Preparation of Acetic Acid by Hydrothermal Catalytic Oxidation Degradation of Cellulose Simulants

Abstract

A hydrothermal catalytic oxidation degradation process was investigated to improve acetic acid production from cellulose simulants. Filter paper, being a cellulose simulant as the test material, was oxidized in a batch reactor with catalysts. An L16 (45) orthogonal array design (OAD) with five factors at four levels was employed. Of the five, reaction temperature was the most influential for the yield of acetic acid. Afterwards, a series of process optimization experiments were conducted. And a higher yield of acetic acid (28.53%) was obtained under the following conditions: temperature was 320°C; reaction time was 26 min; water consumption was 8 ml; oxidant and catalyst supplied were 0.8% and 0.2% of the raw material respectively.