Chemical Reaction Engineering in Biomass Transformation

The sitosterol-sitostanol mixture is cleaned via adsorption on active carbon before entering the hydrogenation reactor. 

An interesting way to retard catalyst deactivation is to expose the reaction mixture to ultrasound. Ultrasound treatment of the mixture creates local hot spots, which lead to the formation of cavitation bubbles. These cavitation bubbles bombard the solid, dirty surface leading to the removal of carbonaceous deposits [38]. The ultrasound source can be inside the reactor vessel (ultrasound stick) or ultrasound generators can be placed in contact with the wall of the reactor. Both designs work in practice, and the catalyst lifetime can be essentially prolonged, leading to process intensification. The effects of ultrasound are discussed in detail in a review article [39]. 

HPLC has become a very dominant analysis method for monosaccharides and their derivatives. 

Most of the actual reactions involve a three-phase process gas, liquid, and solid catalysts are present. Internal and external mass transfer limitations in porous catalyst layers play a central role in three-phase processes. The governing phenomena are well known since the days of Thiele [43] and Frank-Kamenetskii [44], but transport phenomena coupled to chemical reactions are not frequently used for complex organic systems, but simple - often too simple - tests based on the use of first-order Thiele modulus and Biot number are used. Instead, complete numerical simulations are preferable to reveal the role of mass and heat transfer at the phase boundaries and inside the porous catalyst particles. 

Thus it is important to obtain reliable models for catalyst deactivation and to investigate, whether it is possible to decouple the deactivation model from the kinetic model or if it is necessary to treat the catalyst deactivation as one of the surface reactions on the catalyst [45]. 

---

Chemical Reaction Engineering in Biomass Transformation 177 Arabinose profile... 

Chemical engineering in general and chemical reaction engineering in particular are in key position to carry out this transformation. One of the most important sources of biomass is forests, not only the rain forests and eucalyptus trees growing in the tropical areas of the earth but also the forests in the Northern hemisphere, for instance in Canada, USA, Russia, and in the Fenno-Scandic region. The big... 

---