Characterization of pyrolysis products derived from three biological wastes and their effect on plant growth and soil water retention

Bouqbis, Laila; Koyro, Hans Werner; Kammann, Claudia; Ain‐Lhout, F.; Boukhalef, Laila; Harrouni, M. C.

doi:10.1051/e3sconf/20183702004

Cited by 4 publications

(3 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…This changes the structure of the biochar and will invariably affect to what extent it can improve soil water retention. For example, Bouqbis et al (2018) reported that woodchip biochar tends to have a higher water holding capacity when added to soils than a blend of paper sludge and wheat husk biochar. To understand how biochar affects soil water properties we must understand the specific characteristics of biochar that influence these changes.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis on biochar's effects on soil water properties – New insights and future research challenges

Edeh

Mašek

Buss

2020

Science of The Total Environment

192

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Biochar can significantly alter water relations in soil and therefore, can play an important part in increasing the resilience of agricultural systems to drought conditions. To enable matching of biochar to soil constraints and application needs, a thorough understanding of the impact of biochar properties on relevant soil parameters is necessary. This meta-analysis of the available literature for the first time quantitatively assess the effect of not just biochar application, but different biochar properties on the full sets of key soil hydraulic parameters, i.e., the available water content (AWC), saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat), field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP) and total porosity (TP). The review shows that biochar increased soil water retention and decreased Ksat in sandy soils and increased Ksat and hence decreased runoff in clayey soils. On average, regardless of soil type, biochar application increased AWC (28.5%), FC (20.4%), PWP (16.7%) and TP (9.1%), while it reduced Ksat (38.7%) and BD (0.8%).Biochar was most effective in improving soil water properties in coarse-textured soils with application rates between 30 -70 t/ha. The key factors influencing biochar performance were particle size, specific surface area and porosity indicating that both soil-biochar inter-particle and biochar intra-particle pores are important factors. To achieve optimum water relations in sandy soils (>60% sand and <20% clay), biochar with a small particle size (<2 mm) and high specific surface area and porosity should be applied. In clayey soil (>50% clay), <30 t/ha of a high surface area biochar is ideal.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A meta-analysis on biochar's effects on soil water properties – New insights and future research challenges

Edeh

Mašek

Buss

2020

Science of The Total Environment

192

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“…Although some have found that biochar increases soil water retention (de Duarte, Glaser, de Lima, & Cerri, 2019b; Kameyama, Miyamoto, & Shiono, 2014; Obia, Mulder, Martinsen, Cornelissen, & Børresen, 2016; Villagra‐Mendoza & Horn, 2018), others have not observed any significant difference in soil water retention with addition of biochar (Hardie, Clothier, Bound, Oliver, & Close, 2014; Jeffery et al, 2015; Wiersma, van der Ploeg, Sauren, & Stoof, 2020). These variations in observed results are largely due to the differences in biochar properties (Bouqbis et al, 2018; Mašek, Brownsort, Cross, & Sohi, 2013; Schnee, Knauth, Hapca, Otten, & Eickhorst, 2016; Sun, He, Pan, & Zhang, 2017). A meta‐analysis by Edeh, Mašek, and Buss (2020) showed that the biochar properties of great importance with respect to improvement of soil hydraulic properties are specific surface area, particle size and porosity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in improving soil hydraulic properties

