Technology development for the production of biobased products from biorefinery carbohydrates—the US Department of Energy’s “Top 10” revisited

The first generation of biofuels is presently produced fromsugars, starches, and vegetable oil. Although instrumental indeveloping the market, these biofuels are not likely to deliverthe large volumes needed for the transport sector becausethey directly compete with food for their feedstock. A morepromising feedstock is lignocellulosic material, which is moreabundant, has a lower cost, and is potentially more sustain-able.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/anie.201000655

Valeric Biofuels: A Platform of Cellulosic Transportation Fuels

Biomass represents an abundant and relatively low cost carbon resource that can be utilized to produce platform chemicals such as levulinic acid. Current processing technology limits the cost-effective production of levulinic acid in commercial quantities from biomass. The key to improving the yield and efficiency of levulinic acid production from biomass lies in the ability to optimize and isolate the intermediate products at each step of the reaction pathway and reduce re-polymerization and side reactions. New technologies (including the use of microwave irradiation and ionic liquids) and the development of highly selective catalysts would provide the necessary step change for the optimization of key reactions. A processing environment that allows the use of biphasic systems and/or continuous extraction of products would increase reaction rates, yields and product quality. This review outlines the chemistry of levulinic acid synthesis and discusses current and potential technologies for producing levulinic acid from lignocellulosics. © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry and John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

The conversion of lignocellulosics to levulinic acid

Levulinic acid is a sustainable platform molecule that can be upgraded to valuable chemicals and fuel additives. This article focuses on the catalytic upgrading of levulinic acid into various chemicals such as levulinate esters, δ-aminolevulinic acid, succinic acid, diphenolic acid, γ-valerolactone, and γ-valerolactone derivatives such valeric esters, 5-nonanone, α-methylene-γ valerolactone, and other various molecular-weight alkanes (C9 and C18-C27 olefins).

/pdf/levulinic-acid-biorefineries-new-challenges-for-efficient-1y1q102jq3.pdf

Levulinic Acid Biorefineries: New Challenges for Efficient Utilization of Biomass

Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) are two of the most promising chemicals derived from biomass owing to their convertibility into a large number of chemicals having applications in diverse industries. Their transition from niche products to mass-produced chemicals, however, requires their production from sustainable biomass feedstocks at low costs using environment-friendly techniques. In this review, the numerous reaction systems that have been developed to produce HMF and LA from various substrates have been looked at and their merits, demerits and requirements for commercialisation outlined. Special attention has been paid to microwave irradiation-heated systems due to their dual advantages of high product yields and low environmental footprint.

Review: Sustainable production of hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid: Challenges and opportunities

Levulinic acid production from wheat straw.

Thermal decomposition and kinetics of coal and fermented cornstalk using thermogravimetric analysis.

Direct production of ethyl levulinate (EL) from glucose catalysed by a liquid acid catalyst (sulfuric acid) and a solid acid zeolite catalyst USY NKF-7 (USY) in ethanol media was investigated in this study. Effects of the initial glucose concentration (C
 G0), reaction temperature (T), amount of acid catalyst, and water addition on the yields of EL were compared, respectively. The results show that higher yield of EL can be obtained at lower C
 G0. Higher temperature and acid concentration can accelerate the reaction rate, but the formation rate of the by-products increases more quickly than that of EL. Water addition also can result in the decrease of the yield of EL. Although sulfuric acid is efficient in the production of EL, the USY is more efficient in converting glucose to 5-ethoxymethyl-2-furaldehyde. Moreover, the use of USY can limit the diethyl ether production, and it can be reused for multiple times.

A comparative study on direct production of ethyl levulinate from glucose in ethanol media catalysed by different acid catalysts

Cellulose reactivity in ethanol at elevate temperature and the kinetics of one-pot preparation of ethyl levulinate from cellulose

Soaking aqueous ammonia (SAA) pretreatment of corn stover was carried out at three temperatures (30, 50, and 70 oC) and three concentrations of ammonia solution (5, 15, and 25 wt.%). The delignification kinetic model, based on three first-order reactions, was applied to describe the kinetic behavior of lignin removal from corn stover during SAA pretreatment. The first, second, and third terms were based on the initial, bulk, and residual phases of delignification, respectively. The results showed that the model fitted well with the data obtained from the experiments. The activation energies for the delignification reactions were estimated as 61.05 and 59.46 kJ/mol in the bulk and residual phases, respectively. Delignification selectivity increased with increasing reaction temperature.

https://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/download/BioRes_11_1_2403_Gao_Delignification_Kinetics_Corn_Stover_Ammonia/4204

Xiaojian Ma

Papers

Levulinic acid production from wheat straw.

Thermal decomposition and kinetics of coal and fermented cornstalk using thermogravimetric analysis.

A comparative study on direct production of ethyl levulinate from glucose in ethanol media catalysed by different acid catalysts

Cellulose reactivity in ethanol at elevate temperature and the kinetics of one-pot preparation of ethyl levulinate from cellulose

Delignification Kinetics of Corn Stover with Aqueous Ammonia Soaking Pretreatment