Furfural production from biomass pretreatment hydrolysate using vapor-releasing reactor system.

Biomass hydrolysate from autohydrolysis pretreatment was used for furfural production considering it is in rich of xylose, xylo-oligomers, and other decomposition products from hemicellulose structure. By using the vapor-releasing reactor system, furfural was protected from degradation by separating it from the reaction media. The maximum furfural yield of 73% was achieved at 200 °C for biomass hydrolysate without the use of the catalyst. This is because the presence of organic acids such as acetic acid in hydrolysate functioned as a catalyst. According to the results in this study, biomass hydrolysate with a vapor-releasing system proves to be efficient for furfural production. The biorefinery process which allows the separation of xylose-rich autohydrolysate from other parts from biomass feedstock also improves the overall application of the biomass.