High glucose selectivity in pressurized water hydrolysis of cellulose using ultra-fast reactors

[Display omitted] . ► Total cellulose hydrolysis to glucose and oligomer can be achieved with residence times 0.02–0.03s. ► Very low concentration of derived-products by the control of the residence time. ► The ultra fast reactor allows the control of extremely low the residence time. ► The supercritical water medium avoids the ionic degradation reactions. ► The residence time could control the glucose radical degradation reactions. A new reactor was developed for the selective hydrolysis of cellulose. In this study, the glucose selectivity obtained from cellulose was improved by using ultra-fast reactions in which a selective medium was combined with an effective residence time control. A selective production of glucose, fructose and cellobiose (50%) or total mono-oligo saccharides (>96%) was obtained from the cellulose in a reaction time of 0.03s. Total cellulose conversion was achieved with a 5-hydroxymethylfural concentration lower than 5ppm in a novel micro-reactor. Reducing the residence time from minutes to milliseconds opens the possibility of moving from the conventional m3 to cm3 reactor volumes.