• Korean Journal of Soil Science and Fertilizer
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• v.46 no.1
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• pp.8-15
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• 2013

Little research has been conducted to explore the heavy metal removal potential of biochar. The adsorption characteristics of heavy metals by sesame waste biochar (pyrolysis at $600^{\circ}C$ for 1 hour) as heavy metal absorbent were investigated. The sesame waste biochar was characterized by SEM-EDS and FT-IR, and heavy metal removal was studied using Freundlich and Langmuir equations. The removal rates of heavy metals were higher in the order of Pb>Cu>Cd>Zn, showing that the adsorption efficiency of Pb was higher than those of any other heavy metals. Freundlich and Langmuir adsorption isotherms were used to model the equilibrium adsorption data obtained for adsorption of heavy metals on biochar produced from sesame waste. Pb, Cu, Cd and Zn equilibrium adsorption data were fitted well to the two models, but Pb gave a better fit to Langmuir model. Heavy metals were observed on the biochar surface after adsorption by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). Main functional groups were aromatic C=O ring (at $1160cm^{-1}$, $1384cm^{-1}$ and $1621cm^{-1}$) by FT-IR analysis. Thus, biochar produced from sesame waste could be useful adsorbent for treating heavy metal wastewaters.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.39 no.4
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• pp.297-304
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• 2020

BACKGROUND: Emission of nitrous oxide (N2O) from the soil is expected to depend on the types of nitrogen fertilizer used. Biochar has recently been proposed as a potential mitigation of climate change by reducing the N2O emission. Although laboratory studies reported that biochar applications could reduce N2O emission, the number of field-based studies is still limited. Therefore, a field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of biochar on N2O emission when different nitrogen fertilizers were applied in corn cultivated field. METHODS AND RESULTS: The field experiment consisted of six treatments: urea fertilizer without biochar (U), ammonium sulfate fertilizer without biochar (A), oil cake fertilizer without biochar (O), urea fertilizer with biochar (U+B), ammonium sulfate fertilizer with biochar (A+B), and oil cake fertilizer with biochar (O+B). Biochar was applied at a rate of 10 t/ha. Greenhouse gas fluxes were measured during growing seasons using static vented chambers. The cumulative N2O emissions were 0.99 kg/ha in the U, 1.23 kg/ha in the A, 3.25 kg/ha in the O, 1.19 kg/ha in the U+B, 0.86 kg/ha in the A+B, and 1.55 kg/ha in the O+B. CONCLUSION: It was found that N2O emission was related to application of both nitrogen fertilizer type and biochar. In particular, the N2O reduction effect was the highest in the corn field incorporated with biochar when oil cake was applied to the soil.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.58-64
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• 2013

This study proposed a low temperature hydrothermal carbonization to treat and recycle sewage sludge and determined the optimal conditions for the biochar production. The physical and chemical properties of biochar were analyzed and its sorption capacity for heavy metals was evaluated. To produce biochar, 50 g of sewage sludge was heated at 220, 230, and $240^{\circ}C$ for 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, and 10 hours in a reactor. The optimal conditions to produce biochar was $230^{\circ}C$ and 8 hours. Sorption capacity tests were conducted for arsenic (As), cadmium (Cd), copper (Cu), lead (Pb), zinc (Zn) and nickel (Ni). Among them, lead was shown the highest heavy metal adsorption efficiency of biochar, followed by copper, cadmium, zinc, and nickel, but arsenic was hardly adsorbed overall.

• Ecology and Resilient Infrastructure
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.11-18
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• 2018

Phosphorous remains as one of the most limiting nutrients to plant growth, second only to nitrogen. Research on use of biochar as a soil amendment for available phosphorus in temperate calcareous soils has limited studies compared with to tropical acidic soils. An incubation experiment to assess phosphorous availability in a biochar amended calcareous soil under inorganic (Fused superphosphate, FSP) and organic fertilizer (bone meal, BM) and respectively, at the dose of 40, 80 and $120mg\;P\;kg^{-1}$ was carried out. Soil was incubated at $25^{\circ}C$ for 70 days. Results show that the rate of increase in available P was proportional to the fertilizer application rate with or without biochar amendment. Biochar did not have a significant effect on soils amended with either fertilizeron the values of available P. However, time had a significant effect (p<0.001) on the amount of available P during the incubation period. Inorganic fertilizer treatments had recorded high amount of available P with time compared to organic fertilizer treatments. Organic fertilizer treatment sample were significantly not different from control and for most of the incubation time biochar acted as a soil conditioner. Further research is required to understand the holistic and long-term effect of biochar.

• New & Renewable Energy
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.135-144
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• 2024

The present study investigated waste medium from a domestic shiitake mushroom farm, which was pyrolyzed to produce biochar. The yield rate of the biochar was compared after exposure to various pyrolysis temperature conditions, and the characteristics of the produced biochar were analyzed. The present study focused on the carbon dioxide (CO₂) adsorption capacity of the resulting biochar. The CO₂ adsorption capacity exhibited a correlation with the pyrolysis temperature of the biochar, with increasing temperatures resulting in higher CO₂ adsorption capacities. Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET) analysis showed that the CO₂ adsorption capacity was related to the surface area and pore volume of the biochar. Calcium is added to the process of producing mushroom medium. Experiments were performed to investigate the CO₂ adsorption capacity of the biochar from the waste medium with the addition of calcium. In addition, CO₂ adsorption experiments were conducted after the pyrolysis of kenaf biochar with the addition of calcium. The results of these experiments show that calcium affected the CO₂ adsorption capacity.

