Characterisation of wooden biofuels using near infrared spectroscopy—a pre–study

Abstract

This report serves as documentation of a pre–study carried out in order to evaluate the basic capabilities and limitations of a GetSpec spectrometer, equipped with a SentroHead measurement head, in an intended application of characterisation of wooden biofuels. For this application, the main interest would be to determine the moisture content and the energy content of the fuel. This research on characterisation of wooden biofuels utilising near infrared spectroscopy, of which this report constitutes the first part, aims to enable the determination of the correct economical value of a batch of wooden biofuel, at the instance when the batch arrives at the power plant. However, it should be clearly pointed out that this report is a documentation of the pre–study for the intended application. Therefore, it contains basic sample handling considerations and simplified measurement setups, rather than measurements of wood chips at a power plant facility. This study addresses issues such as the heating of the sample that the light source causes, the speed of which water evaporates from a sample in a normal laboratory environment, to what extent the measurement can distinguish between birch, pine, and spruce, and how a reasonable PLS model for the moisture should be built.