Efficient and continuous furfural hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol in a micropacked bed reactor

In this work, continuous furfural hydrogenation to furfuryl alcohol in micropacked bed reactors (μPBRs) is investigated. The performances of Cu-, Ni-, Pd-, and Pt-based catalysts for the furfural hydrogenation reaction are evaluated at different temperatures. Then the effects of solvent, pressure, gas and liquid flow rates, and initial concentration of furfural on the conversion of furfural and the yield of furfuryl alcohol are discussed. 100% furfuryl alcohol can be obtained under mild reaction conditions (80 °C and 0.6 MPa) with a reaction time of 65 s. For the catalytic transfer hydrogenation of FUR, μPBRs also provide excellent reaction performance (yield of furfural alcohol = 94.3%) with a reaction time of 194 s at 100 °C and 0.6 MPa. The space time yield of μPBRs is 0.51 kg L⁻¹ h⁻¹, which is 1-2 orders of magnitude higher than those of conventional stirred tank reactors and packed bed reactors. Furthermore, the intrinsic reaction kinetics is established and the experimental data are also described by the Langmuir-Hinshelwood model. This work provides a more efficient, fast, continuous, and safe process for furfural hydrogenation reactions in μPBRs.