• Korean Chemical Engineering Research
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• v.58 no.2
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• pp.293-300
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• 2020

Eucheuma spinosum, red macro-algae, contains carrageenan as the major polysaccharide and is commercially produced in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, China and Tanzania. In this study, E. spinosum was converted to sugar and platform chemicals (5-HMF, levulinic acid, formic acid) via FeCl₃-catalytic hydrothermal reaction. In addition, statistical methodology (3-level 3-factor Box-Behnken design) was applied to optimize and evaluate the effects of reaction factors (reaction temperature, catalyst concentration and reaction time). As a result of optimization, the concentration of 5-HMF was obtained to be 2.96 g/L at 160 ℃, 0.4 M FeCl₃ and 10 min. Optimal conditions of levulinic and formic acids were determined at 200 ℃, 0.6 M FeCl₃ and 30 min, and the concentrations were obtained to be 4.26 g/L and 3.77 g/L, respectively.