Abstract

This study provides an in-depth insight into the kinetics of corn cobs hydrolysis over formic acid to produce xylose and assesses the economic performance of the clean production process. The effects of reaction time, reaction temperature, and the solid-liquid ratio on the xylose yield were optimized by the response surface methodology. The results show that a high yield of xylose (29.9%) can be obtained under optimal conditions of a solid-liquid ratio of 1:10.15, 115.5 °C, and 66 min. The crystallization yield and purity of xylose reached 85% and 90%, respectively. Additionally, a mixed model consisting of a shrinking core model and a pseudo-first-order kinetics model was first proposed to elucidate the kinetics of corn cobs hydrolysis to xylose. Kinetic studies revealed that the depolymerization of lignocellulosic matrix to hemicellulose was the rate-determining step of the overall hydrolysis. Techno-economic analysis showed that the financial internal rate of return (FIRR) was 36.33% at the end of the project lifetime, which was much higher than the benchmark value of 15% for chemical enterprises. In addition, the investment profit margin was 52.11%, which was higher than the industry standard of 26%. The selling price of xylose was the main driving factor affecting FIRR.