title: Sample preparation and determination of biomass content in solid recovered fuels: a comparison of methods.
abstract: The biomass content of material from pulp and paper production (a mixture of waste and paper and thin layer packaging plastics) is determined by the adapted balance method. This novel approach is a combination of combustion elemental analysis (CHNSO) and a data reconciliation algorithm based on successive linearisation for evaluation of the analysis results. It also involves less effort and expense than conventional procedures. However, the CHNSO technique only handles small mass amounts (few hundred milligrams), so cryogenic impact milling was applied for particle size reduction below 200 µm in order to generate homogeneous, representative analysis samples. The investigation focuses on the parameters biogenic content as a percentage of the total mass xB and xB (TC), which is the biomass stated as a fraction of the total carbon value. The results are within 1%-5% of the data obtained by the reference methods, namely the selective dissolution method and (14)C- method. Additionally, advantages and drawbacks of the adapted balance method in comparison with standard methods are discussed, showing that the adapted balance method is a method to be considered for the determination of biomass content in solid recovered fuels or similar materials.
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria johannes.schnoeller@chello.at.
authors.forename: Johannes
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Schnöller
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Aschenbrenner
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Manuel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Institute for Water Quality, Resource and Waste Management, Vienna University of Technology, Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Johann
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fellner
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D056804:Biofuels / Q000032:analysis*; D018533:Biomass; D001870:Book Industry; D004784:Environmental Monitoring / Q000379:methods*; D007220:Industrial Waste / Q000032:analysis*; D010209:Paper
chemical_list: D056804:Biofuels; D007220:Industrial Waste
keywords: Refuse derived fuels; adapted balance method; data reconciliation; waste characterisation; waste to energy