Selective Conversion of Inulin into 5-Hydroxymethylfurfural and Levulinic Acid in Micropacked Bed Reactors

This work presents the efficient, safe, and continuous production of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) and levulinic acid (LA) from inulin in micropacked bed reactors (μPBRs) over HND-580. Through optimization reaction conditions, the highly selective production of fructose and LA from aqueous inulin and HMF from an inulin DMSO-water mixed solution can be achieved with respect to other reactor technologies. The highest yields of 89% for fructose, 81% for HMF, and 84% for LA can be obtained within a reaction time of 7.26 min. Polysaccharide inulin is used as the reaction substrate, and the space-time yield (STY) of HMF and LA in μPBRs is at least an order higher than that in conventional batch reactors. Subsequently, an intrinsic kinetic model for inulin conversion is established. The most predicted values show good agreement with the experimental results with a relative error of ±20%.