Comparative technical evaluation of acid hydrolysis processes for conversion of cellulose to alcohol

作者：John D. Wright, Arthur Power · 发表于：OSTI OAI (U.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information) · 年份：1986 · 被引用次数：29 · 研究领域：Biofuel production and bioconversion、Catalysis for Biomass Conversion、Advanced Cellulose Research Studies

This paper evaluates five major acid hydrolysis processes for the conversion of lignocellulosic feedstocks to ethanol. A complete conversion process was defined, and alternative hydrolysis processes integrated into this framework. The sensitivity of the process economics to technical improvements was also evaluated. In dilute acid hydrolysis processes, the acid hydrolyzes cellulose to glucose while simultaneously degrading the product sugars. The progressing batch reactor uses several percolation reactors in series to quickly remove the sugars from the reaction zone, minimizing sugar degradation while minimizing product dilution. The high temperature plug flow reactor has low yields, but converts the xylan fraction of the wood to furfural, a valuable chemical intermediate. The concentrated acid processes break down the crystalline structure of the cellulose, rendering it amorphous and readily hydrolyzable at conditions where sugar degradation is minimal and yields approach 100%. The process suffers from the expenses associated with handling large quantities of acid. The concentrated sulfuric acid processes consume large quantities of acid, and suffers from high acid replacement costs. The HCL processes recover the acid by distillation, which requires large amounts of energy and extremely expensive corrosion-resistant equipment. The HF-based process has high acid consumption costs because HF is very expensive, andmore » would suffer high capital and operating costs because of ...