Feasibility study of gross calorific value, carbon content, volatile matter content and ash content of solid biomass fuel using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

Rapid determination of the solid biomass fuel properties is essential for optimizing the combustion process of biomass. In this work, a feasibility study on using laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) in conjunction with partial least squares (PLS) for simultaneous measurement of gross calorific value, carbon content, volatile matter content and ash content was carried out for 66 wood pellet samples. The best quantitative analysis results were obtained with the PLS model based on spectra that combined baseline correction with Z-score standardization. The root mean square error of prediction (RMSEP) of the gross calorific value, carbon content, volatile matter content and ash content were 0.33 MJ/kg, 0.65%, 1.11% and 0.38% respectively, while the average standard deviation (ASD) were 0.08 MJ/kg, 0.15%, 0.43% and 0.16% respectively.