Phosphate Control Effect and Water Body Remediation of Magnesium Modified Reed Biochar

Abstract

Adding biochar from harvested reed to sediments is a new method to control the release of sedimentary phosphorus. Three types of Mg-modified biochars were prepared by pyrolysis of reed modified by magnesium chloride at 300, 450, and 600℃.The phosphate adsorption characteristics of the three types of biochars were analyzed by isothermal adsorption experiments. Biochar MBC-450 with good phosphate adsorption effects was selected as the material for the following experiments. Taking the sediment and overlying water of a campus river as the experimental object, we studied the adsorption of phosphate in overlying water and the control of sedimentary phosphorus by Mg-modified biochar under different dosage modes (mixing and covering). The concentration of DIP in the overlying water could be effectively reduced by biochar mixing and covering, and the accumulative phosphorus adsorption capacity increased by 17.3% (mixing) and 11.7% (covering) compared with that of the control. The control effect of sedimentary phosphorus by biochar mixing was more obvious; the DIP in sedimentary water decreased by 14.7%, 18.9%, and 35.36% from 0-2 cm to 4-6 cm compared with the control. The DIP in sedimentary water decreased by 33.3%, -28.2%, and 12.9% when covered with biochar. Compared with the control, the proportion of NH4 Cl-P in the sediment of 0-2 cm and 2-4 cm increased by 15% and 15% (mixing) and 12% and 2% (covering), respectively, while BD-P in TP decreased by 7% and 9% (mixing) and 6% and 3% (covering), respectively, and the Al-P in TP decreased by 7% and 6% (mixing) and 7% and -1% (covering), respectively. The other forms of phosphorus did not change significantly. Biochar mixing and covering can both improve the microbial activity in surface sediment, and biochar mixing can improve the microbial activity in deeper sediments more significantly.