Potential of Near- and Mid-infrared Spectroscopy in Biofuel Production

For many decades, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) has been used to determine the composition of animal feedstuffs and grains. More recently, mid-infrared spectroscopy (mid-IR) has also been examined for similar determinations. These spectroscopic methods offer the potential for rapid and accurate determination of organic constituents, such as fiber components and protein, of forages, by-products, and grains at reduced cost and greatly increased speed (minutes instead of hours or days). Because they are nonchemical in nature, they result in a large reduction (90% or more) in the chemical wastes associated with standard chemical-based assay methods. The same components of interest for biofuel production (cellulose, hemicellulose, lignin, starch, protein, oil, etc.) are those that have already been determined by NIRS/mid-IR for evaluating grains and animal feedstuffs. Therefore, these techniques would appear to be a natural match for evaluating feedstocks for biofuels, and the literature shows that efforts in this direction are being successfully tested and instituted. For this discussion, an overview of where such efforts are and the potential for NIRS/mid-IR in producing biofuels will be covered. For example, while there are similarities between the needs of the biofuels industry and the analysis of animal feedstuffs, there are also both practical and technical differences between the two that will likely impact how NIRS/mid-IR is developed for biofuels. As an example, grain analysis for protein is performed on a large scale by government agencies such as the Canadian Grain Commission and U. S. Grain Inspection Service, while at least in the United States, animal feedstuff analysis is performed by state or independent laboratories for individual farmers. For biofuels, this might well result in most analysis being performed by the large corporations converting the feedstocks to biofuels, as opposed to the individual producer having analysis performed at an independent laboratory. Similarly for animal feedstuffs, measurements of fiber (neutral detergent fiber or NDF, acid detergent fiber or ADF, and lignin) and protein are carried out. These fiber measurements often consist of more than one type of fiber component with some being computed by difference (hemicellulose = NDF - ADF) and are empirical at best. Whether such empirical estimates will be sufficient for assessing biofuels or whether new spectroscopic methods for directly measuring the components of interest (cellulose, etc.) will need to be developed is a question to be answered when components other than starch for ethanol or oil for biodiesel become common.