Identification and quantification of valuable platform chemicals in aqueous product streams from a preliminary study of a large pilot-scale steam explosion of woody biomass using quantitative nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopyShow others and affiliations
2024 (English)In: Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery, ISSN 2190-6815, E-ISSN 2190-6823, Vol. 14, p. 3331-Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]
Steam explosion breaks down the polymeric matrix and enables the recovery of valuable compounds from lignocellulosic feedstock. In the steam explosion process, biomass is treated with high-pressure steam which subsequently generates large quantities of a condensed aqueous liquid (process effluent) and a filtered aqueous liquid (filtrate) that contain furfural, 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, 5-methylfurfural, methanol, and acetic acid as major constituents. This study addresses the identification and quantification of value-added chemicals in the aqueous product streams using quantitative analytical nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy with water suppression. This work reports a screening study for two different types of sawdust (Norway spruce and birch) at two different scales (4 L and 10 L reactors) using different reaction temperatures (190–223 °C) and corresponding pressures (13–24 bar), with and without the addition of SO2 gas. The duration of all experiments was 8 min. The process effluents contained acetic acid, methanol, formic acid, 5-methylfurfural, and furfural. Acetic acid (0.5 g/kg dry input biomass) and furfural (1.0 g/kg dry input biomass) were more abundant than methanol, formic acid, and 5-methylfurfural for both feedstocks. The addition of SO2 increased the furfural yields, indicating more efficient hydrolysis of hemicelluloses under acidic conditions. Filtrate samples also contained 5-hydroxymethylfurfural, with the highest concentrations (5.7–6.0 g/kg dry input biomass) in the filtrates from spruce. The different feedstocks and steam explosion temperatures strongly influenced the overall yields of the target compounds, in some cases tripling the concentrations. The results can be used to improve the profit margins in a pellets and chemicals biorefinery, as demonstrated in the ArbaOne pellets plant.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
Springer Science and Business Media Deutschland GmbH , 2024. Vol. 14, p. 3331-
Keywords [en]
5-Hydroxymethylfurfural, Aqueous product streams, Biorefinery, Furfural, Lignocellulosic biomass, Steam explosion, Acetic acid, Chemicals, Effluents, Explosions, Feedstocks, Filtration, Formic acid, Hydrogen bonds, Nuclear magnetic resonance, Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, pH, Refining, Sodium hydroxide, Steam, 'Dry' [, 5 hydroxymethyl furfurals, 5-methylfurfural, Aqueous liquids, Aqueous product stream, Biorefineries, Pilot scale, Platform chemicals, Product streams, Biomass
National Category
Ecology
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ri:diva-59245DOI: 10.1007/s13399-022-02712-wScopus ID: 2-s2.0-85129017913OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ri-59245DiVA, id: diva2:1660422
Note
Funding details: 509-42/16; Funding details: Horizon 2020 Framework Programme, H2020, 818349; Funding details: Norges Forskningsråd, 226244/F50, 309970; Funding details: Bergens Forskningsstiftelse, BFS-NMR-1; Funding text 1: Open access funding provided by University of Bergen (incl Haukeland University Hospital). This work received funding from Arbaflame AS through the Research Council of Norway under grant agreement No 309970 and the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 818349.; Funding text 2: The authors gratefully acknowledge Lund University Biobased Industry Research Center and Kai Toven at RISE PFI AS for providing samples. This work was partly supported by Bergen Research Foundation (BFS-NMR-1), Sparebankstiftinga Sogn og Fjordane (509-42/16), and the Research Council of Norway through the Norwegian NMR Platform, NNP (226244/F50).
2022-05-242022-05-242025-09-23Bibliographically approved