As interest in lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks for conversion into transportation fuels grows, the summative compositional analysis of biomass, or plant-derived material, becomes ever more important. The sulfuric acid hydrolysis of biomass has been used to measure lignin and structural carbohydrate content for more than 100 years. Researchers have applied these methods to measure the lignin and structural carbohydrate contents of woody materials, estimate the nutritional value of animal feed, analyze the dietary fiber content of human food, compare potential biofuels feedstocks, and measure the efficiency of biomass-to-biofuels processes. The purpose of this paper is to review the history and lineage of biomass compositional analysis methods based on a sulfuric acid hydrolysis. These methods have become the de facto procedure for biomass compositional analysis. The paper traces changes to the biomass compositional analysis methods through time to the biomass methods currently used at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). The current suite of laboratory analytical procedures (LAPs) offered by NREL is described, including an overview of the procedures and methodologies and some common pitfalls. Suggestions are made for continuing improvement to the suite of analyses.

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) promotes the production of a range of liquid fuels and fuel blendstocks from lignocellulosic biomass feedstocks by funding fundamental and applied research that advances the state of technology in biomass collection, conversion, and sustainability. As part of its involvement in this program, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) investigates the conceptual production economics of these fuels.Between 1999 and 2012, NREL conducted a campaign to quantify the economic implications associated with measured conversion performance for the biochemical production of cellulosic ethanol, with a formal program between 2007-2012 to set cost goals and to benchmark annual performance toward achieving these goals, namely the pilot-scale demonstration by 2012 of biochemical ethanol production at a price competitive with petroleum gasoline based on modeled assumptions for an "n th " plant biorefinery. This goal was successfully achieved through NREL's 2012 pilot plant demonstration runs, representing the culmination of NREL research focused specifically on cellulosic ethanol, and a benchmark for industry to leverage as it commercializes the technology. This important milestone also represented a transition toward a new Program focus on infrastructure-compatible hydrocarbon biofuel pathways, and the establishment of new research directions and cost goals across a number of potential conversion technologies.This report describes in detail one potential conversion process to hydrocarbon products by way of biological conversion of lignocellulosic-derived sugars. The pathway model leverages expertise established over time in core conversion and process integration research at NREL, while adding in new technology areas primarily for hydrocarbon production and associated processing logistics. The overarching process design converts biomass to a hydrocarbon intermediate, represented here as a free fatty acid, using dilute-acid pretreatment, enzymatic saccharification, and bioconversion. Ancillary areas-feed handling, hydrolysate conditioning, product recovery and upgrading (hydrotreating) to a final blendstock material, wastewater treatment, lignin combustion, and utilities-are also included in the design. Detailed material and energy balances and capital and operating costs for this baseline process are also documented.This benchmark case study techno-economic model provides a production cost for a cellulosic renewable diesel blendstock (RDB) that can be used as a baseline to assess its competitiveness and market potential. It can also be used to quantify the economic impact of individual conversion performance targets and prioritize these in terms of their potential to reduce cost. The analysis presented here also includes consideration of the life-cycle implications of the baseline process model, by tracking sustainability metrics for the modeled biorefinery, including greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, fossil energy demand, and consumptive water use.Building on prior design reports for bioch...

No abstract

NREL prints on paper that contains recycled content.

from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) for helpful discussions, comments, and shared insights during the development of this report. We appreciate all of the help from Kathy Cisar for her technical editing and support in publishing this report. Finally, we thank Billie Christen from the NREL for her help in formatting this report and for developing the U.S. bioproduct facilities map.