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A kinetic study on the hydrolysis of corncob residues to levulinic acid in the FeCl3–NaCl system

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Abstract

Levulinic acid (LA) production from corncob acid hydrolysis residues (CAHR) using FeCl3 as Lewis acid catalyst in green solutions of salt was investigated. The reaction kinetic relationships were determined in the temperature range of 160–180 °C, with FeCl3 concentrations of 0.12–0.36 M, and a reaction time of 0–60 min. The maximum LA concentration of 59.0 mol% (24.5 g/L) was achieved at 170 °C in a 30% NaCl solution containing 0.24 M FeCl3. A pseudo first-order kinetic model was proposed to describe the cellulose deconstruction to LA. The model agreed perfectly with the evolution in the concentrations of the major compounds such as glucose, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and LA during the CAHR hydrolysis. The kinetic model developed for CAHR was in good agreement with that previously developed for other lignocellulosic systems. Based on our kinetic model and reaction system, the LA yield is increased at the lower end of the temperature range with the higher acid concentrations. The results indicated that the concentrated seawater after desalination could be a green solvent in the biorefinery.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are Grateful for the financial support of this research from the National Key R and D Program of China (2016YFD0600803).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology, Shandong Academy of Sciences, Jinan, 250353, China

    Chao Wang, Guihua Yang, Lupeng Shao, Gaojin Lyu, Jianzhen Mao & Feng Xu

  2. Beijing Key Laboratory of Lignocellulosic Chemistry, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, 100083, China

    Xueming Zhang & Feng Xu

  3. College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, 310 Walter Hall, 1 Forestry Drive, Syracuse, NY, 13210, USA

    Shijie Liu

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  1. Chao Wang
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  2. Guihua Yang
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  3. Xueming Zhang
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  4. Lupeng Shao
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  5. Gaojin Lyu
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  6. Jianzhen Mao
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  7. Shijie Liu
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  8. Feng Xu
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Correspondence to Feng Xu.

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Wang, C., Yang, G., Zhang, X. et al. A kinetic study on the hydrolysis of corncob residues to levulinic acid in the FeCl3–NaCl system. Cellulose 26, 8313–8323 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02711-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10570-019-02711-7

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