The effect of pretreatment on methanesulfonic acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of bagasse to levulinic acid, formic acid, and furfural

A major challenge that must be overcome for the commercial production of levulinic acid from lignocellulosics is to reduce equipment blockage and corrosion. Methanesulfonic acid (MSA), a relatively low corrosive acid, was used to produce organic acids and furfural from pretreated sugarcane bagasse. In general, the type of pretreatment did not affect levulinic acid yield, though it affected furfural yield. However, soda pretreated bagasse produced the highest yields of levulinic acid (∼75 mol%) and furfural (∼85 mol%), albeit under optimized conditions. Hydrolysis residue consists primarily of lignin that has been modified and/or condensed to humic substances, fatty acids, and oligomeric sugars. A conceptual biorefinery utilizing 1 ton of dry bagasse, alkaline-pretreatment, and MSA as a catalyst produced 165 kg soda lignin, 190 kg and 89 kg of levulinic acid and formic acid respectively, and 40 kg furfural

Bubble rise phenomena through Newtonian and non-Newtonian fluids

The characteristics of bubble rise phenomenon in three liquids were investigated and are reported here. The experimental rig consists of two transparent cylindrical columns – one a polycarbonate tube of 125 mm diameter and the other an acrylic tube of 400 mm diameter. The rig also consists of a lifting device designed to hold a video camera for taking bubble images. Water and two non-Newtonian fluids (0.025% and 0.045% by weight of polyacrylamide solutions) were used in this study. The smaller polycarbonate tube was used to study the velocity and the drag coefficient under vacuum. The bigger acrylic tube was used to study the influence of the size of bubbles