Abstract

Chemical processing of lingo-cellulosic biomass sugars for biofuel

Author(s): Fred Andrews

Bio-refineries convert biomass into high-value chemicals, which is essential for long-term development. One of the most significant raw sources for bio-refineries is Ligno-Cellulosic Biomass (LCB), which comprises polysaccharides and aromatic polymers. Effective pretreatment procedures may extract hexose and pentose sugars from LCB, which can then be turned into high-value chemicals and biofuels including 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), Levulinic Acid (LA), γ-valerolactone (GVL), Ethyl Levulinate (EL), and 5- ethoxymethylfurfural (EMF). EMF has the highest cetane number and the best oxidation stability among these biofuels. The mechanism of various major stages of EMF synthesis from LCB-derived sugars, as well as recent research developments on acid catalysts employed in this reaction. The effect of mono and bi-functional acid catalyst characteristics and structures on the selectivity of EMF from glucose was examined, as well as the effect of reaction conditions on EMF yield.