Synergistic Effects of Furfural and Sulfuric Acid on the Decomposition of Levulinic Acid

The decomposition of levulinic acid (LA) is a critical factor limiting the yield of LA produced by biomass hydrolysis. In this study, the effects of influencing factors, especially furfural, on the decomposition of LA were investigated. Results show that furfural, as a hemicellulose hydrolysis product, led to an increase in LA decomposition; 25.3% of LA decomposed when furfural concentration was 0.3 mol/L at 200 degrees C. Furthermore, sulfuric acid, as a hydrolysis catalyst, was found to have a synergistic effect with furfural on LA decomposition, giving a maximum promotion of 9.86% on LA decomposition compared with the effect of acid or furfural alone. A kinetic model of LA decomposition considering the synergistic effect of furfural and acid concentration was established, and the activation energy of LA decomposition was found to be 34.46 kJ/mol.