Summative Mass Closure: Laboratory Analytical Procedure (LAP) Review and Integration: Feedstocks (Revised July 2011)

NREL has developed a suite of Laboratory Analytical Procedures (LAPs) for the analysis of biomass. Many of these methods build on years of research in the biomass analytical field. Choosing the appropriate combinations of LAPs allows for the summative mass closure of biomass feedstocks and process intermediates. By combining the appropriate LAPs, the goal is to break the biomass sample down intoconstituents that sum to 100% by weight. There are several important points within the compositional analysis suite where decisions must be made to optimize the analysis. Some of these decisions are based on the type of biomass present, and some decisions must be made to obtain complete summative mass closure of all constituents. This report includes discussions to aid these decisions forindividual LAPs. Following the LAP discussions is a flowchart of analyses and a walkthrough of the flowchart using an example feedstock, including some troubleshooting.