Design of a continuous process for the alkaline treatment of xylose into lactic acid

摘要

A compact process based on a gas/liquid contactor was designed for the continuous alkaline oxidation of xylose into lactic acid. An experimental design using Doehlert's method was used to study the effect of:ⅰ) the NaOH concentration, ⅱ) the xylose concentration, ⅲ) the reaction temperature, and ⅳ) the residence time, on the yield of lactic acid. Results indicate that the conversion of xylose at concentrations between 5-15/100(w/w) is complete and nearly instantaneous at both high temperatures (over 200deg) and high sodium hydroxide concentrations ((>10/100 w/w).