Boreskov Institute of Catalysis SB RAS, Novosibirsk, Russia

CHARACTERISATION AND DEPOLYMERIZATIONOF SOLID HUMIN BY-PRODUCTSRasrendra C.B. 1 , Windt M. 2 , Meier D. 2 , Heeres H.J. 11 Chemical Engineering Department, University of Groningen,Nijenborgh 4 9747 AG Groningen, the Netherlands, h.j.heeres@rug.nl2 vTI-Institute of Wood Technology and Wood Biology,Leuschnerstr. 91 D-2103 Hamburg, GermanyOP-2-7Biomass has been identified as an important future source for biobasedchemicals. For example, lignocellulosic biomass like wood chips and agriculturalresidues (e.g. straw) may be converted to platform chemicals like acetic acid,hydroxymethylfurfural and levulinic acid. However, the conversion of C6-sugars toHMF and levulinic acid in acidic aqueous systems invariably leads to the formation oflarge amounts (up to 40 wt%) of insoluble brown solids, also known as humins(Figure 1) [1]. Given the fact that future biorefineries will process large amount of C6-sugars, it is highly relevant to identify possible high value outlets for these huminsubstances. We here report our studies on the characterization of humins (SEM, CP-NMR, FT-IR, GPC, TGA, DSC and XRD) and exploratory studies to depolymerise thehumins using fast-pyrolysis and catalytic hydrotreatments. The fast pyrolysis ofhumins in micro-devices showed the presence of a range of furanics, phenolics andorganic acids in the product phase. The catalytic hydrogenation of humins with Ru/Cas the catalyst mainly yielded organic acids (acetic-, propionic-, pentanoic- andhexanoic- acid) and furanics.HHOHOOHHOOOOOHHOH+H +CH 3 +HOOHOHH OHHHOD-glucose 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) levulinic acid formic acidHuminsHuminsSEM of Humins Solid state CNMR of huminsFigure 1. Humins formation from acid catalysed hydrolysis of D-glucose.[1]. B. Girisuta, L.P.B.M. Janssen and H.J. Heeres, Chemical Engineering Research & Design, 84(2006) 339-349.49