The Effects of Demineralization on Reducing Ash Content in Corn and Soy Biomass with the Goal of Increasing Biofuel Quality

The increasing amount of residual waste presents several opportunities to use biomass as a renewable energy source. Agricultural biomass is a raw material with a high ash content, which can be a problem in any form of energy conversion. To obtain better quality biofuel, excess mineral matter must be removed. Demineralization is a simple form of mixing and washing biomass with various liquids to reduce ash content. Water, acetic acid, hydrochloric acid and nitric acid are common solvents used for this purpose. Ash is composed of different micro (Zn, Cu, Fe) and macro elements (Mg, Ca, K), which can have different consequences for the use of biomass for thermal energy. Different solvents have different effects on the individual elements, with inorganic acids having the greatest effect in demineralization processes, with a reduction in ash content of up to 80% for corn and about 99% for soybeans.