IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jeners/v15y2022i16p5882-d887569.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessment of Biomass and Biochar of Maritime Pine as a Porous Medium for Water Retention in Soils

Author

Listed:
  • Rodrigo V. Santos

    (Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Miguel A. A. Mendes

    (IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

  • Carlos Alexandre

    (Department of Geosciences (ECT) and MED—Mediterranean Institute for Agriculture, Environment and Development, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Universidade de Évora, Pólo da Mitra, Ap. 94, 7006-554 Évora, Portugal)

  • Manuela Ribeiro Carrott

    (LAQV-REQUIMTE, Instituto de Investigação e Formação Avançada, Departamento de Química e Bioquímica, Escola de Ciências e Tecnologia, Colégio Luís António Verney, Universidade de Évora, 7000-671 Évora, Portugal)

  • Abel Rodrigues

    (IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal
    INIAV, Instituto de Investigação Agrária e Veterinária, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
    GeoBiotec, Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia, Universidade Nova de Lisboa, 2825-149 Caparica, Portugal)

  • Ana F. Ferreira

    (IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal)

Abstract

Pinewood biomass in Portugal can be considered a major source of biochar for soil physical, chemical, and biological edaphic amendment. This work intended to evaluate the aptitude of lab produced biochar for upgrading soil moisture dynamics’ relationships considering mixtures of biochar with silica-based sand. The methodology used focused on the carbonization of pine biomass with inert atmosphere at 300 °C, 400 °C, 500 °C and 600 °C, followed by a chemical proximate and thermogravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared analysis, numerical modeling, and characterization of biochar porosity by gas adsorption (Brunauer–Emmett–Teller) and mercury porosimetry. The results showed the increased amounts of soil water retention and plant available water, evaluated through pF curves, due to biochar application. The thermogravimetric analysis mass loss patterns and FTIR transmittance, reflected major structural modifications in carbonized products by comparison with raw biomass. Mercury porosimetry showed that biochar pores between 392 and 250 μm and 32 μm and 6 μm gave the highest pore volume for water retention with a major increase from carbonization, by comparison with physical activation. The used methodologies allowed us to conclude that the carbonaceous feedstock can potentiate the improvement of soil water relations aiming at agricultural land use.

Suggested Citation

  • Rodrigo V. Santos & Miguel A. A. Mendes & Carlos Alexandre & Manuela Ribeiro Carrott & Abel Rodrigues & Ana F. Ferreira, 2022. "Assessment of Biomass and Biochar of Maritime Pine as a Porous Medium for Water Retention in Soils," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(16), pages 1-17, August.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:16:p:5882-:d:887569
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5882/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5882/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ferreira, A.F. & Soares Dias, A.P. & Silva, C.M. & Costa, M., 2015. "Evaluation of thermochemical properties of raw and extracted microalgae," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 92(P3), pages 365-372.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Xia Yang & Qiong Zhang & Sarina J. Ergas, 2023. "Enhancement of System and Environmental Performance of High Solids Anaerobic Digestion of Lignocellulosic Banana Waste by Biochar Addition," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-20, April.
    2. Haoyu Wang & Yipei Jiang & Evan Park & Xue Han & Yimin Zeng & Chunbao Xu, 2023. "Hydrothermal Liquefaction of Pinewood Sawdust: Influence of Reaction Atmosphere," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-18, April.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Andreia Silva & Ricardo N. Coimbra & Carla Escapa & Sónia A. Figueiredo & Olga M. Freitas & Marta Otero, 2020. "Green Microalgae Scenedesmus Obliquus Utilization for the Adsorptive Removal of Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drugs (NSAIDs) from Water Samples," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(10), pages 1-24, May.
    2. Chen, Yun-Chun & Chen, Wei-Hsin & Lin, Bo-Jhih & Chang, Jo-Shu & Ong, Hwai Chyuan, 2016. "Impact of torrefaction on the composition, structure and reactivity of a microalga residue," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 110-119.
    3. Nurdiawati, Anissa & Zaini, Ilman Nuran & Irhamna, Adrian Rizqi & Sasongko, Dwiwahju & Aziz, Muhammad, 2019. "Novel configuration of supercritical water gasification and chemical looping for highly-efficient hydrogen production from microalgae," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 369-381.
    4. Anissa Nurdiawati & Frauke Urban, 2021. "Towards Deep Decarbonisation of Energy-Intensive Industries: A Review of Current Status, Technologies and Policies," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-33, April.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:16:p:5882-:d:887569. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.