Effects of Catalyst Loading and Reaction Temperature on the Production of Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) from Brewers’ Spent Grain (BSG) Hydrolysate

Abstract:

Hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF), a by-product in the dilute acid hydrolysis of biomass, and is commonly seen as fermentation inhibitor in bio-ethanol production. However, HMF is also considered an important chemical in the synthesis of various bio-based products, particularly bioplastics. This study investigated the production of HMF from sugar-rich brewers’ spent grains (BSG) hydrolysates. BSG (15 %wt./wt. solution) was subjected to dilute acid hydrolysis (5% v/v sulfuric acid ) for 30 minutes at 121°C to produce a sugar-rich hydrolysate (SRH) having a reducing sugar content of 33.97 ± 1.21 %wt. glucose equivalent. The SRH was subjected to a dehydration reaction and the effects of aluminum chloride catalyst loading (ACL) (5, 10, and 15 %w/v) and reaction temperature (120, 130, and 140 °C) on the HMF content of the hydrolysate were investigated in this study. Results show that a higher ACL (15 %w/v) and reaction temperature (140 °C) lead to higher HMF content (144.7 ± 9.9 ppm). Additionally, both reaction temperature and ACL, together with its interactions terms, were found to significantly affect HMF content, with temperature having a more significant effect than ACL. A simplified kinetic model was developed to gain further insight into the dehydration reaction at chosen process conditions (ACL = 15 %w/v; T= 140 °C) which produced maximum HMF content. Results show that the proposed kinetic model on reducing sugar dehydration agrees with the experimental data with a good model fit. Moreover, results suggest that HMF, furfural, and humins actively compete in their formation from reducing sugar dehydration, with HMF being less favorable in its production at the employed reaction conditions.

• Periodical: Advanced Materials Research (Volume 1186)
• Pages: 19-46
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.4028/p-uTgf1v
• Online since: January 2026
• Authors: Ian Dominic F. Tabañag*, Shaneeka Elise P. Lim, Robin Geiger B. Mangubat, Alexandra Christina P. Son
• Keywords: Brewers’ Spent Grains, Hydrolysate Dehydration, Hydrolysates, Hydroxymethylfurfural

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