Subcritical Water – a Perspective Reaction Media for Biomass Processing to Chemicals: Study on Cellulose Conversion as a Model for Biomass

I. Pavlovič, Ž. Knez and M. Škerget

Abstract
Abstract: Biomass and water are recognized as a key renewable feedstock in sustainable production of chemicals, fuels and energy. Subcritical water (SubCW), or commonly referred as hot compressed water (HCW), is the water above boiling and below critical point (CP; 374 °C, 22.1 MPa). It has gained great attention in the last few decades as a green, cheap, and nontoxic reagent for conversion of biomass into valuable chemicals. In this paper, hydrothermal reactions of cellulose, as the model biomass substance, with subcritical water at mild temperature and pressure regimes have been studied. The experiments were done in a batch reactor in the temperature range of 220 ° – 300 °C. The main products distributed in liquid, gaseous and solid phase were separated and quantified. The conversions to each group of products were found strongly dependent on the temperature and residence time.

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Keywords
biomass, cellulose, subcritical water (SubCW), hydrothermal conversion, bio-oils