1. The effect of hydrogen peroxide concentration and solid loading on the fractionation of biomass in formic acid.
- Author
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Dussan, K., Girisuta, B., Haverty, D., Leahy, J. J., and Hayes, M. H. B.
- Subjects
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HYDROGEN peroxide , *BIOMASS , *FORMIC acid , *FOURIER transform infrared spectroscopy , *LIGNINS , *THERMOGRAVIMETRY , *PENTOSANS - Abstract
This study investigated the fractionation of biomass using a decomposing mixture of hydrogen peroxide-formic acid as a pretreatment for the biorefining of Miscanthus x giganteus and of sugarcane bagasse. The main parameters investigated were the hydrogen peroxide concentration (2.5, 5.0 and 7.5 wt%) and biomass loading (5.0 and 10.0 wt%). At the highest hydrogen peroxide concentration used (7.5 wt%), the energy released by the decomposition of the H2O2 could heat the reaction mixture up to 180 °C in a short time (6-16 min). As a result, highly delignified pulps, with lignin removal as high as 92 wt%, were obtained. This delignification process also solubilised a significant amount of pentosan (82-98 wt%) from the initial biomass feedstock, and the resulting pulp had a high cellulosic content (92 wt%). The biomass loading only affected the reaction rate of hydrogen peroxide decomposition. Various analytical methods, including Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric and elemental analyses, characterized the lignin obtained. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2014
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