Characterization and carbon mineralization of biochars produced from different animal manures and plant residues

Abstract

Renewing carbon and re-establishing it again in the soil is one of the valuable means to cope with climate change. there are many technologies for carbon apprehension and storage, but the most important one gaining attention is biochar technology. So, to carbonize and return different biological materials back to the farmland, a comprehensive study was proposed to characterize and evaluate the carbon (C) mineralization of biochars produced from different animal manures and crop straws. Six types of biochars were prepared from animal manures (poultry litter, swine and cattle manures) and crop straws (rice, soybean, and corn straws). the biochars were analyzed for chemical characteristics (elemental variables, thermal decomposition, cation exchange capacity, pH, electrical conductivity, specific surface area, and surface functional groups) and an incubation experiment was conducted to evaluate C mineralization from soil biochar mixture. Biochars produced from crop straws resulted to have more c as compared to the biochars produced from animal manures. concentration of nitrogen was low, while P, K, Ca, and Mg were found reasonably higher in all biochars except swine manure biochar. the plant-derived biochars presented lower co 2 emissions when incorporated to soil at 1 and 2% of C. Varying but all the biochars prepared represented an alkaline pH. Biochars prepared from the crop straws resulted to have more c, alkaline in nature, high cec, low co 2 emissions, can sequester C and more suitable to enhance the soil fertility in comparison to biochars produced from other sources. In the Southern region of Brazil can be found immense amounts of diverse animal manure and plant residues as the region have a massive number of animal farms and crop production. Swine and poultry farms are the principal sources of the manure produced in the region. Rice is cultivated on about 1,000 M ha area 1 , while soybean and corn are also major crops grown in the region (more than 6,000 M ha area) 2. In the region, no-tillage planting system is used to grow crops for a long time, and crop straws are left on the surface at the time of harvesting. There may be noted an uneven decomposition of these organic materials and different environmental impacts can be noticed, such as releasing carbon dioxide (CO 2) into the atmosphere and N can be immobilized by microorganisms or can be escaped into the atmosphere in the form of N 2 O, N 2 and NH 3. Biochar is an alternative and beneficial strategy to dispose-off the animal manures and plant residues rather than keeping them on the place or applying to soil directly 3. Biochar is a solid C rich material obtained from organic waste burning in the absence or low supply of oxygen 4. A massive amount of different biomasses can be found to produce biochars such as animal manures, plant residues, sewage sludge, and agricultural wastes. Its production from different residues and wastes for the use of farm soils may be a valuable means to decrease the negative impacts of emissions (greenhouse gases) from the...

Potential of Biochar Derived from Agricultural Residues for Sustainable Management

“…The band intensity in the 1600 cm −1 region appeared indicative of conjugated C=C phenyl rings of ketones and quinones. This implies condensation of the biochar organic compounds which is in agreement with the results reported by other researchers [32][33][34]. Peaks for C-H bending bonds (out of plane) in the region of 900-675 cm −1 , which are characteristic of the aromatic substitution pattern, were clearly visible for all biochars except for a small peak for the corncob biochar.…”

Poultry Litter Biochar Increases Mycorrhizal Colonisation, Soil Fertility and Cucumber Yield in a Fertigation System on Sandy Soil

“…This property of biochar lessens the volatilization of ammonia from the soil surface. Amendment of soils with biochar promotes mineralization of organic matter [10,21] and boosts the release of nutrients such as N, P, and C [81]. Chan et al [18] stated that higher nutrient-holding capacity of biochar improves nutrient supply to soil and plants, and reduces their leaching.…”

Recent advancement of biomass-derived porous carbon based materials for energy and environmental remediation applications

“…Agricultural based biomass, which are traditionally categorized to be lignocellulosic in nature, in most cases give rise to macro/microporous structure with higher carbon content in comparison to those processed from animals, which are rich with volatile organic/inorganic compounds. 65 Beyond biomass, the pyrolysis process has also been used for the conversion of industrial wastes like dental molds into porous carbon which shows a high SSA of nearly 1000 m 2 g À1 . 66 Currently, direct activation/reactivation of the carbon precursors during pyrolysis is commonly used to optimize the internal pore structure of the materials, which is not achieved by direct calcination.…”