publications publications in prep.

  • Fossil Fuel Foundation Workshop

    P Steiner, D Arnold, M Feldner: "The Reality if building a bio-based (chemical) business. A true South African Story". Presented at the Fossil Fuel Foundation's (www.fossilfuel.co.za) "Renewables and Bioenergy Conference", 31 May 2006:

    • PowerPoint presentation with speaker's notes (3MB)


  • Indian Institute of Technology (ITT)

    Invitation to present "The Novel SupraYield® Process for Efficient Production Of Furfural From Renewable Resources" (December 2005).

    • Keywords: furfural; chemurgy; sustainability; SupraYield®.

    • Abstract: Furfural is produced by the liquid phase acid catalytic dehydration of pentose, which is obtained by liquid phase acid catalytic hydrolysis of pentosan polymers in woody vegetable matter.   Current industrial furfural processes strip this furfural from the substrate using live steam. The patented (IFT 2001) SupraYield® process described here overcomes problems of energy inefficiency, yield-loss reactions, product purity and effluent generation by using adiabatic flash distillation in the reactor.  The process is described, together with the theoretical considerations and experimental work that made it marketable.

    • Full text: click here to get Acrobat Reader (323 kB)

    • Presentation: click here to get Acrobat Reader (1 MB)

     

  • SAIChE GOLD MEDAL (Version 4 100506N) click here to get Acrobat Reader (4.2 MB)

    Background Information supporting the Nomination of the "SupraYield® Process For Furfural Production".

  • "A Novel and Patented Process For Furfural Production", ARNOLD D R, BUZZARD JL, Proceedings of the South African Chemical Engineering Congress (3 - 5 September 2003, Sun City, South Africa), ISBN Number: 0-958-46095-7

  • "Gaseous acid catalysis: An intriguing new process",  Zeitsch, K. J., Chem. Innov. 2001, 31 (1), 41-44, January 2001 (click here to open PDF file click here to get Acrobat Reader)

Our furfural expert is back and offers you what he calls “a story against all odds”.

Current industrial processes yield only about half as much furfural as expected from analytical procedures. Why is this, and what must be done to boost industrial yields to the “analytical” level?

The by-products diacetyl and 2,3-pentanedione are produced in sizable quantities—and this is a good thing.