Monday, May 2, 2011
Grand Ballroom C-D, 2nd fl (Sheraton Seattle)
Levoglucosan (1,6 anhydro β-D glucopyranose) is a thermal breakdown product of cellulose and starch and is primarily extracted from pyrolytic biomass oil. Levoglucosan is a water soluble compound and can be easily hydrolyzed into fermentable sugars compared to cellulose hydrolysis. Levoglucosan is used as a biomarker to detect biomass combustion in atmospheric science studies. This paper reviews the cellulose & starch thermal degradation kinetics, extraction and quantification of Levoglucosan from various pyrolytic oils and its potential to generate fuels and chemicals.