Improved methods for the determination of drying conditions and fraction insoluble solids (FIS) in biomass pretreatment slurry

Accurate and precise chemical characterization of biomass feedstocks and process intermediates is a requirement for successful technical and economic evaluation of biofuel conversion technologies. The uncertainty in primary measurements of the fraction insoluble solid (FIS) content of dilute acid pretreated corn stover slurry is the major contributor to uncertainty in yield calculations for enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose. This uncertainty is propagated through process models and impacts modeled fuel costs. The challenge in measuring FIS is obtaining an accurate measurement of insoluble matter in the pretreated materials, while appropriately accounting for all biomass derived components. Three methods were tested to improve this measurement. One used physical separation of liquid and solid phases, and two utilized direct determination of dry matter content in two fractions. We offer a comparison of drying methods. Our results show utilizing a microwave dryer to directly determine dry matter content is the optimal method for determining FIS, based on the low time requirements and the method optimization done using model slurries. (C) 2016 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.