6-12: Long-term variability in bagasse compositional analysis

Lignocellulosic biomass can be broken down to carbohydrates and converted to transportation fuels by various processes. Compositional analysis is required to compare the efficacy of such processes. Biomass compositional analysis methods are often based on a two-stage 72%/4% (wt/wt) sulfuric acid hydrolysis to break down the plant’s structural carbohydrates for analysis. These compositional analysis methods are empirical and small differences in the analytical technique can lead to large differences in the results. One way to ensure consistency in these analyses is to analyze a standardized biomass sample, or method verification standard (MVS), along with the samples. Here we report the long-term results from NIST bagasse MVSs run in our lab for over a year. The average and variability of the compositional results from samples run in two labs by several analysts will be presented. We will compare the data by analyst and by batch.