Abstract
The process of converting lignocellulosic biomass to fuels (such as ethanol) is considered a potential method for supplanting current fossil fuels with renewable sources. A significant inhibitor to such processes is the lack of an efficient and economical means by which hemicellulose and cellulose may be hydrolysed to their constituent monosaccharides as precursors for ethanol fermentation. This research details experiments conducted by which sugar cane bagasse (SCB) immersed in ionic liquids (either 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride or 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride – BmimCl and EmimCl respectively) were catalysed to glucose and xylose by adding variable amounts of hydrochloric acid (3.5 – 10.5wt%) at temperatures between 100°C to 140°C. Experiments were conducted over 5 hours and in all experiments the monosaccharide concentrations increased to a maximum then decreased as the monosaccharides were degraded to other products. Maximum yields of glucose and xylose of 133mg/g bagasse and 125mg/g bagasse respectively were achieved although under different reaction conditions. The kinetics of the process was modelled as a simple set of first order reactions for the conversion of biomass to sugars then the degradation of sugars to other products.
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