Biofine process

Fitzpatrick, S.W. 2004. Biofine Process A Biorefinery Concept Based on Thermochemical Conversion of Biomass. ACS National Meeting Book of Abstracts, 227, 173. 

The most widely used approach for producing levulinic acid is the direct hydrolysis of biomass or carbohydrates, catalyzed by aqueous acid.478,480 483 However, this forms large amounts of side products and intractable materials, requiring an expensive separation that drives up its cost. Several years ago, a new process developed by the Biofine Corporation eliminated many of the existing production problems. The Biofine process... 

The Biofine process produces levulinic acid, furfural and formic acid from lignocellulose in a two-step process using dilute sulfuric acid as a catalyst [45], The first step depolymerises the polysaccharides and converts the resulting 6-carbon sugars into hydroxymethylfurfural by a dehydration reaction at 210-220 °C and 25 bar. The second step converts hydroxymethylfurfural to the products at 190-200 °C and 14 bar (Scheme 1). 

Hayes, D.J., Fitzpatrick, S.W., Hayes, M.H.B., and Ross, J.R.H. (2005) The biofine process - production of levulinic acid, furfural, and formic acid from lignocellulosic feedstocks, in Eiorefineries Industrial Processes and Products, vol. 1 (eds B. Kamm, P.R. Gruber, and M. Kamm), Wiley, Weinheim, Germany, pp. 139-164. 

Scheme 23 Production of LA by the Biofine process (left) and via CMF (right)...

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