So many factors go into the quality and characterization of plants and biomass, but many thermogravimetric analyses take so much time. Drying, ashing, and weighing multiple samples takes effort and care just to control for atmospheric effects, much less to actually get precise results that can then be used to analyze the quality and structure of the plants. LECO's TGA801 is an automated thermogravimetric analyzer designed to take the time out of the testing.
When analyzing alfalfa, the TGA801 drops the process down to two easy steps: select your method and load your samples. From these two steps, up to 19 samples can be simultaneously run, with atmosphere and ventilation control happening automatically. Moisture, volatile, and ash results can all be obtained from those 19 samples in a single run. The automated instrument removes the need for transferring samples and limits opportunities for operator error to effect the results.
In the end, the TGA801 was able to produce accurate moisture, volatile dry, and ash dry percentages for multiple samples of biomass in a fraction of the time taken by conventional oven drying methods. Check out the application note to learn more about the details!
