Inorganics in lignocellulosic biomass

Lignocellulosic biomasses such as switchgrass and hybrid poplar are good candidates for the production of fuels and chemicals. However, such feedstocks possess some physico-chemical characteristics that can be detrimental to conversion processes. Compared to clean wood chips, switchgrass contents higher amount of ash. In pyrolysis and gasification processes, minerals presence in biomass has been shown to cause slagging, corrosion of equipment, and impair catalysts. Therefore, it is important to understand the chemical composition of this complex material and to develop approaches to reduce minerals in biomass. In this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to develop models to predict the inorganic composition of switchgrass and hybrid poplar. In parallel, several chelating agents coupled with microwave were investigated as an approach to remove inorganics from switchgrass while the level of removal was determined by spectroscopy. This talk will present the inorganic models that were constructed and the removal levels that we were able to achieve in the presence of a chelating agent with a microwave-assisted system.