A New Process for Producing Formic Acid by Alkaline Hydrothermal Reaction of Biomass-Derived Carbohydrate

摘要

The formation of formic acid by hydrothermal oxidation of glucose, starch and cellulose was investigated. All experiments were conducted in a batch reactor, made of SUS 316 tubing, providing an internal volume of 5.7 cm 3 . A 30 wt% hydrogen peroxide aqueous solution was used as an oxidant. The wet oxidation of glucose with and without the addition of alkali was carried out with temperature varying from 200 °C to 300 °C, reaction time varying from 0.5 min to 5 min, H2O2 supply 240 %, and alkaline concentration varying from 0 to 1.25 M. With and without the addition of alkaline, the highest yield of formic acid both happened at 250 °C. The alkaline addition catalyzed and affected the reaction greatly, and an excellent formic acid yield of about 75% was achieved from glucose, at 250 °C with 1.25 M KOH. However, the yields of formic acid from starch and cellulose were much lower than that from glucose. The research for increasing the yield of formic acid from starch and cellulose was in process.