Catalysis and Reaction Engineering Commons^™

Production Of Renewable Fuels And Chemicals From Biomass-Dervied Furan Compounds, Sara K. Green

Doctoral Dissertations

Growing concern over the petroleum supply, energy independence, and environmental impacts associated with fossil fuels, has motivated research into the production of renewable fuels and aromatic chemicals from biomass resources. Specifically, furan-based feedstocks such as furfural, 2-methylfuran (MF) and, 2,5-dimethylfuran (DMF) can be derived from biomass and used to produce a wide variety of desired compounds. These furan-based feedstocks are produced by: (a) the hydrolysis of cellulose and hemicellulose form to glucose and xylose, (b) the dehydration of these carbohydrates to form 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and furfural, and (c) the reduction of HMF and furfural to DMF, MF, and furan. The …