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SUMMARY:Biochar impact on soil processes and as additive in soil remediati
 on - Ms Amelia Md-Som
DTSTART:20120309T160000Z
DTEND:20120309T170000Z
UID:TALK35815@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Anama Lowday
DESCRIPTION:Biochar is charcoal made for environment purposes.  It is prod
 uced by burning up biomass in the absence or limited amount of oxygen thro
 ugh carbonisation\, pyrolysis or gasification.  Biochar role in carbon seq
 uestration put great emphasis in the study of its impact on soil processes
 .  Discovery of Terra Preta (patches of fertile soil) in the Amazon had sh
 own how incorporation of biochar into the soil improves its fertility comp
 ared to soil surrounding the area.  Moreover biochar in the form of activa
 ted carbon has been the main acceptable method for several soil and ground
 water remediation techniques.  As a realistic option for farmers in develo
 ping countries\, earth pit for biochar production was constructed and the 
 carbonisation process was later analysed by using TGA-FTIR. The effect of 
 carbonisation to surrounding soil was investigated.  The most significant 
 change observed was the increase in the soil pH value from 4.3 to 6.7.  Bi
 ochar is able to improve soil water retention of coarse and loam soil in u
 nsaturated zone and permeability of clay under saturated condition.  Proct
 or test on synthetic loam soil incorporate with biochar with different por
 e size demonstrate biochar also has the ability to reduce maximum dried de
 nsity of soil and increase optimum moisture content.  It improves the CEC 
 of acidic soil and capable to reduce nitrogen leaching from peat soil even
  under heavy rainfall.  Alas all the positive nature of biochar\, it also 
 has the ability to disturb the ecosystem simply by observing the changes t
 hat occurs in a simple Winogradsky column experiment.  Biochar role in re-
 establishment of vegetation for phytoremediation on heavily polluted soil 
 has also been explored.  Adsorption capacity of laboratory made palm frond
  biochar and several commercially available biochars were evaluated on its
  maximum adsorption capacity of heavy metals\, kinetics\, mechanism of ads
 orption and competition between the metals contaminants for the biochar’
 s sorption sites.  
LOCATION:Engineering Department - Lecture Room 6
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