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Understanding and Mitigating Stickiness in Biochar Produced through Acid Hydrolysis and Dehydration.
Ehsan Ullah Sardar1,2, Ravikant Patil2, Sampath Karunarathne2
1Chemical and Biomedical Engineering, University of Maine, Orono, Maine 04469, United States.
Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research
|March 9, 2026
Summary
Preconditioning lignocellulosic biomass with acid significantly reduces sticky biochar formation during levulinic acid production. This chemical pretreatment improves reactor efficiency and organic acid yields in the acid hydrolysis and dehydration process.
Area of Science:
- Biomass conversion
- Chemical engineering
- Sustainable chemistry
Background:
- Levulinic acid is a key platform chemical for biobased products.
- Acid hydrolysis and dehydration (AHDH) is a common production method.
- Sticky biochar formation hinders AHDH process scalability.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate chemical preconditioning to mitigate biochar formation.
- Enhance reactor operability and levulinic acid yield.
- Analyze the impact of preconditioning on biomass components.
Main Methods:
- Woody biomass preconditioning (170°C, 0.26 wt% H2SO4, 30 min).
- Acid hydrolysis and dehydration (AHDH) of preconditioned biomass.
- Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) to study char formation mechanisms.
Main Results:
- Preconditioning removed hemicellulose and acid-soluble lignin.
- AHDH of preconditioned solids yielded non-adherent biochar.
- TGA confirmed reduced interactions between degradation products and lignin.
- Softwood species yielded 6% more organic acids than hardwoods; bark reduced yield.
Conclusions:
- Chemical preconditioning effectively minimizes sticky biochar in AHDH.
- Pretreatment enhances reactor operability and organic acid production efficiency.
- Biomass feedstock characteristics (species, bark) influence yield.
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