Conversion of Furfural to 1,5-Pentanediol: Process Synthesis and Analysis

Abstract

A new process for the production of 1,5-pentanediol (1,5-PDO) from biomass-derived furfural is studied. In this process, furfural is converted to 1,5-PDO in a high overall yield (80%) over inexpensive catalysts via multiple steps involving hydrogenation, dehydration, hydration, and hydrogenation subsequently. To effectively recycle H2 as well as recover 1,5-PDO, detailed separation subsystems have been designed and integrated with reaction subsystems. Furthermore, a pioneer plant analysis is performed to estimate the risk on the cost growth and plant performance shortfalls. The integrated process leads to a minimum selling price of $1973 ton–1 for 1,5-PDO, which suggests that it could be a promising approach for converting biomass into oxygenated commodity chemicals, which are difficult to produce from petroleum-derived feedstocks. The sensitivity analysis also identifies that the most important economic parameters for the process include the furfural feedstock price and plant size.

Oxygenated commodity chemicals from chemo‐catalytic conversion of biomass derived heterocycles

“…FA and THFA can undergo ring‐opening reactions to produce the α,ω‐diol, 1,5‐pentanediol (1,5‐PDO). While 1,5‐PDO has been produced by direct hydrogenolysis of THFA over bimetallic catalysts such as RhRe, a three‐step pathway consisting of dehydration of THFA to 3,4‐dihydropyran (DHP), hydration of DHP to 2‐hydroxytetrahydropyran (2‐HY‐THP), and conversion of 2‐HY‐THP to 1,5‐PDO has been shown to be an economically advantageous method of 1,5‐PDO production and results in improved 1,5‐PDO yields (∼87%) . The intermediate DHP is produced in high yields (90%) in the first step of this pathway via the gas‐phase dehydration of tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol over γ‐Al 2 O 3 .…”

Comparative evaluation of lignocellulosic biorefinery scenarios under a life‐cycle assessment approach

“…Average market selling price (€/t) Glucose 355.0 26,41 Lignin 530.6 [42][43][44][45][46] Hemicellulose 105.4 [47][48][49] Bioethanol 830.5 [50][51][52][53][54] Furfural 865.3 [55][56][57][58][59][60] Acetic acid 834.2 [61][62][63][64] Modeling and Analysis: Lignocellulosic biorefinery life-cycle assessment S Bello et al…”

Sustainable Carbon Sources and Renewable Energy: Challenges and Opportunities at the Interface of Catalysis and Reaction Engineering

“…The reaction was carried out in one‐pot but utilizing a sequence of two reaction temperatures to achieve furfural hydrogenation to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol followed by ring cleavage. Alternatively, a multi‐step process over inexpensive catalysts has been proposed achieving above 80 % yield . Therein, Ni/SiO 2 , γ‐Al 2 O 3 and Ru/C are used for a reaction sequence involving hydrogenation, dehydration, hydration, and subsequent hydrogenation, respectively.…”

“…The reaction was carried out in one-pot but utilizing a sequence of two reaction temperatures to achieve furfural hydrogenation to tetrahydrofurfuryl alcohol followed by ring cleavage. Alternatively, a multi-step process over inexpensive catalysts has been proposed achieving above 80 % yield [38]. [40].…”