Dissolution reaction kinetics and mass transfer during aqueous choline chloride pre-treatment of oak wood

Lignocellulosic biomass processing employing ionic liquids is of recent research interest for the biorefinery industry. The data on biomass dissolution kinetics in ionic liquids is important for designing scale-up pre-treatment reactor design. In this study, the reaction mechanism and kinetics of oak wood dissolution in aqueous choline chloride was investigated. In an extended effort, a correlation of dimensionless numbers was developed for the estimation the mass transfer coefficient. The analyses suggested that oak wood dissolution in choline chloride occurred in two stages. The diffusion of ionic liquid through the product layer was the dominating rate-controlling step in the first stage of dissolution followed by the surface chemical reaction in the second stage. The diffusivity of choline chloride into the oak wood matrix was ranging between 2.96E-14 and 2.84E-13 m²/s. The activation energy of the diffusion controlled stage and surface chemical reaction controlled stage was approximately 24.2 and 40.3 kJ mol^-1, respectively. The proposed mathematical correlation for mass transfer coefficient fitted well with the experimental mass transfer coefficient values.