Furfural production from rice husk using sulfuric acid and a solid acid catalyst through a two-stage process

[Display omitted] ► The conditions for furfural production from rice husk were optimized using orthogonal test design and response surface methodology (RSM), respectively via two-stage process. ► Functionalized solid acid catalysts (SBA-15) were used in the second stage for furfural production. This study aimed to optimize the conditions for furfural production from rice husk via a two-stage process: acid hydrolysis followed by dehydration using an orthogonal test design and response surface methodology, respectively. Orthogonal test design was utilized in the hydrolysis step; optimum conditions were as follows: 2.5% sulfuric acid (mass fraction), 110°C reaction temperature, sulfuric acid to rice husk (L/S) ratio of 8 (g/mL), and a reaction time of 3h. According to the Box–Behnken design, the temperature, amount of catalyst, extractant volume, and reaction time were chosen as four important factors with three levels for the dehydration step. Conditions were further optimized by response surface analysis. The results showed that the optimal conditions were 177°C, 120mL extractant volume, 2.1g of catalyst, and a reaction time of 4.8h. Under the optimal conditions, the furfural yield reached 8.9%, which is consistent with the estimated value, 8.97%.