Furfural: A Sustainable Platform Chemical and Fuel
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Published:
Feb 19, 2020
Keywords:
Furfural Lignocellulosic biomass Fuel Platform chemicals Biorefinery
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Abstract
Furfural is produced from lignocellulose-biomass enriched with pentose derivatives. It is a precursor of furan-based chemicals and has the potential to become a green platform chemical. This review presents and compares the different routes and recent trends furfural production and utilization. Conventional process of furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass, especially cellulose pulp, had low conversion rate and produced lots of unused by-products. Thus, the production in industrial scale was impeded with economical feasibility. While, the recent production technologies were focused on the utilization of the feedstock and improvement of the process economics by co-production of other high value products and furfural derivatives. Regarding to the current situation, the fuel production from non-renewable fossil sources becomes more interesting to worldwide society due to the environmental concern. Furfural and its derivatives are selected chemicals to be used as alternative feedstock to substitute the use of fossil fuels. Nowadays, the improvements on production technology and process are still necessary to compete with petroleum-based products in term of economic aspects.
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Rachamontree, P., Douzou, T., Cheenkachorn, K., Sriariyanun, M., & Rattanaporn, K. (2020). Furfural: A Sustainable Platform Chemical and Fuel. Applied Science and Engineering Progress, 13(1), 3–10. Retrieved from https://ph02.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/ijast/article/view/239991
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References
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[24] J. C. Serrano-Ruiz, J. M. Campelo, M. Francavilla, A. A. Romero, R. Luque, C. Menendez-Vazquez, A. B. Garciab, and E. J. Garcıa-Suarez, “Efficient microwave-assisted production of furfural from C5 sugars in aqueous media catalysed by Bronsted acidic ionic liquids,” Catalysis Science & Technology, vol. 9, pp. 1828–1832, 2012.
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[27] M. Sriariyanun, J. H. Heitz, P. Yasurin, S. Asavasanti, and P. Tantayotai, “Itaconic acid: A promising and sustainable platform chemical?,” Applied Science and Engineering Progress, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 75–82, 2019.
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[30] W. De Jong and G. Marcotullio, “Overview of biorefineries based on co-production of furfural, existing concepts and novel developments,” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, vol. 8, pp. 1–24, 2010.
[31] B. L. Wegenhart, L. Yang, S. C. Kwan, R. Harris, H. I. Kenttamaa, and M. M. Abu-Omar, “From furfural to fuel: Synthesis of furoins by organocatalysis and their hydrodeoxygenation by cascade catalysis,” Chemistry & Sustainability, vol. 7, pp. 2742– 2747, 2014.
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[2] Wondu Business and Technology Services. (2006). Furfural Chemicals and Biofuels from Agriculture. A report for the Rural Industries Research and Development Corporation. New South Wales, Australia [online]. Available: www. rirdc.gov.au/fullreports/index.html
[3] W. Rodiahwati and M. Sriariyanun, “Lignocellulosic biomass to biofuel production: Integration of chemical and extrusion (screw press) pretreatment,” KMUTNB Int J Appl Sci Technol, vol. 9, no. 4, pp. 289–298, 2016.
[4] D. T. Win, “Furfural – gold from garbage,” AU Journal of Technology, vol. 8, no. 4, pp. 185–190, 2005.
[5] H. E. Hoydonckx, W. M. V. Rhijn, W. V. Rhijn, D. E. D. Vos, and P. A. Jacobs, “Furfural and derivatives,” Ullmann’s Encyclopedia of Industrial Chemistry, to be published. doi: 10.1002/14356007.a12_119.pub2.
[6] M. Mascal and S. Dutta, “Synthesis of the natural herbicide δ-aminolevulinic acid from cellulosederived 5-(chloromethyl) furfural,” Green Chemistry, vol. 13, pp. 40–41, 2011.
[7] N. J. Ayed, “Synthesis of some new resins from poly (phenol-furfural) and cyclic anhydride,” Journal of Anbar for Pure Science, vol. 4, no. 3, pp. 26–33, 2010.
[8] Bechtel Corporation. (2019). Furfural Refining. Virginia, USA [Online]. Available: https://www. bechtel.com/services/oil-gas-chemicals/bhts/oilprocessing/ furfural-refining/
[9] L. Montastruc, O. Ajao, M. Marinova, C. B. D. Carmo, and S. Domenech, “Hemicellulose biorefinery for furfural production: Energy requirement analysis and minimization,” Journal of Science & Technology for Forest Products and Processes, vol. 1, no. 3, pp. 48–53, 2011.
[10] P. Varelis and B. Hucker, “Thermal decarboxylation of 2-furoic acid and its implication for the formation of furan in foods,” Food Chemistry, vol. 126, no. 3, pp. 1512–1513, 2011.
[11] R. Akkharasinphonrat, T. Douzou, and M. Sriariyanun, “Development of ionic liquid utilization in biorefinery process of lignocellulosic biomass,” KMUTNB Int J Appl Sci Technol, vol. 10, no. 2, pp. 89–96, 2017.
[12] P. Amnuaycheewa, R. Hengaroonprasan, K. Rattanaporn, S. Kirdponpattara, K. Cheenkachorn, and M. Sriariyanun, “Enhancing enzymatic hydrolysis and biogas production from ricestraw by pretreatment with organic acids,” Industrial Crops and Products, vol. 84, pp. 247–254, 2016.
[13] K. Cheenkachorn, T. Douzou, S. Roddecha, P. Tantayotai, and M. Sriariyanun, “Enzymatic saccharification of rice straw under influence of recycled ionic liquid pretreatments,” Energy Procedia, vol. 100, pp. 160–165, 2016.
