| Abstrakt: |
The study was conducted to investigate the influence of varied pyrolysis temperature on quality parameters and recovery of biochar from Simarouba seed coat biomass waste. Fixed-bed (batch) slow pyrolysis reactor was used to produce biochars at three different pyrolysis temperatures - 300°C (BC300), 400°C (BC400) and 500°C (BC500) with 4 hours residence time per cycle. The biochar yield exhibited a significant decline, ranging from 78.15 per cent at 300°C to 39.23 per cent at 500°C. To unravel quality variations among the resulting biochars, proximate and nutrient analyses were conducted, coupled with an assessment of physicochemical properties such as bulk density (BD), maximum water holding capacity (MWHC), pH and electrical conductivity (EC). With rising pyrolysis temperature, pH, EC, elemental carbon and fixed carbon content showed consistent increase. BC500 significantly shows higher pH (8.67), EC (1.53 dS m-1), total carbon (70.46%) and fixed carbon content (81.47%) compared to BC300 and BC400. Whereas, BC500 showed the higher MWHC (270.79%) and lower BD (0.28 Mg m-3) indicative of enhanced porosity. BC500 also exhibited enriched concentrations of potassium (K) and calcium (Ca) (4.58 and 1.33%, respectively), while nitrogen (N) concentration was lowest (1.12%). The hightemperature biochars with elevated pH, MWHC and K-content could be beneficial for remediating acidic soils, enhancing water retention in sandy soils, and ameliorating K-deficient soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
