Abstract
A comprehensive experimental and modelling study on the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of the water hyacinth plant ( Eichhornia crassipes) to optimise the yield of levulinic acid (LA) is reported ( T = 150–175 °C, C H 2 SO 4 = 0.1 – 1 M , water hyacinth intake = 1–5 wt%). At high acid concentrations (>0.5 M), LA was the major organic acid whereas at low acid concentrations (<0.1 M) and high initial intakes of water hyacinth, the formation of propionic acid instead of LA was favoured. The highest yield of LA was 53 mol% (35 wt%) based on the amount of C6-sugars in the water hyacinth ( T = 175 °C, C H 2 SO 4 = 1 M , water hyacinth intake = 1 wt%). The LA yield as a function of the process conditions was modelled using a kinetic model originally developed for the acid-catalysed hydrolysis of cellulose and good agreement between the experimental and modelled data was obtained.
Published Version
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