| Hot water extract from the sugar maple hardwood chips was investigated for the acid hydrolysis process. The hemicelluloses, obtained in the form of dilute light brown liquor was washed and concentrated by the means of Nano Filtration membrane separation using a membrane of molecular weight cut of about 100.;The kinetic pattern directing the acid-hydrolysis was generated by reacting xylooligosacchardies containing wood extracts with concentrated sulphuric acid as catalyst on weight basis of 0.0, 1.0 and 2.0% at 85°C, 95°C, 105°C, 120°C and 135°C. The concentrations of xylose, arabinose, acetic acid, furfural and methanol were determined as a function of time. On laboratory scale, the two largest recovery yields of xylose and arabinose were obtained when the concentrated wood extract was treated with 2% sulphuric acid at 120°C for 4 hours and 105°C for 5 hours, with low furfural yields. Results were interpreted by means of graphs and kinetic model which would represent a close reproduction of the experimental data. |
