Microscale Combustion Calorimetry as a New Method of Composition and Heating Value Determination of Miscanthus: An Early View

The perennial biomass crop Miscanthus combines key attributes achieving high energy output/input ratios in a wide range of climatic conditions and it is an important feedstock for bio-mass-to-energy. New Miscanthus hybrids, with better yield resilience and scalability, that are expected to boost supply from marginal lands in Europe, were grown in Croatia and the composition of ripe biomass samples from a spring harvest were analysed by a new microscale combustion calorimetry (MCC) method that determines the heat release rate (HRR). The same samples were also analysed by standard chemical methods: structural analysis, and bomb calorimetry. Higher heating values (HHVs) measured by bomb calorimetry ranged from 17.76 MJ/kg to 18.10 MJ/kg. Microscale combustion calorimetry developed to quantify flammability indices such as HRR was strongly correlated with HHV, which could allow differentiation between new hybrids faster and more efficiently. Obtaining such energy properties data from an early stage of development is necessary for the detection of genotypes with high biomass-to-bioenergy potential for intensive monitoring in the coming period.