High glucose selectivity in pressurized water hydrolysis of cellulose using ultra-fast reactors

A new reactor was developed for the selective hydrolysis of cellulose. In this study, the glucose selectivity obtained from cellulose was improved by using ultra-fast reactions in which a selective medium was combined with an effective residence time control. A selective production of glucose, fructose and cellobiose (50%) or total mono-oligo saccharides (>96%) was obtained from the cellulose in a reaction time of 0.03 s. Total cellulose conversion was achieved with a 5-hydroxymethylfural concentration lower than 5 ppm in a novel micro-reactor. Reducing the residence time from minutes to milliseconds opens the possibility of moving from the conventional m(3) to cm(3) reactor volumes. (C) 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.