[14] K. Rattanaporn, P. Tantayotai, T. Phusantisampan, P. Pornwongthong, and M. Sriariyanun, “Organic acid pretreatment of oil palm trunk: Effect on enzymatic saccharification and ethanol production,” Bioprocess and Biosystem Engineering, vol. 41, pp. 467–477, 2018.
[15] N. Junnienkul, T. Douzou, P. Yasurin, S. Asavasanti, and M. Sriariyanun, “Optimization of alkyl imidazolium chloride pretreatment on rice straw biomass conversion,” KMUTNB Int J Appl Sci Technol, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 199–207, 2018.
[16] Y. S. Cheng, Z. Y. Wu, and M. Sriariyanun, “Evaluation of macaranga tanarius as a biomass feedstock for fermentable sugars production,” Bioresour Technol, vol. 294, pp. 122195, 2019.
[17] R. Singh, A. Shukla, S. Tiwari, and M. Srivastav, “A review on delignification of lignocellulosic biomass for enhancement of ethanol production potential,” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, vol. 32, pp. 713–728, 2014.
[18] G. Machado, S. Leon, F. Santos, R. Lourega, J. Dullius, M. E. Mollmann, and P. Eichler, “Literature review on furfural production from lignocellulosic biomass,” Natural Sciences, vol. 7, pp. 115–129, 2016.
[19] Westpro Chemical. (2004). Huaxia Furfural Technology. Lanzhou, China [Online]. Available: http://www.westprochem.com/
[20] H. Liu, H. Hu, M. S. Jahan, and Y. Ni, “Furfural formation from the pre-hydrolysis liquor of a hardwood kraft-based dissolving pulp production process,” Bioresource Technology, vol. 131, pp. 315–320, 2103.
[21] C. Sonsiam, A. Kaewchada, S. Pumrod, and A. Jaree, “Synthesis of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF) from fructose over cation exchange resin in a continuous flow reactor,” Chemical Engineering and Processing - Process Intensification, vol. 138, pp. 65–72, 2019.
[22] M. M. Baktash, L. Ahsan, and Y. Ni, “Production of furfural from an industrial pre-hydrolysis liquor,” Separation and Purification Technology, vol. 149, pp. 407–412, 2015.
[23] M. A. Lake and J. C. Balckburn, “Process for producing furfural from black liquor,” U.S. Patent 0 163 245, Jun. 12, 2014.
[24] J. C. Serrano-Ruiz, J. M. Campelo, M. Francavilla, A. A. Romero, R. Luque, C. Menendez-Vazquez, A. B. Garciab, and E. J. Garcıa-Suarez, “Efficient microwave-assisted production of furfural from C5 sugars in aqueous media catalysed by Bronsted acidic ionic liquids,” Catalysis Science & Technology, vol. 9, pp. 1828–1832, 2012.
[25] P. S. Metkar, E. J. Till, D. R. Corbin, C. J. Pereira, K. W. Hutchenson, and S. K. Sengupta, “Reactive distillation process for the production of furfural using solid acid catalysts,” Green Chemistry, vol. 17, pp. 1453–1466, 2015.
[26] C. M. Cai, T. Zhang, R. Kumara, and C. E. Wyman, “Integrated furfural production as a renewable fuel and chemical platform from lignocellulosic biomass,” Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, vol. 89, pp. 2–10, 2014.
[27] M. Sriariyanun, J. H. Heitz, P. Yasurin, S. Asavasanti, and P. Tantayotai, “Itaconic acid: A promising and sustainable platform chemical?,” Applied Science and Engineering Progress, vol. 12, no. 2, pp. 75–82, 2019.
[28] S. V. Tarazanov, E. V. Grigor’eva, M. A. Titarenko, N. A. Klimov, M. A. Ershov, and P. A. Nikul’shin, “Furfural dipropyl acetal as a new fuel additive: Synthesis and properties,” Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry, vol. 91, no. 12, pp. 1968–1972, 2018.
[29] S. W. Fitzpatrick, “Lignocellulose degradation to furfural and levulinic acid,” U.S. Patent 4 897 497, Jun. 30, 1990.
[30] W. De Jong and G. Marcotullio, “Overview of biorefineries based on co-production of furfural, existing concepts and novel developments,” International Journal of Chemical Reactor Engineering, vol. 8, pp. 1–24, 2010.
[31] B. L. Wegenhart, L. Yang, S. C. Kwan, R. Harris, H. I. Kenttamaa, and M. M. Abu-Omar, “From furfural to fuel: Synthesis of furoins by organocatalysis and their hydrodeoxygenation by cascade catalysis,” Chemistry & Sustainability, vol. 7, pp. 2742– 2747, 2014.
[32] J. Yanowitz, E. Christensen, and R. L. McCormick, Utilization of Renewable Oxygenates as Gasoline Blending Components. Colorado: National Renewable Energy Laboratory, 2011.
[33] M. A. Ershov, E. V. Grigoreva, A. I. Guseva, N. Y. Vinogradova, D. A. Potanin, V. S. Dorokhov, P. A. Nikulshin, and K. A. Ovchinnikov, “A review of furfural derivatives as promising octane boosters,” Russian Journal of Applied Chemistry, vol. 90, no. 9, pp. 1402–1411, 2017.
[34] K. Dalvand, J. Rubin, S. Gunukula, M. C. Wheeler, and G. Hunt, “Economics of biofuels: Market potential of furfural and its derivatives,” Biomass and Bioenergy, vol. 115, pp. 56–63, 2018.
[35] Transparency Market Research. (2018). Furfural Derivatives–Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast, 2018–2026. New York, USA [Online]. Available: https:// www.transparencymarketresearch.com/furfuralderivatives- market.html