Understanding the Primary Liquid Products of Cellulose Hydrolysis in Hot-Compressed Water at Various Reaction Temperatures

Abstract

Knowledge on the primary liquid products is essential to understanding the primary hydrolysis reactions that take place on the surface of microcrystalline cellulose particles during hydrolysis in hot-compressed water (HCW). This study reports the experimental results on the primary liquid products from the hydrolysis of cellulose using a semicontinuous reactor system under optimized reaction conditions. The primary liquid products contain glucose oligomers and their derivatives with a wide range of degrees of polymerization (DPs), from 1 to a maximal DP, which increases with temperature from 23 at 230 °C, to 25 at 250 °C, then to 28 at 270 °C. Temperature also has a significant influence on the distribution of glucose oligomers in the primary liquid products. The results suggest that the hydrolysis reactions proceed on the surface of reacting cellulose particles via the cleavage of the accessible glycosidic bonds within the structure of microcrystalline cellulose in a manner with randomness. Thermal degra...