Conversion of Chitin-Based Biomass to Sustainable Platform Chemical Levulinic Acid in Dilute Acidic Environment

The valorizations of shrimp shell waste offer a sustainable route to produce levulinic acid (LEVA), a sustainable platform chemical with broad applications in green technology. Chitin, the world’s second-largest biomass, is found in abundance from processed shrimp waste, but barely utilized. Therefore, this study explores the conversion of chitin-based biomass from shrimp shells into LEVA using a dilute acidic environment. Chitin was extracted from shrimp shells via deproteinization and demineralization, followed by deacetylation to chitosan with a deacetylation degree of 82.59 ± 0.41%. Chitosan was then hydrolyzed under varying temperatures and two particle sizes, namely chitosan1 (± 250 μm) and chitosan2 (± 100 μm). The highest LEVA yield (37.32 ± 0.29% mol) was achieved with smaller chitosan particles (100 μm) at 200 °C in a dilute sulfuric acid solution. Kinetic analysis determined a reaction order of 1.25, with an activation energy of 39.10 kJ/mol. This research highlights the potential of shrimp shell waste as a feedstock for LEVA production through a simple, energy-efficient process, contributing to the development of green chemical processes.