Evaluation of gaseous and solid products from the pyrolysis of waste biomass blends for energetic and environmental applications

Investigating the Suitability of Grape Husks Biochar, Municipal Solid Wastes Compost and Mixtures of Them for Agricultural Applications to Mediterranean Soils

“…Grape husks biochar was produced through pyrolysis experiments in a stainless steel fixed bed reactor (ID = 70 mm, H = 150 mm) heated by a furnace [8]. About 15 g of sample was placed onto a stainless-steel grid basket and inserted into the reactor.…”

“…On the other hand, recently, the production of biochar through biomass pyrolysis has gained increased attention as an alternative solution for recycling organic wastes which improve soil quality [5][6][7][8]. Additionally, during pyrolysis useful energy is extracted from the gaseous and liquid fractions of the process.…”

“…This highly recalcitrant form of carbon has been found to contribute to carbon storage and sequestration by remaining in the soil for centuries, to increase soil fertility and remediate contamination by adsorption of pollutants [6][7][8][9]. The important properties of biochar as soil amendment are the surface area and porosity, the pH, the cation exchange capacity (CEC), the electrical conductivity (EC), the water holding capacity (WHC) and content of nutrients and heavy metals [6,8]. These are highly influenced by the type of feedstock used and pyrolysis conditions, especially temperature [5,8].…”

“…The important properties of biochar as soil amendment are the surface area and porosity, the pH, the cation exchange capacity (CEC), the electrical conductivity (EC), the water holding capacity (WHC) and content of nutrients and heavy metals [6,8]. These are highly influenced by the type of feedstock used and pyrolysis conditions, especially temperature [5,8]. At higher temperatures, aromaticity, surface area, pH and mineralization increase, while nitrogen content and CEC usually decrease [7,10,11].…”

“…A lot of studies have been carried out to assess the benefits of using biochars produced from lignocellulosic biomass (woody residues, sugarcane straw, maize straw, rice husk) [4,6,[12][13][14][15][16] or sewage sludge [9,[17][18][19] for soil amelioration and remediation. Experimental equipment, conditions, application rates, different types of soil and the great variability of materials used, have all resulted in significant discrepancies in performance and agricultural utility [8,18]. Accordingly, there is a need for careful evaluation of each biochar for each specific site at lab level, prior to large-scale applications, in order to avoid expensive infrastructures and possible negative environmental effects.…”