Solid phosphoric acid (SPA) catalysts with different carriers were prepared and used for catalytic fast pyrolysis of poplar wood to produce levoglucosenone (LGO), a valuable anhydrosugar derivative that can be used in various organic synthesis applications. Pyrolysis-gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (Py-GC/MS) experiments were performed to evaluate the catalytic capabilities of these catalysts under different reaction conditions. The results indicated that SPA catalyst prepared with the SBA-15 carrier exhibited the best catalytic capability for selectively producing LGO. Both the catalytic pyrolysis temperature and catalyst-to-biomass ratio affected the pyrolytic products greatly. The maximal LGO yield reached as high as 8.2 wt% from poplar wood, obtained at the pyrolysis temperature of 300°C and the catalyst-to-biomass ratio of 1. The by-products during the catalytic pyrolysis process were mainly acetic acid (AA) and furfural (FF). In addition, the SPA catalyst possessed better catalytic capability than the liquid phosphoric acid (H 3 PO 4 ) catalyst to produce LGO.
The liquefaction of crop residues in the presence of ethylene glycol, ethylene carbonate, or polyethylene glycol using sulfuric acid as a catalyst was studied. For all experiments, the liquefaction was conducted at 160 ° C and atmospheric pressure. The mass ratio of feedstock to liquefaction solvents used in all the experiments was 30:100. The results show that the acid catalyzed liquefaction process fit a pseudo-first-order kinetics model. Liquefaction yields of 80, 74, and 60% were obtained in 60 minutes of reaction when corn stover was liquefied with ethylene glycol, a mixture of polyethylene glycol and glycerol (9:1, w/w), and ethylene carbonate, respectively. When ethylene carbonate was used as solvent, the liquefaction yields of rice straw and wheat straw were 67% and 73%, respectively, which is lower than that of corn stover (80%). When a mixture of ethylene carbonate and ethylene glycol (8:2, w/w) was used as solvent, the liquefaction yields for corn stover, rice straw and wheat straw were 78, 68, and 70%, respectively.
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