Production of biochars for use in soil quality enhancement
Paper details:
visit a research lab that studying the producing of biochar from organic material as soil enhancer. I wrote an outline about the processes done in this to produce the biochar, the Dr. who doing this study he’s already did it in USA and publish it and now trying to do it in Qatar.
write a lab report with the following subtitle
BACKGROUND ON THE TOPIC :summarize the attached article
INTSRUMENTS INTRODUCED in the process
RESEARCH PROJECTS CONDUCTED rewrite the whole process in the outline in scientific and advanced way
RESEARCH FINDINGS
Write the results and the dissection in the article
BENEFITS OF THE RESEARCH
HOW APPLICABLE THIS EXPERIENCE TO my DEGREE
REFERENCES should be from scientific articles
Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 108 (2014) 301–309
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis
journal h om epage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jaap
Production and characterization of biochars from agriculturalby-products for use in soil quality enhancementD. Rehraha, M.R. Reddye, J.M. Novakd, R.R. Bansodeb, K.A. Schimmelf, J. Yuc,D.W. Wattsd, M. Ahmednaa,*aDepartment of Health Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, Qatar University, Doha, QatarbCenter for Excellence in Post-Harvest Technologies, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, North Carolina Research Campus,500 Laureate Way, Suite 4222, Kannapolis, NC 28081, USAcDepartment of Family and Consumer Sciences, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 East Market Street, Greensboro, NC 27411,USAdUSDA-ARS, Coastal Plains Research Center, 2611 West Lucas Street, Florence, SC 29501, USAeDepartment of Natural Resources and Environmental Design, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 East Market Street,Greensboro, NC 27411, USAfDepartment of Energy & Environmental Systems, North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, 1601 East Market Street, Greensboro,NC 27411, USAa r t i c l e i n f oArticle history:Received 10 July 2013Accepted 7 March 2014Available online 24 April 2014Keywords:Agricultural by-productsPyrolysisBiocharPhysicochemical characteristicsa b s t r a c tByproducts are produced in significant amounts from crop residues such as pecan shells (PC), peanutshells (PS), and cotton gin (CG) trash. These residues can be used to produce biochar suitable for use inagricultural soil to sequester carbon and enhance plant growth by supplying and retaining nutrients whileimproving soil physical and biological properties. The objectives of this study were to produce biocharsfrom different byproducts [PC, PS, CG, and switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.)] at different pyrolysis tem-peratures and residence times, and to evaluate the resulting biochar’s physico-chemical properties [yield,ash, pH, total surface area (TSA), surface charge (SC), and electrical conductivity (EC)] and elemental com-position. Feedstocks were pyrolyzed under N2at 3 temperatures (300, 500, and 750?C) and residencetimes each (8, 16, and 24 h), (4, 8, and 12 h), and (1, 2, and 3 h), respectively, depending on the nature ofthe feedstock. Higher pyrolysis temperatures resulted in lower biochar recovery, greater TSA, higher pH,minimal SC, and higher ash contents. Among the eight biochars, switchgrass-derived biochar producedat 750?C had the highest TSA (276 m2g-1) followed by PC biochar (185 m2g-1). Substantial increase inbiochar pH (up to 9.8) occurred at the higher temperatures. Biochars produced at lower temperatures(350?C) had measurable SC with PS biochar having the highest value (3.16 mmol H+eq g-1C). The high-est ash content was observed in CG (up to 34%) compared to other biochars which contained <10% ash.These soil-related properties suggest that different biochars types can be produced to selectively improvephysicochemical properties of soil through selection of specific feedstocks and pyrolysis conditions.© 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.1. IntroductionThe production and processing of various agricultural commodi-ties yield significant amounts of by-products in the form of cropresidues such as nutshells, cotton gin, corn cobs, sugarcane bagasse,rice hulls, and straws, etc. Many of the agricultural residues can beused to produce biochar for its use in agricultural soil applicationsAbbreviations: PC, pecan shells; PS, peanut shells; CG, cotton gin; TSA, totalsurface area; EC, electrical conductivity.*Corresponding author. Tel.: +974 4403 4848.E-mail address: ahmedna@qu.edu.qa (M. Ahmedna).with the double advantage of sequestering carbon (improve soilstructure, nutrient retention, and pH) and increasing the crop pro-ductivity [1,2]. In many cases, these agricultural by-products areleft as waste materials with little or no economic value while theirdisposal is sometimes costly and may cause environmental issues.For instance, large amounts (more than 50% of total available agri-cultural residues in the United States) can be acquired between $40and $60 per Mg of biomass [3].Conversion of low value and underutilized agricultural by-products and high volume/low cost industrial biomass (e.g.,switchgrass) is ecologically and economically attractive given thefact that energy can be produced at the same time as biochar. Somecrop residues such as nut shells (e.g., groundnut, hazelnut, walnut,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jaap.2014.03.008