Correlation of the Product Yield with the Total Organic Carbon Yield in the Hydrothermal Conversion of Pure Celluloses in the Absence of Additives

Abstract

Three cellulosic samples (CP, cellulose powder; CC, cotton cellulose; FP, filter paper) were subjected to liquid water at 493 to 553 K and 10 MPa in a semibatch reactor. The solubilization rates based on the total organic carbon (TOC) yield were determined as first-order reaction kinetics, and the rates for CP were 2–4 times higher than those for CC and FP. The yields of the products, such as glucose, cellooligosaccharides with degrees of polymerization (DP) from 2 to 9, fructose, 5-(hydroxymethyl)furfural, and levoglucosan, were proportional to the TOC of the products over nearly the entire range of conversion, irrespective of the reaction temperature. The slopes in the plots of the product yield versus TOC yield were correlated with DP of up to 9, and the correlations for CP, CC, and FP were consistent and independent of the temperature and cellulose species.