FURFURAL: THE $700M BIOCHEMICAL

FURFURAL is fast emerging as one of the world’s most promising bio-based chemicals, for its environmentally-friendly application across numerous industries.

While the industrial production of furfural began in the 1920s, notably by The Quaker Oats Company, it has received renewed attention recently for its versatile and eco-friendly qualities.

The adaptable organic compound is used in the production of fuels, lubricants, bricks, foods, pharmaceuticals, fragrances, cosmetics, as well as ceramics, rubbers and plastics.

Typically a pale yellow liquid, with a cherry-almond scent, Furfural is created when residual plant materials are processed after they’ve been farmed.

Corn cobs, wheat bran, both oat and rice hulls, sugarcane pulp and waste hardwoods all produce furfural when dehydrated. The resident sugar xylose in their cells becomes furfural when it is refined in an industrial process.

And because all of furfural’s natural source materials are continually replenished through seasonal growth cycles, it is comfortably categorised as a renewable and sustainable biochemical.

Furfural’s potential to displace petroleum in the production of chemicals and vehicle fuels, and its broader appeal across several thriving global industries, mean furfural is starting to realise ever-increasing demand.

The global market for furfural is now valued at approximately US$700m and PowerWood Canada Corp will generate large quantities of the biochemical, as a consequence of making black biofuel pellets from Canadian wildfire woods.

So, in this article, we look more closely at furfural and explain how it has become such a staple component of everyday fuels, pharmaceuticals, lubricants and building materials.

And we answer five key questions to help shed some light on the properties and 

potential of this little-known biochemical.

What is furfural used for?

Furfural is used for multiple purposes. Its versatility as an organic compound sees it included in the production of paints, plastics, resins, bricks, fibreglass, ceramics, biofuels, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. 

Furfural is a bio-based agent for vulcanisation – a process that transforms raw rubber into a stronger, more durable material. In the energy sector, furfural is used to manufacture cleaner and higher octane petrol and diesel, and more recently their clean alternatives

Beyond these heavier industries, furfural’s flexible application extends into food, agriculture and household goods – as a flavouring ingredient in pastries, coffee and spirits, a component of herbicides, insecticides and pesticides, and an agent in household cleaners, lubricants and detergents. 

Why is furfural a renewable product?

Furfural is a renewable and sustainable biochemical because its natural plant sources are continually replenished through growth cycles. It is derived exclusively from agricultural waste. It isn’t a petroleum-based chemical. But it is equally good for making fuels, solvents and plastics. 

That furfural adds value to organic waste streams, doesn’t compete with food crops for land and resources, and doesn’t require expensive refineries for production only serves to heighten its appeal.

Furfural can be converted into green fuels through hydrogenation, oxidation or condensation. Methylfuran, methyltetrahydrofuran, ethylfurfuryl and ethyltetrahydrofurfuryl ethers are all staple constituents of bio jet fuel.

How is furfural made?

PowerWood produces furfural as a by-product of manufacturing its black biofuel pellets.

Harvested dead wildfire wood and diseased timber from Canada’s boreal forest is steam-treated under pressure at 220°C. This hydrolysis forces the release of acetic acid from the organic material. The acetic acid, combined with a sudden drop in pressure placed on the biomass, breaks down their cell structures – separating xylose sugar liquid from the wood’s fibres.

The pulp is dried, granulated and compressed into ultra-compact energy-dense biofuel pellets. The isolated xylose sugar liquid is treated with sulphuric acid under heat to remove water, before it’s distilled into furfural. All of this takes place at PowerWood’s pellet production facilities.

What is furfuryl alcohol?

Furfural is a renewable bio-based platform chemical that has already yielded an entire new family of sustainable derivative chemicals. 

Among them, Furoic acid is used to make pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals. Tetrahydrofuran is favoured in weather-resistant coatings for metals. Caprolactam and hexamethylenediamine are two distinct monomers used in the production of Nylon. All come from furfural. 

However, furfuryl alcohol is its most important commercial derivative. Almost 90 percent of furfural produced around the world becomes furfuryl alcohol – and is used extensively in the production of heat-resistant resins, reinforced plastics and modified wood products that neither decay nor burn. 

What does the future hold for furfural?

The global market value of furfural is currently around US$700m while annual production of the bio-based chemical remains approximately 350,000 tons. But the numbers are expected to grow, substantially.    

Increasing demand for sustainable, bio-based chemicals is driving furfural’s success story – as nations and their industries shift from petrochemicals.

China currently dominates the global furfural market. It produces 80 percent of the world’s supply, while consuming more than half of it to feed its large foundry and pharma industries. Other big nation consumers of China’s domestic furfural product include India and Japan, with the Asia-Pacific region accounting for the largest share of furfural’s global market by far.

However, Europe’s stringent commitment to developing green economies has seen its consumption of furfural grow year on year. While a revived US automotive sector is now the driving force behind western demand for furfuryl alcohol - used in vehicle resins and plastics. 

Unstable climates for agriculture and fractured global supply chains have made the price of raw material to make furfural volatile. Although, PowerWood Canada Corp has a 20 year fixed-price feedstock of hard wood, with a 15 year backlog of fire-damaged timber included in its forestry rights.

The cost of transporting furfural is expensive. Importing the biochemical from China isn’t viable. 

But, our company’s position in the heart of Alberta removes the expense of shipping and importing it from the Far East.

And these are the reasons why furfural plays such a central part in PowerWood’s ambitious business plans.