Value of Coproduction of Ethanol and Furfural from Acid Hydrolysis Processes

Technical Report · Tue May 01 00:00:00 EDT 1984

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1115772· OSTI ID:1115772

Parker, Stephen ^[1]; Calnon, Mark ^[1]; Feinberg, Daniel ^[1]; Power, Arthur ^[1]; Weiss, L. ^[2]

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1. Solar Energy Research Inst., Golden, CO (United States)
2. Energy Technology Associates (ETA), New York, NY (United States)

In the acid hydrolysis of a cellulosic feedstock (wood, wood wastes, or crop residues), up to 3.65 lb of furfural may be coproduced with each gallon of ethanol for only the cost of recovering and purifying it. Each plant producing 50 x 10⁶ gal/yr of ethanol would produce an amount of by-product furfural equal to the total current domestic production. Thus, the need arises for investigation into potentially suitable processes for deriving profitable end products from furfural and thus expanding the market. The objectives of this study were to determine the economic potential of five selected, large volume derivatives of furfural that could displace hydrocarbon-based chemicals, and the consequent value of furfural as a by-product to the cellulose hydrolysis process of ethanol production.

• Research Organization: National Renewable Energy Lab. (NREL), Golden, CO (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE), Sustainable Transportation Office. Bioenergy Technologies Office
• DOE Contract Number: AC36-08GO28308
• OSTI ID: 1115772
• Report Number(s): NREL/TP-231-2147
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

09 BIOMASS FUELS
CELLULOSIC ETHANOL
PETROCHEMICAL INDUSTRY
BUTANOL
ADIPIC ACID
MALEIC ANHYDRIDE
BUTADIENE
STYRENE