STANDARDIZED ANALYTICAL METHODS

The International Energy Agency -- Bioenergy Agreement - Biomass Conversion Annex VII --Standardized Analytical Methods Activity has been ongoing for the past three years. Participating countries are Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, and the United States. The goal is to provide researchers and technology developers with information on reliable methods in use, or proposed, for characterizing feedstocks, process intermediates, and end products from biomass conversion to fuels, energy-intensive chemicals, and electric power. Accurate compositional analyses of biomass feedstocks and lignins are important for the commercialization of these technologies. This international activity provided and tested selected analytical methods for use in the characterization of a wide range of biomass feedstocks and lignins. Two round robins were conducted, one on the analysis of whole biomass feedstocks and the other on analysis of lignins. The biomass feedstock round robin utilized four biomass samples very carefully prepared by the National Institute of Science and Technology (NIST). This round robin tested a specified procedure aimed at providing a summative analysis of the materials. The lignin round robin utilized five commercial grade lignins, and a ball milled enzyme lignin. A very wide range of techniques were used to characterize the lignins, permitting comparison of results from different methods. The results of the two round robins were presented and discussed at the IEA Pre-symposium on Modem Methods of Analyses of Wood, Annual Plants, and Lignins, in New Orleans, USA, November 1991, attended by 110 scientists from over 20 countries.