Furfural1 is produced from agricultural waste biomass that contain pentosans, which are aldose2 sugars, composed of small

rings formed from short five-member chains, that constitute a class of complex carbohydrates, present in cellulose of many woody plants such as corn cobs, sugar cane bagasse, rice and oat hulls etc. (Brady, et al. 2000).

CHEMICAL SOURCE FOR THE PRODUCTION OF FURFURAL MOLECULE:

In theory, any material containing pentosans can be used for the production of furfural. Technically furfural is produced by acid hydrolysis of the pentosan contained In woody biomass.

CORN COBS: 10-12%

WOOD: 4-8%

RICE HULLS: 7-10%

SUGARCANE BAGASSE: 8-11%

 The Chinese Huaxia Furfural Technology uses fixed-

bed reactors and continuous dynamic refining, and gives a high yield of furfural and byproducts at a low production cost. The hydrolysis step, developed in 1970s, was modified in the 1980s with the use of controlled electrical discharge components. The chemical methods refer mainly to acid degradation, which leads to hexoses, pentoses,and lignin processing, which are well-known possibilities of chemical processing.

 Enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis of biomass is a much

slower reaction than acid hydrolysis. Concentrated acid hydrolysis of biomass is limited by corrosion and expensive acid recovery problems. Wood is hydrolyzed with 20% HCl, which produced a 10% sugar solution. When the acidsugar solution is recycled to hydrolyze fresh wood, the sugar concentration is built up to 49%. The 40% solution then is distilled at 309 K at reduced pressure to recover 80% of the HCl as gas. The 55% sugar solution resulting from the distillation is then spray dried to expel the remaining HCl.

 For example the capital for equipment is only

$500,000 for a furfural plant with an annual capacity of one thousand metric tons. The expected annual profit before taxes is estimated to be between US$ 1 and 2 million (Westpro 2004). Furfuralis the only organic compound derived from biomass that can replace the crude oil based organics used in industry .

 Refining of lubricating oils & decolorizing agent

Furfural thanks several large scale applications to its solubility characteristics and its easy recuperation by steam distillation. Furfural has the unique property to dissolve aromatics and other unsaturated olefins. Today all major oil companies use furfural as selective solvent in the refining of lubricating oils. The first refining unit was built by a subsidiary of Texaco, the Indian Refining Company. This technology lead to production of high quality motor oil with improved temperature-viscosity properties. Aromatics, polar components, mercaptans are removed from petroleum by means of furfural extraction. Furfural can also be used as decolorizing agent to refine crude wood rosin.

 Purification technology for C4 and C5 hydrocarbons

During the Second World War the purification technology of butadiene was developed in the United States for the manufacture of synthetic rubber. By extractive distillation with furfural butadiene or isoprene can be separated from other C4 and C5 hydrocarbons, respectively.
Reactive solvent and good wetting agent

Furfural is unusually effective as a solvent for phenolic resins. In the manufacture of abrasive wheels, brake linings and refractory products for the steel industry furfural is known as a reactive solvent and excellent wetting agent. Unique chemical feedstock for other furan derivatives However, the main outlet of furfural is as chemical feedstock for the production of furfuryl alcohol and for other 5-membered oxygen-containing heterocycles, i.e. furan, methylfuran, acetylfuran, furfurylamine and furoic acid.

 Economic evaluation of a typical 1500 metric-ton/year furfural

Plant produced at 1500 MT/Yr with the market price of $ 1700/ton but selling at $900/ton yields $1350,000. Methyl Alcohol produced at 250 MT/Yr with the market price of $ 250/ton but selling at $100/ton yields $250,000. Acetone produced at 250 MT/Yr with the market price of $ 800/ton but selling at $400/ton yields $100,000. Acetic Acid produced at 800 MT/Yr with the market price of $ 900/ton but selling at $700/ton yields $560,000.

Furfural is a utility chemical. The manufacture is simple, the raw material is agriculture waste, the capital is reasonable and within reach of many small communities. Thus furfural may aptly be dubbed Gold from Garbage