Hydrolysis of Walnut Shell to Generate Levulinic Acid
Abstract:As a new chemical platform and a pharmaceutical intermediates, Levulinic acid(LA) uses extensively as an important chemical raw materials. Because petroleum chemical methods to product LA exist many shortcomings (ex: more manufacturing steps and difficult separation of by-product, etc.), LA conversion from biomass becomes a hot research. The agriculture occupies a major aspect of economy in Jilin province. Every year a large amount of agriculture and forestry residues are brought out, which is more than100,000 tons of walnut shell. As a renewable biomass resource, the comprehensive utilization will have a tremendous economic benefit. Here we transfer the agricultural waste——walnut shell, to levulinic acid. The researches of the catalyst of hydrolysis focus on type and concentration to select a benign catalyst.