CEN/TR 15591:2007

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
01-maj-2007
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Solid recovered fuels - Determination of the biomass content based on the 14C method
Feste Sekundärbrennstoffe - Bestimmung des Gehaltes an Biomasse nach de 14C-
Methode
Combustibles solides de récupération - Détermination de la teneur en biomasse, basée
sur la méthode du C14
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: CEN/TR 15591:2007
ICS:
75.160.10 Trda goriva Solid fuels
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

TECHNICAL REPORT
CEN/TR 15591
RAPPORT TECHNIQUE
TECHNISCHER BERICHT
February 2007
ICS 75.160.10
English Version
Solid recovered fuels - Determination of the biomass content
based on the C method
Combustibles solides de récupération - Détermination de la Feste Sekundärbrennstoffe - Bestimmung des Gehaltes an
14 14
teneur en biomasse, basée sur la méthode du C Biomasse nach de C-Methode

This Technical Report was approved by CEN on 1 January 2007. It has been drawn up by the Technical Committee CEN/TC 343.

CEN members are the national standards bodies of Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland,
France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal,
Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and United Kingdom.

EUROPEAN COMMITTEE FOR STANDARDIZATION
COMITÉ EUROPÉEN DE NORMALISATION

EUROPÄISCHES KOMITEE FÜR NORMUNG

Management Centre: rue de Stassart, 36  B-1050 Brussels
© 2007 CEN All rights of exploitation in any form and by any means reserved Ref. No. CEN/TR 15591:2007: E
worldwide for CEN national Members.

Contents Page
Foreword.3
0 Introduction.4
1 Scope .7
2 Terms and definitions .7
3 Symbols and abbreviations .7
4 Methods of measurement .8
4.1 Principle.8
4.2 Sampling.8
4.3 Transport and storage.8
4.4 Preparation of the test portion from the laboratory sample .9
4.5 Analysis by Proportional Scintillation-counter Method (PSM) .9
4.6 Analysis by Β-ionisation (proportional gas counting) (BI).10
4.7 Analysis by Accelerator Mass Spectrometry (AMS) .10
5 Equipment and reagents.10
5.1 For the preparation of the test portion .10
5.2 For the analysis by PSM .11
5.3 For the analysis by Β-ionisation (BI) .11
5.4 For analysis by AMS (example from Utrecht University).11
6 Procedure .11
6.1 For sampling .11
6.2 For the preparation of the test portion .12
6.3 Procedure for analysis .13
7 Calculations.13
7.1 General.13
7.2 Calibration .14
7.3 Example for the calculation of a RDF sample analysed with PSM .15
8 Uncertainty of measurement (PMS and BI measurements) based in Poisson statistics.15
9 Strengths and weaknesses.16
9.1 Comparison of C based methods with SDM .16
9.2 Comparison of PSM, Gas Counting (BI) and AMS .17
10 Legislative aspects.17
10.1 General.17
10.2 Austria.17
10.3 The Netherlands.17
10.4 Finland .18
11 Conclusions .18
Annex A (informative) Origin of expertise present in the technical report.19
Annex B (informative) List of European lab's with radio carbon expertise.22
Bibliography .33

Foreword
This document (CEN/TR 15591:2007) has been prepared by Technical Committee CEN/TC 343 “Solid
recovered fuels”, the secretariat of which is held by SFS.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. CEN [and/or CENELEC] shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.

