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A Spectroscopic study on the fuel value of softwoods in relation to chemical composition

Informally Refereed

Abstract

The recent focus on bioenergy has led to interest in developing alternative technologies for assessing the fuel value of available biomass resources. In this study, both near- and mid-infrared spectroscopic datawere used to predict fuel value in relation to extractives and lignin contents for longleaf pine wood. Samples were analyzed both before and after extraction.Using both near- and mid-infrared spectroscopy, strong correlations were found between fuel value and extractives content for the unextracted wood samples, with the mid-IR models providing better correlations while using less factors. These findings were further evident in the plots of the regression coefficients for fuel value and extractives content. Although, total lignin content does impact total fuel value, the predictive ability for both mid-infrared and near-infrareddata were similarly poor for the extractive-free wood samples. The use of these techniques provides further spectroscopic support for the relationships mentioned previously.

Keywords

fuel value, extractives content, lignin content, longleaf pine, near-infrared spectroscopy, mid-infrared spectroscopy

Citation

So, Chi-Leung; Eberhardt, Thomas L.; Groom, Leslie H.; and Shupe, Todd F. 2012. A Spectroscopic study on the fuel value of softwoods in relation to chemical composition. In: Proceedings of the 55th International Convention of Society of Wood Science and Technology, Beijing, China (August 27-31, 2012), PS-52, 10pp.
https://www.fs.usda.gov/research/treesearch/53272