Preparation of Furfural from Sawdust with Steam-explosion Pretreatment

Furfural was made from sawdust by steam explosion pretreatment and acid hydrolysis in present study.The impacts of temperature,steam pressure,reaction time of steam explosion pretreatment and the ratio of liquid-sawdust on the furfural yield were discussed.The pretreatment was optimized by response surface methodology.The results indicated that the steam explosion pretreatment effectively promoted the degradation of sawdust and resulted in the increase of furfural yield.The furfural yield was 79.13% when the sawdust with 3 ∶ 1(mL ∶ g) liquid/solid ratio was treated by steam explosion at 216 ℃ and 1.8 MPa explosion pressure for 6 min.Compared with the sample without steam explosion pretreatment,only 55.35% furfural yield was obtained.