Effect of biochar particle size on water retention and availability in a sandy loam soil

Alghamdi, Abdulaziz G.; Alkhasha, Arafat; Ibrahim, Hesham M.

doi:10.1016/j.jscs.2020.11.003

Cited by 62 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 48 publications

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“…However, under these conditions, water in the root-zone would not be lost due to deep percolation and there should be more available water for plant growth. Similar results were reported earlier by various researchers [4,9,27,[36][37][38][39][40][41][42][43][44][45][46].…”

Section: Cumulative Infiltration and Infiltration Ratesupporting

confidence: 92%

Significance of Pyrolytic Temperature, Particle Size, and Application Rate of Biochar in Improving Hydro-Physical Properties of Calcareous Sandy Soil

et al. 2021

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Water management and irrigation conservation in calcareous sandy soil are of significant importance for sustaining agricultural production, especially in arid and semi-arid region that facing scarcity of water resources. The changes in hydro-physical characteristics of calcareous sand soil were investigated after date palm waste-derived biochar application in column trials. Significance of pyrolysis temperature (300 °C, 500 °C, and 700 °C), particle size [<0.5 mm (D0.5), 0.5–1 mm (D1), and 1–2 mm (D2)], and application rate (1%, 2.5%, and 5%) were studied. Variations in infiltration rate, intermittent evaporation, and saturated hydraulic conductivity as a function of aforementioned factors were investigated. After amending the top 10-cm soil layer with different biochar and application rates, the columns were subjected to six wetting and drying cycles by applying 25 cm3 tap water per week over a 6-week period. Overall, biochar application resulted in decreased saturated hydraulic conductivity, while improved cumulative evaporation. Specifically, biochar produced at 300 °C and 500 °C demonstrated 10.2% and 13.3% higher cumulative evaporation, respectively., whereas, biochar produced at 700 °C with 5% application rate resulted in decreased cumulative evaporation. Cumulative evaporation increased by 5.0%, 7.7% and, 7.8% for D0.5, D1 and D2 (mm) on average, respectively, as compared with the untreated soil. Thus, biochar with particle size 0.5–1 mm significantly improved hydro-physical properties when applied at 1%. Generally, using biochar produced at medium temperature and small particle size with appropriate application rates could improve the soil hydro-physical properties.

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Section: Cumulative Infiltration and Infiltration Ratesupporting

confidence: 92%

Significance of Pyrolytic Temperature, Particle Size, and Application Rate of Biochar in Improving Hydro-Physical Properties of Calcareous Sandy Soil

et al. 2021

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“…The fine biochar particles reside in the soil pore spaces and limit the pathways of water, reducing soil water infiltration [32,37]. Furthermore, the growth of intraparticle porosity linked with the biochar of small size can contribute to decrease wetting and increased entrapped air, consequently, decreasing the soil cumulative infiltration [38].…”

Section: Water Retentionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impacts of Olive Waste-Derived Biochar on Hydro-Physical Properties of Sandy Soil

2021

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In this study, waste olive leaves and branches were pyrolyzed to produced biochar, and their impacts on physical and chemical properties of a sandy soil were evaluated. Pyrolytic temperatures of 300 °C, 400 °C, and 500 °C were used for biochar production. After evaluating the physio-chemical properties, the produced biochars were added to the top 10 cm layer of the soil at rates of 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% in a column experiment at 25 °C. Biochar was mixed with a sandy soil into the top 10 cm of the columns. For all treatments, cumulative evaporation was reduced; however, treatments with 5% biochar prepared at the highest temperatures showed the highest impact. The available water contents were increased by 153.33% and 151.11% when olive branch-derived biochar and olive leaves-derived biochars produced at 500 °C were applied at 5% rate, respectively. No impact of available water was observed for 1% biochar contribution. Biochar application decreased both cumulative infiltration and infiltration rate. Biochar pyrolyzed at 500 °C most intensely improved hydro-physical properties of a sandy soil. However, its application as a soil supplement in arid environments should be adopted with constraints due to its high pH (9.69 and 9.29 for biochar pyrolyzed at the highest temperatures) and salinity (up to electrical conductivity = 5.07 dS m−1). However, the salinity of biochar prepared from olive branches (5%, pyrolyzed at 500 °C) was low (0.79 dS m−1); therefore, it can be used safely as a supplement in saline and acidic soils, but with restriction in alkaline soils.

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“…It was observed that soil's physical properties were dependent upon the particle size of biochar. Similarly, in another study conducted by Alghamdi et al (2020) [28], ne biochar particles < 0.1 mm increased the water content at eld capacity and available water content more than that of particle size greater than 0.1 mm, probably due to increased surface area, microporosity and biochar's porous structure in light-textured soils after an incubation period of 120 days.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 76%

Exploring Efficiency of Biochar in Enhancing Water Retention in Soils with Varying Grain Size Distributions using ANN Technique

Garg

Wani

Zhu

et al. 2021

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Recently, incentives have been provided in many countries, including Canada and Denmark, to produce biochar for construction usage. This is done because biochar is carbon negative and can help achieve the emission reduction goal of 2030. This technical note aims to analyze the efficiency of biochar in soils with varying grain size distribution for enhancing water retention capacity (WRC). The combinations of biochar content and grain size distributions corresponding to the maximum and minimum efficiency were explored. Artificial Neural Network (ANN) based model for predicting Soil Water Characteristic Curve (SWCC) as a function of soil suction and grain size distribution was developed. A new factor (the ratio of fine (silt + clay) and coarse (sand) content) was proposed for the interpretation of the efficiency of biochar in soils. The newly developed model is able to predict SWCC reasonably well. Biochar amendment is found to influence both dry and wet sides of soils with a clay content lower than threshold content (6–8%). Beyond threshold content, the influence of biochar appears to reduce. However, in the case of high sand content soils (90%), the NWC value on the drier side is generally higher as compared to soils with lower sand content. Based on sensitivity analysis, it was found that the ratio of fine to sand content is the most influential, while biochar content is the least influential.

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Effect of biochar particle size on water retention and availability in a sandy loam soil

Cited by 62 publications

References 48 publications

Significance of Pyrolytic Temperature, Particle Size, and Application Rate of Biochar in Improving Hydro-Physical Properties of Calcareous Sandy Soil

Significance of Pyrolytic Temperature, Particle Size, and Application Rate of Biochar in Improving Hydro-Physical Properties of Calcareous Sandy Soil

Impacts of Olive Waste-Derived Biochar on Hydro-Physical Properties of Sandy Soil

Exploring Efficiency of Biochar in Enhancing Water Retention in Soils with Varying Grain Size Distributions using ANN Technique

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