Optimization of renewable levulinic acid production from glucose conversion catalyzed by Fe/HY zeolite catalyst in aqueous medium

• Dehydration of glucose as model compound to LA over Fe/HY zeolite catalyst.
• RSM coupled with BBD for optimization of LA yield from glucose.
• Optimization involving evaluation of four parameters gave 61.8% of optimum LA yield.
• Direct conversion of OPF over Fe/HY zeolite yielded 17.6% LA with 54.8% efficiency.
• Reusability of Fe/HY zeolite catalyst was tested for five successive cycles.

Levulinic acid (LA) is a versatile chemical with numerous applications. In this study, the conversions of glucose and oil palm fronds (OPF) to LA have been conducted over 10% Fe/HY zeolite catalyst. The optimization of LA yield from glucose conversion using Box–Behnken design and response surface methodology reported 61.8% yield, which can be achieved at temperature 173.4 °C, reaction time 3.3 h, 0.93 g of glucose and 0.89 g 10% Fe/HY zeolite. The LA yield from OPF conversion conducted at the optimum conditions was 17.6% with 54.8% process efficiency. It was also observed that Fe leaching from 10% Fe/HY zeolite was insignificant and recycled 10% Fe/HY zeolite gave sufficient performance for five successive cycles. This study emphasizes the potential of Fe/HY zeolite catalyst for catalytic conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to LA.