Liquefaction of crop residues for polyol production

• Main Authors: Wan, C., Wang, T., Zhang, L., Zang, L., Li, Y., Mao, Z., Liang, L.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: North Carolina State University 2006-11-01
• Series: BioResources
• Subjects: Corn stover; Wheat straw; Rice straw; Liquefaction; Polyol
• Online Access: http://ojs.cnr.ncsu.edu/index.php/BioRes/article/viewFile/BioRes_01_2_248_256_Liang_MLWWZZ_Liquefactions_CropResidues_PolyolProduction/24

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.