Kinetics of levulinic acid and furfural production from Miscanthus × giganteus

This study investigated the kinetics of acid hydrolysis of the cellulose and hemicellulose in Miscanthus to produce levulinic acid and furfural under mild temperature and high acid concentration. Experiments were carried out in an 8 L-batch reactor with 9%-wt. biomass loading, acid concentrations between 0.10 and 0.53 M H2SO4, and at temperatures between 150 and 200 °C. The concentrations of xylose, glucose, furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid were used in two mechanistic kinetic models for the prediction of the performance of ideal continuous reactors for the optimisation of levulinic acid and the concurrent production of furfural. A two-stage arrangement was found to maximise furfural in the first reactor (PFR – 185 °C, 0.5 M H2SO4, 27.3%-mol). A second stage leads to levulinic acid yields between 58% and 72%-mol at temperatures between 160 and 200 °C.