• Korean Journal of Environmental Agriculture
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.22-28
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• 2017

BACKGROUND: There is very limited knowledge of the effects of biochar derived from exhausted coffee residue on metal adsorption processes. Furthermore, only limited information is available on the adsorption mechanism of copper. The aim of this study was to evaluate the absorption behaviors of copper by biochar derived from exhausted coffee residue. METHODS AND RESULTS: Biochars produced by pyrolysis of exhausted coffee residue at $300^{\circ}C$(CB300) and $600^{\circ}C$(CB600) were characterized and investigated as adsorbents for the removal of copper from aqueous solution. The results indicated that the adsorption equilibrium was achieved around 2 h and the pseudo-second-order kinetic model fit the data better than the pseudo-first-order kinetic model. The maximum Cu adsorption capacities of CB600 by Freundlich and Langmuir isotherms were higher than those of CB300. The adsorption data were well described by a Langmuir isotherm compare to Freundlich isotherm. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that exhausted coffee residue can be used as feedstock materials to produce high quality biochar, which could be used as adsorbents to removal copper.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.45 no.2
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• pp.197-203
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• 2018

Biochar is the carbon solid produced through the pyrolysis of a biomass from organic sources such as agricultural waste, animal manure, and sludge under limited or anaerobic conditions. Biochar has the effect of reducing greenhouse gases through the carbon sequestration method; additionally, biochar is known to function as a soil amendment. This experiment was conducted to evaluate the application of biochar on the growth characteristics of Chinese cabbage at Chungnam National University in Daejeon, Korea. The Chinese cabbage was grown for 50 days in a glasshouse in pots. A pruning branch was used to produce the bead and pellet forms of biochar through pyrolysis. The biochar was added to the soil at 0, 2, and 5% by weight. The Chinese cabbage with the 2% treatment of the bead form of biochar had the highest fresh weight ($149.43{\pm}15.92g\;plant^{-1}$) which was increased by 10% compared to the control ($136.91{\pm}31.46g\;plant^{-1}$). Moreover, for the 5% treatment of the bead form of biochar ($60.91{\pm}9.82g\;plant^{-1}$), the growth decreased by 57% compared to the control. As the content of the bead form of biochar increased, the shoot dry weight, leaf number, leaf length and lead width that appeared decreased. An increase in the total organic matter, Avail. $P_2O_5$, Ex. cation and EC was observed when the biochar content was increased. Our results support the application of 2% biochar in the bead form for increased growth of Chinese cabbage.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.9
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• pp.3448-3451
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• 2022

Biochar is a novel carbon based material derived from waste that shows promising properties for several applications. In this paper we investigate its potential use as a low cost, greener alternative to commonly used aggregates employed to enhance the neutron shielding performance of concrete. Monte Carlo simulations are performed with the PHITS code to estimate the neutron attenuation of blank and biochar-reinforced concrete exposed to high energy neutrons. We find that the shielding performance of concrete with 15% biochar is comparable with commonly used materials such as Boron Carbide at 20% and exceeds that of Basalt fibers with the same concentration, making these composites an interesting greener alternative to current solutions. A combination of biochar and heavier fillers also show extremely promising performance.

• Korean Journal of Agricultural Science
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• v.41 no.4
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• pp.369-377
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• 2014

This study was carried out to evaluate the effect of rice husk (RHB) and food waste biochar (FWB) on upland soil with sandy loam texture, in terms of physico-chemical analysis, lettuce seed germination test, and orgainc carbon leaching experiment. RHB and FWB had different physico-chemical properties each other. Carbon to nitrogen ratio (C/N ratio) of RHB was 32, showing two times higher than that of FWB. FWB had high salt and heavy metal content, compared to RHB. This is probably due to different ingredients and production processing between two biochars each other. Results of germination test with Lettuce showed lower germination rate when FWB was applied because of higher salt concentration compared to control and RHB. Organic carbon leaching test using saturated soil column (${\Phi}75{\times}h75mm$) with $10MT\;ha^{-1}$ biochar application rate, showed higher saturated hydraulic conductivity in rice husk biochar treatment column, compared to control and food waste biochar treatment. The highest total organic carbon concentration in column effluent was lower than those in both of rice husk biochar and food waste biochar, whereas the differences was negligible after 9 pore volumes of effluent. Consequently, biochars from byproducts such as rice husk and food waste in sandy loam textured upland soil could enhance a buffer function such as reduction of leaching from soil, but the harmful ingredient to crops such as high salt and heavy metals could limit the agricultural use of biochars.

• Journal of Soil and Groundwater Environment
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.47-53
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• 2012

In this study, the adsorption of $Cu^{2+}$ and $Cd^{2+}$ from aqueous solution on the biochar derived from used coffee grounds at different pyrolysis temperatures has been investigated as a potential low-cost treatment method for heavy metal-containing waters. Three biochar samples prepared by heating coffee sludge at temperature of $300^{\circ}C$ (B300), $500^{\circ}C$ (B500), and $700^{\circ}C$ (B700) were tested for the adsorption capacity and kinetics of Cd and Cu. Also the influencing factor of heavy metal removal by ion exchange in terms of cation exchange capacity (CEC) of each biochar was measured. Adsorption of Ca and Cu by biochar produced at higher pyrolysis temperature showed higher adsorption capacity but the optimal pyrolysis temperature based on performance and economy was known as $500^{\circ}C$. Sorption of Cu and Cd by biochar followed a Langmuir model at pH 6~6.5, attributing mainly to surface sorption. The biochar was more effective in Cu and Cd sorption than activated carbon (AC), with BC 500 being the most effective, which indicates that sorption of Cd and Cu by coffee sludge biochar is partly influenced by chemical sorption on surface functional group as well as physical sorption.