Hydrothermolysis — a new process for the utilization of Biomass

Summary

In the present paper a hydrothermolysis apparatus is described. The reaction vessel is of the percolator type with a volume of 560 cm³ and permits the hydrolysis of biomass materials up to 100 g. The optimum degradation conditions of pure cellulose (filter paper) were determined in dependence on temperature, flow rate of the eluting water and influence of stirring on the reaction mixture. Up to 52% glucose can be obtained by hydrolysing cellulose with pure water at 265°C at a flow rate of 12 cm³/min.

Biomass materials such as poplar wood and wheat straw were hydrolysed in two stages, using temperatures of about 200°C for the easily hydrolysable polysaccharides and about 260°C for the polysaccharides, which are more difficult to hydrolyse. In the first stage on an average 45% of the initial amount is converted into soluble products, whereas in the second stage this value amounts to 48%.