Catalytic conversion of furfural towards fuel biocomponents

Introduction The climate change, the perspective of finishing oil resource and its rising prices led the world to search for an alternative ways of acquiring valuable chemicals and fuels. In recent years technologies of production the most important chemicals for chemical and automotive industries are developed, especially these which use a renewable source of biomass (biodegradable fraction of products, waste and residues from agriculture, forestry and related industries, as well as the biodegradable fraction of industrial and municipal waste) [12, 14, 17]. From chemical point of view a lignocellulosic biomass is composed of cellulose (30-45%), hemicellulose (20-35%) and lignin (10-20%) [1, 12]. Currently, the main attention is paid to furan derivatives and to catalytic processes for production them from the sugars contained in biomass [12]. Furans in the latest “Technology road map, biofuels for transport”, compiled by the International Energy Agency, were classified as prospective biofuels [15]. Compounds such as furfural and 5-hydroxymethylfurfural (HMF) can be obtained with good yield through dehydration of monosaccharides, such as hexoses (e.g. fructose) or pentoses (e.g. xylose) in the presence of various catalysts [14].