Catalytic conversion of furfural from pyrolysis of sunflower seed hulls for producing bio-based furfuryl alcohol

CASONI, ANDRES I.; HOCH, PATRICIA M.; VOLPE, MARIA A.; GUTIERREZ, VICTORIA S.

JOURNAL OF CLEANER PRODUCTION

ELSEVIER SCI LTD

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2018 vol. 178 p. 237 - 246

0959-6526

Clean production of furfuryl alcohol (an industrial product used worldwide) is presented using as a raw material sunflower seed hulls, an abundant agro-industrial waste. The method involves two steps. Firstly, a fast pyrolysis of pre-treated hulls (washing with aqueous solutions of phosphoric acid and zinc chloride) is carried out at 400°C under a 200 mL/min of nitrogen flow, where a bio-oil rich in furfural is obtained. In the second stage, the catalytic hydrogenation of furfural is carried out, to obtain furfuryl alcohol over palladium supported on bio-chars obtained asside products of the hull pyrolysis. High catalytic performance for the hydrogenation of furfural to furfuryl alcohol under batch conditions at 110°C and 0.4 MPa of hydrogen is reached. A preliminary industrial scale process is presented using all the laboratory data. It is concluded that it is possible to obtain furfuryl alcohol from a renewable source consisting of sunflower seed hulls.