Experimental and Mathematical Simulation of Noncompetitive and Competitive Adsorption Dynamic of Formic Acid–Levulinic Acid–5-Hydroxymethylfurfural from Single, Binary, and Ternary Systems in a Fixed-Bed Column of SY-01 Resin

Abstract

Levulinic acid (LA) is a versatile platform chemical in the modern concept of the biorefinery and can be used to synthesize a broad range of desirable chemicals and fuel additives. Unfortunately, because LA released from biomass hydrolysate is accompanied by formic acid (FA) and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (5-HMF), it is also important to investigate the binary and ternary adsorption equilibrium, as well as competitive dynamic fixed-bed column adsorption from the viewpoint of industrial application. Batch adsorption experiments showed that the affinity of SY-01 resin toward FA–LA–5-HMF were in the order of 5-HMF > LA > FA under noncompetitive and competitive systems. The highest adsorption capacity were 7.54 mg/g wet resin for FA, 103.51 mg/g wet resin for LA, and 107.73 mg/g wet resin for 5-HMF. Interestingly, the presence of FA has a synergistic effect on the adsorption of LA and 5-HMF onto SY-01 resin in a binary- or ternary-mixtures system, leading to a slight increase in adsorption uptakes. Furthermore, a mathematical model based on the general rate model coupled with the noncompetitive single-component and competitive multicomponent Langmuir isotherm was successfully developed to simulate the breakthrough curves of FA–LA–5-HMF from single, binary, as well as ternary-component mixtures. The proposed methodology for fixed-bed column multicomponent competitive adsorption model can be successfully implemented to completely design the separation unit of LA from aqueous solution or biomass hydrolysate. Furthermore, it also has the potential to expand the application to the actual biomass hydrolysate, saving a lot of manpower and material resources.