 |
A major component of all biomass to power, fuels, and products research is characterizing the biomass feedstock, products, and intermediates. NREL has been involved in analyzing biomass materials since 1978 as part of designing processes, monitoring processes, characterizing biomass resources, and developing new methods and tools for biomass analysis and characterization. NREL maintains a large inventory of standard biomass samples as reference materials and a large database on the chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties of various forms and kinds of biomass materials.
NREL wrote most of the standard laboratory analytical procedures (known as LAPS) for biomass characterization and continuously develops new methods and tools for biomass characterization. Analytical chemists are developing unique methods, assays, measurement tools, and correlations to better understand the chemical composition of raw biomass feedstocks and the array of solid, liquid, and slurry samples produced during research and commercialization. Novel spectroscopic approaches combine multivariate analysis with near infrared spectroscopy (NIR) to allow real-time biomass analysis (RTBA). Using this rapid analysis technique, researchers can analyze a wide range of physical and chemical characteristics of raw and processed biomass within minutes instead of days.
|
|
