Ethyl Levulinate Obtained from Lignocellulosic Waste Material with Previous Delignification by Ultrasonic-Assisted Technique

Abstract

Ultrasound-assisted pretreatment under mild operating conditions has been investigated for intensification of delignification to facilitate the obtaining of ethyl levulinate from biomass. The effect of pH (2 - 12), temperature (30˚C - 70˚C) and pretreatment time (0 - 120 minutes) has been studied for different biomass samples. The most favorable conditions were basic pH, temperature of 70˚C and pretreatment time of 2 h, obtaining values of delignification near 80 percent. The ethyl levulinate is obtained in microwave directly via from samples before and after delignification and analyzed for GC-MS. The results evidenced better yields for the delignified samples.