Method and apparatus for furfural production

Abstract

The invention concerns a process for the production of furfural from pentoses and/or water soluble pentosans, comprising the steps of feeding an aqueous pentose solution containing one or more pentoses or soluble pentosans to the bottom of a reaction column to produce an aqueous liquid upflow; heating the bottom part of the column using a heat exchanger to produce a steam upflow in the column; recovering a vapour product stream containing water and furfural from the top of the column; and condensing the vapour product stream, thereby obtaining an aqueous furfural containing product solution as the condensate.Process and EnergyMechanical, Maritime and Materials Engineerin