From field to fuel: UGA now offering rapid technique for biomass analysis

July 28th, 2011 by

scientist in lab Ideal bioenergy feedstocks have genetic traits for rapid biomass growth, defense against stresses, such as insects, heat and drought, and importantly, a cell wall structure that is easily broken down into the sugars that make biofuels. However, conventional methods of analyzing the lignocellulosic composition of various feedstocks have been time-consuming and expensive, and consequently, improvement of feedstock in biomass-based industries has been slow.

New equipment recently installed at the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center provides an efficient means for rapid screening of traits of woody and perennial grassy plants to select candidate lignocellulosic feedstocks. The pyrolysis molecular beam mass spectrometer (py-MBMS) and a pyrolysis gas chromatography mass spectrometer (py-GCMS) are ideally suited for high-throughput screening: they require only milligrams of sample and can analyze up to 20 samples per hour, while the Py-GCMS can analyze approximately 10 a day.

Rapid analysis of biomass was identified as a key need for bioenergy-related research at UGA by researchers in the Bioenergy Systems Research Institute. Under its auspices, researchers have organized the Biomass Analysis Research Network (BARnet), which aims to provide UGA researchers with easy, systematic access to analytical services for all stages of biomass conversion, from field to fuel.

The new equipment contrasts with traditional wet chemistry methods, which are time-consuming, labor-intensive, and require large sample sizes. Moreover, separate protocols are often required to analyze different chemical constituents, such as cellulose, hemicelluloses, lignin and non-structural defense chemicals.

The new equipment couples pyrolysis – heating the material at high temperatures until it volatilizes – with mass spectrometry instrumentation. The py-MBMS is a highly sensitive system that analyzes the lignin and C5 and C6 glycosyl compositions in the plant cell wall, which are reliable indicators of biomass processability in industrial applications, including production of pulp and pre-treatment for bioconversion.  The py-GCMS analyzes/characterizes both structural and non-structural chemical constituents of biomass in more detail.  Together with the CCRC’s capability in carbohydrate analysis, the facility offers an analytical pipeline from high-throughput screening to in-depth analysis of biomaterials that suits different research and development needs.

Funding for the equipment came from the Department of Energy and the Georgia Research Alliance.   The py-MBMS and py-GCMS are available on a fee-for-service basis.

More information

Parastoo Azadi, Technical Director
Analytical Services
Complex Carbohydrate Research Center