0 Introduction
0.1 General
This document has been prepared as a result of the CEN/TC 343/WG 3 meeting in Amsterdam in April 2005.
It summarizes the state of the art in C-based methods applied to determining the biomass content of SRF;
as of yet no technical CEN standards for the application of C-based methods to determine biomass content
are available. The purpose of this Technical Report is to present the information available on this subject at
this moment to assess if an extension of the available methods for determining the biomass content of SRF is
required, wanted and technically possible.
Analytically proven standards exist for determining the biomass content of SRF by manual sorting and by
selective dissolution (CEN/TS 15440 [1]). In the Netherlands these methods are available as NTA (National
Technical Agreement) and have been in use for some years. Important advantages of these standards are
their applicability using basic laboratory equipment and available personnel. However, they are not applicable
to all kinds of solid recovered fuels. The manual sorting method fails if the constituents of the sample are
shredded too finely, if they are strongly intertwined or compressed or if they cannot be recognized visually.
The selective dissolution method fails if biomass constituents are present that do not dissolve, or fossil
components that do. Both methods fall short if fossil and biomass carbon are mixed at the molecular level. C
based methods do not use chemical or morphological properties of the sample but physical properties of the
carbon atoms themselves. Because C based methods are based on these physical properties they avoid the
problems of manual sorting and selective dissolution methods. On the other hand they need more
instrumentation and skilled personnel. They are proposed here as an addition to the manual sorting and
selective dissolution methods because they resolve analytical problems that are otherwise irresolvable.
The application of C based methods for similar purposes are not new [2] [3]. In this document the
information available in Europe and the USA concerning biomass carbon content determination in solid
recovered fuels with C based methods is presented to give the reader background information about
possibilities and drawbacks of these methods.
0.2 Basis of the C method
The C method is a well-known method in global use, for determining the age of carbon containing matter.
C is a radioactive isotope; its presence in the air is a result of the interaction of cosmic radiation and the
14 14
nitrogen in the atmosphere (see Figure 1). Fossil carbon contains no C, however a trace amount of C is
14 14
present in living matter. The C isotope is quickly converted to CO after formation and enters living matter
when atmospheric CO is converted in the biosphere by photosynthesis to sugars and further converted to
e.g. cellulose. The concentration of C in air is considered constant all over the world. In living material the
concentration of C is stable and in equilibrium with the air concentration. In dead material the concentration
14 14 14
of C slowly diminishes to zero as the radioactive C isotope decays. Measuring the amount of C in solid
recovered fuels is the basis for determining biomass content based on the C method.

Figure 1 – Illustration of the basis of the C method
Organic material is used for many purposes. One of the objectives is direct use as a fuel which is outside the
scope of this report. However, after completing their primary use, many of these organic materials may
ultimately be used in the form of solid recovered fuels.
Examples of organic materials in solid recovered fuels are:
 Packaging materials;
 Paper;
 Wood used in buildings;
 Kitchen waste;
 Waste (dung and offal) from the bio industry;
 Plastics;
 Car tires.
Carbon present in material produced by living organisms, immobilized as fuel in present times is called
biomass. Carbon present in material produced by living organisms immobilized as fuel in a past geological era
is called fossil fuel. The difference between the two is that CO from biomass or biomass origin does not
contribute to a higher concentration of CO in the atmosphere as its carbon has been recently extracted from
the atmosphere.
In solid recovered fuels, the combustible carbon originates from fossil (mainly in the form of plastics), mixed
sources like rubber tyres and packaging materials, and from biomass origin (e.g. wood, paper). Authorities
require that emissions of CO from fossil origin by companies is made known, thus, in order to determine
these companies, knowledge about the biomass content by total carbon content of mixed fuels should be
acquired. For this reason, methods such as the solid dissolution method and C method were developed.
International acceptance of a C based method can be expected, as can be illustrated by the recent
publication of ASTM, ASTM D 6866-05, Standard Test Method for determining the Bio based Content of

Natural Range Materials Using Radiocarbon and Isotope Ratio Mass Spectrometry Analysis [2].
1 Scope
This Technical Report gives an overview of the suitability of C-based methods for the determination of the
fraction of biomass carbon in solid recovered fuels, using detection by scintillation, gas ionization and mass
spectrometry.
2 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the following terms and definitions apply.
2.1
biodegradable carbon
mass fraction of the total carbon that is capable of undergoing biological anaerobic or aerobic decomposition
under conditions naturally occurring in the biosphere
2.2
biogenic carbon
mass fraction of total carbon that was produced in natural processes by living organisms but not fossilized or
derived from fossil resources
2.3
biomass carbon
equivalent to biogenic carbon
2.4
isotope abundance
fraction of atoms of a particular isotope of an element
2.5
repeatability
extent of the agreement between the results of subsequent measurements of the same quantity, performed
under the same measuring conditions
2.6
reproducibility
extent of the agreement between the results of measurements of the same quantity, performed under variable
measuring conditions.
3 Symbols and abbreviations
This Technical Report uses the following symbols and abbreviations:
C Carbon isot
...