Biochar is charcoal made from organic matters such as plant biomass and agricultural wastes that can be used to increase soil ability to sequester carbon and simultaneously improve its nutrient contents and water retention.
Structural composition Thermal degradation of cellulose between 250ºC and 350ºC results in considerable mass loss in the form of volatiles, leaving behind a rigid amorphous C matrix. As the pyrolysis temperature increases, so thus the proportion of aromatic carbon in the biochar, due to the relative increase in the loss of volatile matter (initially water, followed by hydrocarbons, tarry vapors, H2, CO and CO2), and the conversion of alkyl and O-alkyl C to aryl C (Baldock and Smernik, 2002; Demirbas, 2004). Source: http://venice.umwblogs.org/exhibit/the-conservation-of-venetian-building-materials/wood/ Around 330ºC, polyaromatic graphene sheets begin to grow laterally, at the expense of the amorphous C phase, and eventually coalesce. Above 600ºC, carbonization becomes the dominant process. Carbonization is marked by the removal of most remaining non-C atoms and consequent relative increase of the C content, which can be up to 90% (by weight) in biochars from woody
Compared to timber forests in the same growing conditions, bamboo can yield up to 25 times the amount of timber because it is ready to harvest so quickly. Some studies have found that bamboo can sequester four times more carbon and timber forests alone and at the same time releases 35% more oxygen than the timber forests, so there are many ecological benefits to bamboo growth (Brenner, 2008). Source: http://www.bambooinvitro.com/product Source: http://craftingagreenworld.com/2009/08/25/fab-fabrics-greenyarns-bamboo-ecofabric/ Since bamboo can be used as a substitute of timber, it will also help decrease deforestation. Moreover, bamboo is highly sustainable as it can be regenerated within two to three years while timber could take longer than 25 years (FAO- NWFP-Digest-L, 2012). Biochar may be considered as a potential alternative to bamboo products as a durable carbon stock. Source: http://www.proporta.com/smart/production-diary Through a process o
Our pyrolysis reactor designed for the production of biochar was handed for mechanical construction and assembly to a construction and assembly company in Pingtung City and was completed on May 2010. This reactor was used to produce part of the biochar needed for the characterization. Figure 1 shows a schematic of the batch pyrolysis reactor designed at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (Taiwan), and Figure 2 shows the built reactor. This system was able to pyrolyze from 1 to 3kg of biomass (wood pellets, rice husk, and others) per run. The batch reactor vessel is a stainless steel horizontal tube with a diameter of 60 cm x 90 cm (Figure 2). The reactor was heated to temperatures between 250 and 350°C and kept at that temperature for 50 minutes to 1:30 hours, using a gas tank for fire feed. Temperature is monitored using an iron temperature-sensing device that is inserted into open chamber of the drum to give accurate reading of the
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