Separation of fuel additive levulinic acid using toluene, xylene, and octanol from water stream

Levulinic acid is an important fuel additive due to its multifunctionality with keto and carboxylic functional groups. It also carries the potential to produce some other fuel additives viz. γ-valerolactone, ethyl levulinate, and 2-methyl tetrahydrofuran. These substances can be combined with petroleum-derived transportation fuels similarly to bioethanol without modifying in engines. The wastewater and solid wastes from various industries contain organic acids in the downstreams. The recovery and separation of organic acids from wastewater is challenging due to its dilute concentrations and other issues. The presented study involves the separation of levulinc acid from the waste-water stream using various solvents such as toluene, xylene, and octanol at 25°C. The experimental results were described in terms of the partition constant ( P c ), dimerization constant ( D c ), distribution coefficients ( K D ), and extraction efficiency ( E η ). The present study can significantly contribute to the recovery of levulinic acid as fuel additive levulinic with low-cost process.