Production of butyl levulinate from the solvolysis of high-gravity fructose over heterogeneous catalyst: In-depth kinetic modeling

Abstract

Butyl levulinate (BL) is a promising biofuel and oxygenated fuel additive. Among the various ways of producing this ester, the alcoholysis of simple sugars has more advantages than the traditional esterification of levulinic acid, as it requires fewer processing units in post-treatment operations, making it more sustainable in terms of cost, even on a large industrial scale. Several studies on the nature of the catalyst or process intensification have been addressed in the literature. However, there are no in-depth studies on the development of a kinetic model, particularly with a high gravity approach, i.e. high initial concentration of simple sugars. Condition in which the complexity is due to the fact that the development of a model cannot avoid the inclusion of the kinetics of dissolution of fructose from solid to liquid. In this study, the solvolysis of fructose to butyl levulinate on a solid acid catalyst, Amberlite IR120, was experimentally investigated at high initial concentrations, and different kinetic models were developed, including the dissolution and degradation kinetics of fructose, tested and validated at different initial fructose concentrations, temperatures and catalyst loadings. The Akaike information criterion and hold-out method assessed the most reliable developed model.