Catalytic Pyrolysis of Impregnated Cellulose Using Boric Acid to Produce Furfural

Furfural is one of the valuable compounds which has various industrial uses. Furfural itself can be obtained from lignocellulosic biomass through the conversion of hemicellulose and cellulose structures. In the furfural production process, there are problems related to the yield of furfural compounds, their effect on the environment and the presence of waste that has not been used optimally. Cellulose itself is one of the wastes generated in the production of furfural from biomass. Cellulose is one of the potential materials that can be converted into furfural through the pyrolysis method. In this research, a review was carried out regarding the catalytic pyrolysis process with the impregnation method on cellulose using a boric acid catalyst to produce furfural compounds. Based on the research conducted, the effect of the role of boric acid impregnation in increasing and maximizing furfural product was obtained. The optimal conditions for furfural production were obtained at a pyrolysis temperature of 500 oC and the use of a boric acid catalyst with a boron ratio of 0.5, which obtained furfural compounds by GC-MS analysis of 44.62% area. In addition, in this study a phenomenon was obtained in the synthesis of furfural using cellulose, where the presence of a catalyst and an increase in the pyrolysis temperature used can increase the selectivity of furfural compounds in the pyrolysis process.