(669c) An Ionic Liquid-Based Process for Conversion of Biomass Into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) as Petrochemical Intermediate

Most of today's bulk petrochemical and chemical products are manufactured from raw materials that are derived from petroleum oil or natural gas. For example, aromatics are produced from crude oil through a series of energy and capital-intensive refining process steps. Replacement of such oil-based feedstock with intermediates derived from renewable biomass material has both energy and environmental benefits by reducing oil consumption and green house gas emissions. In addition, chemical feedstock typically has a higher value than the liquid transportation fuel. 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) has been proposed as a flexible platform chemical to substitute for today's petroleum-derived feedstock such as paraxyelene in manufacturing of polyester and polyamide. A good amount of research has been reported in the literature for synthesis of HMF from renewable hydrocarbon sources. However, there are no practical processes yet to produce HMF at a cost level competitive with today's petrochemical feedstock. A continuous flow process based on ionic liquids will be described in this presentation for conversion of sugars, cellulose into HMF. The ionic liquid fluid serves both as a green solvent to dissolve the sugar-type biomass and as a catalyst carrier. Fundamental studies on reaction kinetics and HMF/ionic liquid separation will be discussed pertinent to reactor design and ionic liquid recovery for development of a low-cost HMF manufacturing process.