Conference
| Title | Synthesis of Furfural from Coconut Shells and Husk Posted by Rodel Guerrero |
| Authors | Guerrero, Rodel D.; Tumolva, Terence P.; Kubuochi, Masatoshi |
| Publication date | 2014/11 |
| Abstract | Furfural is the product of the hydrolysis of pentosan-rich materials. The main source of pentosan is lignocellulose that can be found in biomass. Pentosans from coconut shell and coconut husk, which are available non-food agricultural residues in the Philippines, were used in this study. Furfural is an indispensable chemical substance because of its wide array of applications. Furthermore, it is also utilized to derive other valuable chemicals such as furfuryl alcohol and furan resin thermosets. The laboratory synthesis of furfural was done via acid catalyzed hydrolysis. The hydrolyses were carried out at 180°C using dilute (0.2 M) sulfuric acid for a series of hydrolysis time starting from zero second up to 60 minutes with 5 minutes interval. Results show that the method used was successful in producing furfural. Also, both the shell and the husk exhibit the same increasing trend with respect to digestion time against the percent mass furfural yield. But that is, only up to a certain hydrolysis time for which the maximum average percent mass furfural yield can be obtained. After which, a decrease in mass yield will be noticed. Coconut shells produced the highest furfural yield of 42.72% for a 30 minute hydrolysis time. It was also the raw material that was most sensitive to changes in hydrolysis time compared to that of the coconut husk. |
| Index terms / Keywords | Furfural; Pentosan; Acid Hydrolysis; Coconut Shells; Coconut Husk |