BIOCHAR PROPERTIES FROM DIFFERENT MATERIALS OF PLANT ORIGIN

Abstract

Biochar is a highly porous solid substance, made of different biomass by pyrolysis. Conditions of pyrolysis as well materials used in it can substantially affect biochar properties. Samples with sufficient amount of stable carbon can be added into soil to be sequestered; high sorption surface of biochar could characterize it as a soil additive, able to immobilize risk elements in soil. Soil contamination by risk elements is a serious problem needs to be solved. There are available remediation methods, using plants to remove these elements from soil. Biomass produced during remediation has limited application and biochar production could be one option. Plants for our experiments were grown on contaminated soil of Přibram area. For the experiment they were used: meadow grass, wood mixture of poplar and willows twigs and finally maize. Biomass of these plants was used to prepare biochar. The effect of the type of biomass and the final temperature of pyrolysis on specific surface area and yield of biochar was studied in our experiments. Both temperature and plant material affected properties of biochar. While the final temperature increased, the specific surface area increased and the yield of biochar decreased. The highest surface area was found at biochar from wood mixture and the lowest one from hay of grass.