Modified coal fly ash waste as an efficient heterogeneous catalyst for dehydration of xylose to furfural in biphasic medium. (1st March 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Chatterjee, Amrita; HU, Xijun; Lam, Frank Leung-Yuk
• Is Part Of: Fuel. Volume 239(2019)
• Page Start: 726
• Page End: 736
• Publication Date: 2019-03-01
• Subjects: Fly ash -- De-alumination -- Heterogeneous catalysis -- Xylose dehydration -- Sustainable; Fuel -- Periodicals; Coal -- Periodicals; Coal; Fuel; Periodicals; 662.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.fuel.2018.10.138
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0016-2361

Abstract

Graphical abstract: Highlights: A catalyst was prepared from fly ash disposed as waste from iron and steel industry. Acid activated fly ash had enhanced Brønsted acidity and surface area of 113 m 2 /g. Developed catalyst yielded 62% furfural at 170 °C in 210 min. In 35 ppt saline water, furfural yield improved to 68%. Abstract: For the first time, application of acid-treated coal fly ash as a catalyst for selective dehydration ofd -xylose to furfural was investigated in this work. Coal fly ash had been treated with sulphuric acid to promote de-alumination and consequently enhance the silanol concentration in the modified catalyst. This Brønsted acidic catalyst had been effective to convert 85%d -xylose to yield 62% furfural at 170 °C. On addition of 35 ppt of NaCl to the system furfural yield was improved to 68%. This promising result in equivalent salinity of sea water might open up possibilities to investigate inexpensive sea water as a replacement of distilled water to improve the product yield. The catalyst was stable enough to sustain minimum of 6 cycles of run. Apart from the abundant availability and cheap price of fly ash, utilizing it for heterogeneous catalysis drives to mitigate disposal problems of fly ash to partial extent. The dual advantages make the system eco-friendly.