Liquid-liquid Equilibrium in the Production of Furanic Compounds

• Grant number: 16/05950-5
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: August 01, 2016 - July 31, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Engineering - Chemical Engineering
• Principal Investigator: Luis Alberto Follegatti Romero
• Grantee: Luis Alberto Follegatti Romero
• Host Institution: Escola Politécnica (EP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated researchers: Moisés Teles dos Santos ; Pedro de Alcântara Pessôa Filho

Abstract

Production of liquid biofuels and high value-added chemicals from biomass is one of the most important challenges today, due to environmental concerns and the risk of energy shortages. Recently, several research groups have reported a number of approaches to convert six-carbon sugars (such as glucose and fructose) from biomass into a furan compound called 5-hydroxymethylfurfural or HMF. HMF has been identified as the key compound intermediate for the synthesis of liquid biofuels (2,5-dimethylfuran and 2-methylfuran), polymers, pharmaceutical products, etc., constituting a building block in the development of technologies for establishing successful biorefineries. However, there are several technical and economic challenges that have delayed its production on an industrial scale. Some of the difficulties are associated with unknown thermodynamic properties and unknown equilibrium-phase compositions during the reaction process, problems in the HMF separation from the aqueous phase due to the presence of byproducts in the extractive phase and additional difficulties related to the reuse of the solvent utilized. In this context, this project includes: i) experimental determination of the thermodynamic properties of furan compounds; ii) experimental study of the liquid-liquid equilibrium (LLE) of binary and ternary mixtures involved in both the reaction and separation steps for the production of HMF; iii) thermodynamic modeling of multicomponent phase equilibrium using the Non-Random Two Liquid model (NRTL) and/or the equation of state (CPA EoS); iv) evaluation and optimization of the production of HMF by computer simulation using the ASPEN PLUS. (AU)

Scientific publications

(References retrieved automatically from Web of Science and SciELO through information on FAPESP grants and their corresponding numbers as mentioned in the publications by the authors)

DALMOLIN, IREDE; PINTO, RAFAELA R.; DE OLIVEIRA, LEONARDO H.; FOLLEGATTI-ROMERO, LUIS A.; COSTA, ALINE C.; AZNAR, MARTIN. Liquid-liquid equilibrium in systems used for the production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural from biomass using alcohols as solvents. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS, v. 111, p. 80-87, AUG 2017. (11/19736-1, 16/05950-5, 13/14118-3)

FOLLEGATTI-ROMERO, L. M.; SOSA, F. H. B.; COSTA, M. C.; TAVARES, D. T.; DE OLIVEIRA, L. H.; FOLLEGATTI-ROMERO, L. A.. Excess volumes and partial molar volumes of binary liquid mixtures of furfural or 2-methylfuran with alcohols at 298.15 K. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS, v. 134, p. 20-30, JUL 2019. (16/05950-5, 12/05027-1, 14/21252-0)

CAVALCANTI, KYRIALE V. M.; FOLLEGATTI-ROMERO, LUZ M.; DALMOLIN, IREDE; FOLLEGATTI-ROMERO, LUIS A.. Liquid-liquid equilibrium for (water+5-hydroxymethylfurfural+1-pentanol/1-hexanol/1-heptanol) systems at 298.15 K. JOURNAL OF CHEMICAL THERMODYNAMICS, v. 138, p. 59-66, NOV 2019. (16/05950-5, 16/21637-5, 14/21252-0)