New method for analysis of biomass for carbohydrate and lignin contents
- Univ. of Texas of the Permian Basin, Odessa, TX (United States)
We are interested in determining the total amounts of C{sub 3}, C{sub 4}, C{sub 5} and C{sub 6} in various biomass sources; the best biomass resources may then be selected as feedstocks for our new process which converts carbohydrates to liquid hydrocarbon fuels and chemicals. For biomass conversion studies, a bulk analysis is typically done to determine cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin contents based on solubilities in various solutions. Analytical methods exist for the quantitative evaluation of cellulose, but until now have not found utility in the field of biomass conversion. Difficulties arise when information about total carbohydrate content is desired because hemicellulose and starches are more fragile to the determination. Our process begins with an acid hydrolysis and simultaneous reduction via catalytic hydrogenation which essentially traps the incipient a1doses as their corresponding but less reactive polyol. This can directly provide information on the carbon chain length of all the monomeric sugars inherent in a biomass. Both polyol acetate (PA) and trimethylsilane (IMS) derivatives were made in order to determine which follow-up GC method would most accurately reflect the amounts of C{sub 3} to C{sub 6} in our polyol samples. The IMS-derivatives appear much easier to make than PA-derivatives, but require a longer GC run time and produce a reagent peak that interferes with the resolution of C{sub 5}`s. The PA-derivatives require more processing than the TMS-derivatives, and the preparation thereof tends to produce isomers of the original polyol and results in more than one peak per initial polyol. Many biomass sources arc to be studied.
- OSTI ID:
- 538951
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960807--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Current biological research in conversion of cellulosic carbohydrates into liquid fuels: how far have we come
Current biological research in conversion of cellulosic carbohydrates into liquid fuels: how far have we come