolysis kraft-based (PHK) dissolving pulp production process can be considered as a potential source for the production of biomaterials and biochemicals. Several dissolved organics such as hemicelluloses, lignin and acetic acid can be recovered and converted to valuable products. Xylan/xylose, a 5-carbon sugar and the major component of the hardwood PHL can be utilized to produce furfural. Pretreatment is necessary to increase the furfural yield, mainly by removing lignin, facilitating processing and minimizing the side reactions. In this research, adsorption by activated carbon, ion exchange resin treatment, and concentration by membrane filtration were utilized as pretreatments of PHL for furfural production. It was found that a furfural yield of 57% was achieved from the PHL at 190 degrees C, using sulfuric acid as a catalyst. An overall process, integrated into the existing PHK dissolving pulp production process, was proposed to produce furfural from the PHL which fits well to the Integrated Forest Biorefinery concept. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
Keywords:Integrated forest biorefinery;Furfural;Pre-hydrolysis liquor;Hemicelluloses;Separation;Dissolving pulp production;Activated carbon;Membrane filtration