Edeh

Mašek

2021

European J Soil Science

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The physical properties of biochar have been shown to dramatically influence its performance as a soil amendment. This study assessed the role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in controlling soil water movement and retention. Softwood pellet biochar in five particle size ranges (>2 mm, 2–0.5 mm, 0.5–0.25 mm, 0.25–0.063 mm and <0.063 mm) was used for the experiment. These particle sizes were tested on two soil types (sandy loam and loamy sand) at four different application rates (1, 2, 4 and 8%) in the laboratory. Soil water suction at wet range and dry range were measured using the Hyprop and WP4‐T, respectively. From this, the moisture content at field capacity (θfc), permanent wilting point (θpwp) and plant available water (θawc), were determined. Saturated hydraulic conductivity (Ksat) was measured using the KSAT device and biochar hydrophobicity was determined using the ethanol drop test method. Our results showed that biochar hydrophobicity increased with decreasing biochar particle size, leading to a reduction in its water retention capacity. The highest θfc (0.087 cm−3 cm−3) and θawc (0.064 cm−3 cm−3) were observed for soils amended with >2 mm biochar. The soil hydraulic conductivity increased with decreasing biochar particle sizes, with the exception of <0.063 mm biochar, which showed a significant (p ≤ 0.05) decrease in soil hydraulic conductivity compared to the larger particle sizes. The results clearly showed that both biochar intraporosity (pores inside biochar particles) and interporosity (pore spaces between biochar and soil particles) are important factors affecting amended soil hydraulic properties. Biochar interpores affected mainly hydraulic conductivity; both interpores and intrapores controlled soil water retention properties. Our results suggest that for a more effective increase in soil water retention of coarse soils, the use of hydrophilic biochar with high intraporosity is recommended. Highlights Biochar increases soil water retention and reduces hydraulic conductivity. Hydrophobicity of biochar increased with decreasing particle size. Coarse biochar particles increased soil water retention due to hydrophilic surfaces and increased intraporosity. Fine biochar particles decreased hydraulic conductivity due to reduced macropores.

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“…Although some have found that biochar increases soil water retention (de Duarte, Glaser, de Lima, & Cerri, 2019b;Kameyama, Miyamoto, & Shiono, 2014;Obia, Mulder, Martinsen, Cornelissen, & Børresen, 2016;Villagra-Mendoza & Horn, 2018), others have not observed any significant difference in soil water retention with addition of biochar (Hardie, Clothier, Bound, Oliver, & Close, 2014;Jeffery et al, 2015;Wiersma, van der Ploeg, Sauren, & Stoof, 2020). These variations in observed results are largely due to the differences in biochar properties (Bouqbis et al, 2018;Mašek, Brownsort, Cross, & Sohi, 2013;Schnee, Knauth, Hapca, Otten, & Eickhorst, 2016;Sun, He, Pan, & Zhang, 2017). A meta-analysis by Edeh, Mašek, and Buss (2020) showed that the biochar properties of great importance with respect to improvement of soil hydraulic properties are specific surface area, particle size and porosity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in improving soil hydraulic properties

Edeh¹,

Mašek²

2021

Preprint

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<p>The physical properties of biochar have been shown to dramatically influence its performance as a soil amendment. Biochar particle size is one of key parameters, as it controls its specific surface area, shape, and pore distribution. Therefore, this study assessed the role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in controlling soil water movement and retention. Softwood pellet biochar in five particle size ranges (>2 mm, 2 &#8211; 0.5 mm, 0.5 &#8211; 0.25 mm, 0.25 &#8211; 0.063mm and <0.063 mm) was used for the experiment. These particle sizes were tested on 2 soil types (sandy loam and loamy sand) at four different application rates (1, 2, 4 and 8%).&#160; Our results showed that biochar hydrophobicity increased with decreasing biochar particle size, leading to a reduction in its water retention capacity. The effect of biochar on soil hydraulic properties varied with different rate of application and particle sizes. With increasing rate of application, water retention increased while hydraulic conductivity decreased. Water content at field capacity, permanent wilting point, and the available water content increased with increasing biochar particle size. The soil hydraulic conductivity increased with decreasing particle sizes apart from biochar particles <0.063mm which showed a significant (p&#8804;0.05) decrease compared to the larger particle sizes. The results clearly showed that both biochar intra-porosity and inter-porosity are important factors affecting soil hydraulic properties. Biochar interpores affected mainly hydraulic conductivity, both interpores and intrapores controlled soil water retention properties. Our results suggest that for a more effective increase in soil water retention in sandy loam and loamy sand, the use of hydrophilic biochar with high intra-porosity is recommended.</p>

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Characterization of pyrolysis products derived from three biological wastes and their effect on plant growth and soil water retention

Cited by 4 publications

References 24 publications

A meta-analysis on biochar's effects on soil water properties – New insights and future research challenges

A meta-analysis on biochar's effects on soil water properties – New insights and future research challenges

The role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in improving soil hydraulic properties

The role of biochar particle size and hydrophobicity in improving soil hydraulic properties

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