Comparative Reaction Kinetics of Acid Hydrolysis of Switchgrass and Microalgae
Lishi Yan and Bin Yang
Center for Bioproducts and Bioenergy
Department of Biological Systems Engineering
2710 university Drive-BESL
Phone: 509-372-7640
Fax: 509-372-7690
Email: binyang@tricity.wsu.edu The current
vision of biomass (e.g. plant, algae) conversion technologies is focused on
developing the reactive intermediates platform for biofuels
and chemicals production. A key
challenge in using biomass as a renewable resource is its incredibly diverse
polymeric structure. Sugars,
furfural, HMF, levulinic acid, and formic acid are
potential platforms for liquid fuels and chemicals production and can be
produced from degradation of carbohydrates in biomass. In this study, release
patterns of sugars (monomers and oligomers),
furfural, HMF, levulinic acid, and formic acid from
both Switchgrass and Microalgal
carbohydrates were comparatively investigated through series of experiments
over a range of temperatures of 140°C - 240°C, acid concentrations of 0-10%
(wt/wt), substrate concentrations of
5-15wt.%, and residence times of 5 - 120 min. These observations are contrary to the
first order kinetic models that are often applied to describe carbohydrates
degradation reactions.