Partial oxidation of D-xylose to maleic anhydride and acrylic acid over vanadyl pyrophosphate

Xylose is the second most abundant sugar after glucose. Despite its tremendous potential to serve as a renewable feedstock, few commercial processes exploit this resource. Here, we report a new technology in which a two-fluid nozzle atomizes a xylose-water solution into a capillary fluidized bed operating above 300 °C. Xylose-water droplets form at the tip of the injector, vaporize then react with a heterogeneous mixed oxide catalyst. A syringe pump metered the solution to the reactor charged with 1 g of catalyst. Product yield over vanadyl pyrophosphate was higher compared to molybdenum trioxide-cobalt oxide and iron molybdate; it reached 25% for maleic anhydride, 17% for acrylic acid and 11% for acrolein. Gas residence time was 0.2 s. The catalyst was free of coke even after operating for 4 h – based on a thermogravimetric analysis of catalyst withdrawn from the reactor. Below 300 °C, powder agglomerated at the tip of the injector at 300 °C; it also agglomerated with a xylose mass fraction of 7% in water. - Highlights: • D-xylose reacts to form maleic anhydride and acrylic acid above 250 °C. • Vanadyl pyrophosphate is both active and selective for maleic and acrylic acid. • Acid and acrolein yield approaches 50% for a xylose mass fraction of 3% in water. • Catalyst agglomerates at low temperatures and high xylose aqueous mass fraction. • Atomization quality is a determining factor to minimize agglomeration