Compositional Analysis of Lignocellulosic Feedstocks.2. Method Uncertainties

摘要

The most common procedures for characterizing the chemical components of lignocellulosic feedstocks use a two-stage sulfuric acid hydrolysis to fractionate biomass for gravimetric and instrumental analyses. The uncertainty (i.e., dispersion of values from repeated measurement) in the primary data is of general interest to those with technical or financial interests in biomass conversion technology. The composition of a homogenized corn stover feedstock (154 replicate samples in 13 batches, by 7 analysts in 2 laboratories) was measured along with a National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) reference sugar cane bagasse, as a control, using this laboratory's suite of laboratory analytical procedures (LAPs). The uncertainty was evaluated by the statistical analysis of these data and is reported as the standard deviation of each component measurement. Censored and uncensored versions of these data sets are reported, as evidence was found for intermittent instrumental and equipment problems. The censored data are believed to represent the “best case” results of these analyses, whereas the uncensored data show how small method changes can stronglyaffect the uncertainties of these empirical methods. Relative standarddeviations (RSD) of 1−3% are reported for glucan, xylan, lignin,extractives, and total component closure with the other minor componentsshowing 4−10% RSD. The standard deviations seen with the cornstover and NIST bagasse materials were similar, which suggests thatthe uncertainties reported here are due more to the analytical methodused than to the specific feedstock type being analyzed.