Wood identification of charcoal with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy

Balzano, Angela; Čufar, Katarina; Krže, Luka; Merela, Maks

doi:10.26614/les-wood.2020.v69n02a02

Cited by 3 publications

(1 citation statement)

References 23 publications

(33 reference statements)

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“…After 3 months of the trial period, sixcylinder samples of each treatment were used for the preparation of the water retention curves and to determine the WDPT, WPM, and CRM. The chemical characterization of the beech wood biochar, pyrolyzed between 500 to 550 °C was performed by Karki (2018) and a miscroscopy wood characterization of the charcoal was made by Balzano et al (2020).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil water balance and wettability methods in soil treated with biochar and/or compost

Duarte¹,

Hubach

Glaser

2022

carbon res

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The impacts of biochar application in combination with compost on soil hydrological conditions such as infiltration, water-storage capacity, and methods of soil wettability, are not well understood. The aim of this study was to fill this knowledge gap and propose the best composition proportion of compost and/or biochar to improve sand soil water balance. For this purpose, we examined three different mixtures of sand and compost and six different mixtures of sand, compost, and biochar with respect to their wettability and water infiltration using tree methods, (I) Water Droplet Penetration Time Test (WDPT test), (II) Wilhelmy Plate Method (WPM) and (III) Capillary Rise Method (CRM) applied at different soil water potential (pF) levels. The different mixtures were characterized by texture, bulk density, field capacity, and soil water holding capacity through measurement of the water content of soil columns. Increasing biochar plus compost or compost alone had contributed to increasing the soil water holding capacity and water available content. The best composition with the highest water storage capacity, plant-available water, and wettability was: 0.6% of biochar, 5.4% soil organic matter (SOM), and 93.99% of sand. According to the WDPT test, the increased content of biochar contributed to improving the soil wettability, this test was preferred since 1) WDPT appeared to allow the best estimates of wetting behavior of the different mixtures, 2) the column samples were the least disturbed, and 3) the test was particularly feasible at different water content levels. However, WDPT was strongly dependent on the conductor of the experiment and the accurate measurement of short infiltration times (0s - 2s) proved challenging. The WDPT results indicate that biochar might enhance the infiltration capacity under natural conditions and the combined results indicate that biochar-compost-applications are not expected to cause ecologically critical hydrophobicity or a critical lowering of the sandy soil infiltration capacity. Graphical abstract

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Soil water balance and wettability methods in soil treated with biochar and/or compost

Duarte¹,

Hubach

Glaser

2022

carbon res

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Volumetric imaging by micro computed tomography: a suitable tool for wood identification of charcoal

Haag¹,

Dremel²,

Zabler

2022

IAWA J.

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Summary The present study focuses on the application of state-of-the-art μCT, by using a sub-micrometre CT scanner as a tool for wood identification. Charcoal was chosen as a subject for this case study. The reason for choosing charcoal is based on economic as well as technical issues. Parallel to conventional wood anatomy, various promising approaches to identification are currently being developed worldwide in order to simplify the identification of processed wood. However, due to the carbonization process, such approaches are not applicable to charcoal. In view of the rapid development of μCT technology, it was decided to examine the extent to which wood anatomical studies can be supported and improved by modern μCT technology. About 17% of the annually harvested wood worldwide is converted to charcoal (FAO 2017), and the charcoal trade is one of the least controlled/monitored segments of the European timber market. Although charcoal has a significant market share of wood-based products, it is still not yet covered by any trade regulation, e.g. the European Timber Regulations (EUTR), (EU) No995/2010. For the present study, different wood types and the anatomical fine structural features were measured and displayed at different magnifications to visualize the performance of state-of-the-art μCT standards. Three different charcoal assortments were examined, and the results were checked against the given declarations of contents. The aim of this work is to evaluate the potential of the μCT technique in the field of wood identification and to assess its use for the regulatory control of charcoal and other wood products in the international timber trade. The results are encouraging and lead to the conclusion that the application of the μCT technique in the field of wood identification can be classified as very promising for the future.

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Charcoal in Anaerobic Digestion: Part 1—Characterisation of Charcoal

Korte,

Sprafke,

Parmar

et al. 2024

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Biochar (BC) is often used as an additive in anaerobic digestion (AD) to increase yield and/or to stabilise the process when the manure content is increased. Unfortunately, BC is rarely described in detail in terms of its raw material sources, production processes, and structural, physical and chemical properties to allow correlation with its effects on AD. It is an open question whether microorganisms from AD can penetrate into different biochar pore types, depending on their wood origin. In this paper, we describe the preparation (temperatures, treatment times, yields) and characterisation shrinkage, density, pore sizes, pore size distribution, specific surface area, ash, volatiles, fixed carbon, elemental composition, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), benzene, toluene, ethyl-toluene, xylene (BTEX) and volatile halogenated hydrocarbons (VHH) of BC cubes of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris) and common beech (Fagus sylvatica) powder made from this BC in addition to commercial charcoal powder. The pore size distribution determined by mercury porosimetry differs from that determined by 3D-reflected light microscopy. After incubating BC cubes in AD, the cubes were mechanically cleaned and cut into two pieces. Microorganisms were detected inside the cubes by fluorescence microscopy. Particle size and wood source determine the influence of BC on AD.

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Wood identification of charcoal with Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy

Cited by 3 publications

References 23 publications

Soil water balance and wettability methods in soil treated with biochar and/or compost

Soil water balance and wettability methods in soil treated with biochar and/or compost

Volumetric imaging by micro computed tomography: a suitable tool for wood identification of charcoal

Charcoal in Anaerobic Digestion: Part 1—Characterisation of Charcoal

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