Evaluation of the Recovery of Furfural from Wood Scraps

Abstract

: 2-furfuraldehyde, commonly known as furfural, is a product of the hydrolysis and dehydration of pentose carbohydrates contained in lignocellulosic. Furfural is currently a commodity chemical, identified as one of the most promising chemical platforms directly derived from biomass, to produce chemicals, biofuels, and additives. Wood scraps are a good source of natural pentoses that contains up to 25%. Taking this into account, the goal of the research was to evaluate the recovery of furfural from wood scraps. The process of recovery of furfural was carried out by acid-catalyzed pentoses dehydration, associated with a hydrodistillation. As a catalyst, we used a solution of hydrochloric acid of 10% wt. The physicochemical analysis of the samples obtained allowed us to characterize and evaluate the recovery process. The results showed that under the experimental conditions evaluated, the degree of recovery of furfural was about 5%.