A Spectroscopic Study on the Fuel Value of Softwoods in Relation to Chemical Composition

The recent focus on bioenergy has led to interest in developing alternative technologies for assessing the fuel value of available biomass resources. In this study, both nearand midinfrared spectroscopic datawere used to predict fuel value in relation to extractives and lignin contents for longleaf pine wood. Samples were analyzed both before and after extraction.Using both nearand mid-infrared spectroscopy, strong correlations were found between fuel value and extractives content for the unextracted wood samples, with the mid-IR models providing better correlations while using less factors. These findings were further evident in the plots of the regression coefficients for fuel value and extractives content. Although, total lignin content does impact total fuel value, the predictive ability for both mid-infrared and near-infrareddata were similarly poor for the extractive-free wood samples. The use of these techniques provides further spectroscopic support for the relationships mentioned previously.