One Step Forward toward Characterization: Some Important Material Properties to Distinguish Biochars

Schimmelpfennig, Sonja; Glaser, Bruno

doi:10.2134/jeq2011.0146

Cited by 443 publications

(280 citation statements)

References 60 publications

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“…Nitrogen in biochar is an important nutrient, its concentration is related to the concentration in the starting material, with values between 1.8 and 56 g·Kg −1 , although N in biochar is in a form often not readily bioavailable [39]. The C/N ratio, an indicator of the bioavailability of an organic compound, is highly variable and ranges between 7 and 500 [38].…”

Section: Elemental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The ratios of H, O, and C can also be used to differentiate between materials obtained by different processes. In the view of C sequestration and for material with complex aromatic structure and low presence of functional groups, optimum ratios of H/C and O/C are approximately ď0.6 and ď0.4, respectively [38]. Nitrogen in biochar is an important nutrient, its concentration is related to the concentration in the starting material, with values between 1.8 and 56 g¨kg´1, although N in biochar is in a form often not readily bioavailable [39].…”

Section: Elemental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets

Zambon

Colisimo²,

Monarca³

et al. 2016

Energies

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Concerns about climate change and food productivity have spurred interest in biochar, a form of charred organic material typically used in agriculture to improve soil productivity and as a means of carbon sequestration. An innovative approach in agriculture is the use of agro-forestry waste for the production of soil fertilisers for agricultural purposes and as a source of energy. A common agricultural practice is to burn crop residues in the field to produce ashes that can be used as soil fertilisers. This approach is able to supply plants with certain nutrients, such as Ca, K, Mg, Na, B, S, and Mo. However, the low concentration of N and P in the ashes, together with the occasional presence of heavy metals (Ni, Pb, Cd, Se, Al, etc.), has a negative effect on soil and, therefore, crop productivity. This work describes the opportunity to create an innovative supply chain from agricultural waste biomass. Olive (Olea europaea) and hazelnut (Corylus avellana) pruning residues represent a major component of biomass waste in the area of Viterbo (Italy). In this study, we evaluated the production of biochar from these residues. Furthermore, a physicochemical characterisation of the produced biochar was performed to assess the quality of the two biochars according to the standards of the European Biochar Certificate (EBC). The results of this study indicate the cost-effective production of high-quality biochar from olive and hazelnut biomass residues.

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Section: Elemental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Elemental Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets

Zambon

Colisimo²,

Monarca³

et al. 2016

Energies

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“…It reflects the higher lignin content of wood, which preferentially forms char during pyrolysis [21]. The minimum values of H/C org and O/C org indicate a high biochar C stability [32][33][34][35], and thus, a maximum potential for C sequestration. H/C org and O/C org ratios of biochars produced from the 45 pyrolysis tests significantly varied for a single biomass, depending on the pyrolysis operating parameters (Tables A1-A3).…”

Section: Analysis Of Biomassmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Production of Engineered Biochars in a Vertical Auger Pyrolysis Reactor for Carbon Sequestration

et al. 2017

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Biomass pyrolysis and the valorization of co-products (biochar, bio-oil, syngas) could be a sustainable management solution for agricultural and forest residues. Depending on its properties, biochar amended to soil could improve fertility. Moreover, biochar is expected to mitigate climate change by reducing soil greenhouse gas emissions, if its C/N ratio is lower than 30, and sequestrating carbon if its O/C org and H/C org ratios are lower than 0.2 and 0.7, respectively. However, the yield and properties of biochar are influenced by biomass feedstock and pyrolysis operating parameters. The objective of this research study was to validate an approach based on the response surface methodology, to identify the optimal pyrolysis operating parameters (temperature, solid residence time, and carrier gas flowrate), in order to produce engineered biochars for carbon sequestration. The pyrolysis of forest residues, switchgrass, and the solid fraction of pig manure, was carried out in a vertical auger reactor following a Box-Behnken design, in order to develop response surface models. The optimal pyrolysis operating parameters were estimated to obtain biochar with the lowest H/C org and O/C org ratios. Validation pyrolysis experiments confirmed that the selected approach can be used to accurately predict the optimal operating parameters for producing biochar with the desired properties to sequester carbon.

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“…According to Spokas et al [67] biochars with O/C ratio between 0.2 and 0.6, are thought to have a long half-life (100-1000 years). The combined application of ratios H/C and O/C were proposed as a tool to assess the biochar stability with threshold values of H/C < 0.6 and O/C < 0.4 in [23]. …”

Section: Physicochemical Properties Of Feedstock and Biocharsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Spokas et al [22] present a literature survey reviewing the effects biochar on plant growth. In [23] results showed a significant influence of production processes on biochar properties, and identified threshold values suitable for soil amendment and carbon sequestration. The awareness that biochar can have different characteristics adds yet another level of complexity because no longer does biochar addition to the soil only depend on the location dependent variables (soil type, soil structure, climate, other fertilizers and crop) but biochar characteristics play a role in the total suite of interaction processes as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Biochar for Soil Improvement: Evaluation of Biochar from Gasification and Slow Pyrolysis

2015

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Abstract:The growing need for food, energy and materials demands a resource efficient approach as the world's population keeps increasing. Biochar is a valuable product that can be produced in combination with bio-energy in a cascading approach to make best use of available resources. In addition, there are resources that have not been used up to now, such as, e.g., many agro-residues that can become available. Most agro-residues are not suitable for high temperature energy conversion processes due to high alkali-content, which results in slagging and fouling in conventional energy generation systems. Using agro-residues in thermal processes, therefore, logically moves to lower temperatures in order to avoid operational problems. This provides an ideal situation for the combined energy and biochar production. In this work a slow pyrolysis process (an auger reactor) at 400 °C and 600 °C is used as well as two fluidized bed systems for low-temperature (600 °C-750 °C) gasification for the combined energy and biochar generation. Comparison of the two different processes focuses here on the biochar quality parameters (physical, chemical and surface properties), although energy generation and biochar quality are not independent parameters. A large number of feedstock were investigated on general char characteristics and in more detail the paper focuses on two main input streams (woody residues, greenhouse waste) in order to deduct relationships between char parameters for the same feedstock. It is clear that the process technology influences the main biochar properties such as elemental-and ash composition, specific surface area, pH, in addition to mass yield quality of the gas produced. Slow pyrolysis biochars have smaller specific surface areas (SA) and higher PAH than the gasification samples (although below international norms) but higher yields. Higher process OPEN ACCESSAgriculture 2015, 5 1077 temperatures and different gaseous conditions in gasification resulted in lower biochar yields but larger TSA, higher pH and ash contents and very low tar content (16-PAH). From the feedstock data looked at in more detail, a few trends could be deducted in the attempt to learn how to steer the biochar characteristics for specific uses.

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One Step Forward toward Characterization: Some Important Material Properties to Distinguish Biochars

Cited by 443 publications

References 60 publications

An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets

An Innovative Agro-Forestry Supply Chain for Residual Biomass: Physicochemical Characterisation of Biochar from Olive and Hazelnut Pellets

The Production of Engineered Biochars in a Vertical Auger Pyrolysis Reactor for Carbon Sequestration

Biochar for Soil Improvement: Evaluation of Biochar from Gasification and Slow Pyrolysis

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