Pressurized Screw Feeding Reactor Promoted Continuous and Scalable Production of Hydroxycinnamic Acids

Area of Science:

• Biorefinery technology
• Green chemistry and sustainable processes

Background:

• Traditional batch alkaline hydrolysis for hydroxycinnamic acids (HCAs) production from agricultural waste suffers from operational inefficiencies.
• Limitations include downtime, labor intensity, and poor heat-mass transfer, hindering industrial scalability.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and demonstrate a continuous high-pressure screw reactor (HPSR) system for efficient valorization of agricultural waste into HCAs.
• To overcome the limitations of conventional batch processes for HCA production.

Main Methods:

• Utilized a continuous high-pressure screw reactor (HPSR) integrating mechanical shear, enhanced mixing, and process control.
• Employed a high solid/liquid ratio strategy and cascade purification (adsorption, extraction, crystallization).

Main Results:

• Achieved high yields of HCAs (25.46 mg/g) and lignin removal (93.6%) in minutes.
• Demonstrated a production efficiency of 11.40 mg/g biomass/min, an order of magnitude higher than batch methods.
• Obtained high-purity (91.04%) p-coumaric acid (p-CA) product through cascade purification.

Conclusions:

• The HPSR system offers an efficient and continuous method for converting herbaceous biomass into HCAs and other valuable components.
• This approach significantly enhances reaction kinetics and suppresses product degradation compared to batch processes.
• The integrated purification strategy yields high-purity products, supporting the development of sustainable biorefineries.