Semibatch Hydrothermal Hydrolysis of Cellulose in a Filter Paper by Dilute Organic Acids

Cellulose in a filter paper is hydrolyzed by six dilute organic acids (0.01–1 wt %) under hydrothermal conditions (260 °C and 5 MPa) using a semibatch reactor. The rate of degradation increases with an increase in the concentration of the acid. The cellulose sample is completely degraded by the acids (1 wt %) in 60 min. While the yields of the different products are dependent on the nature of the organic acid used, cellulose is essentially converted to mono- and oligosaccharides, with glucose as the major product. The observed increase in the rate of degradation in the presence of formic or citric acid at 1 wt % allows for the degradation of the cellulose sample in a short time (20 min) and results in the highest yield of glucose (approximately 60%) observed in this study. The rate of conversion of the cellulose sample to glucose correlates directly with [H + ].