SUMMARY
Rice husk is the significant waste residue to be used as renewable energy. The growth of the use on rice husk for generating electricity lead to the verification of its properties. This research aimed to predict higher heating value (HHV), lower heating value (LHV), and ash content (A) of rice husk using Fourier Transform near infrared (FT-NIR) spectroscopy. Rice husk samples used in this experiment were collected from variable areas in Thailand in order to improve the model and get the robust model. The models were built using partial least squares (PLS) regression and validated by unknown sample collected from different area to calibration set. The prediction of HHV, LHV and A were represented the root mean square error of cross validation (RMSECV) of 199 J/g, 199 J/g, and 0.859%wb, respectively. The calibration model can predict the unknown sample successfully with the relative standard error of prediction (RSEP) of 1.104 %, 1.159 %, and, 5.975 %, which implied good performance of NIR model for future prediction. The results suggested that HHV, LHV, and A models should be able to assess the properties of rice husk samples and showed that NIR was reliable and suitable method for combustion system to screening material.