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

Rodrigo V. Santos, Miguel A. A. Mendes, Carlos Alexandre, Manuela Ribeiro Carrott, Abel Rodrigues and Ana F. Ferreira ()
Additional contact information
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
Ana F. Ferreira: IDMEC, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, 1049-001 Lisboa, Portugal

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 16, 1-17

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.

Keywords: biomass; biochar; carbonization; specific surface area; porosity; soil water retention (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5882/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/15/16/5882/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jeners:v:15:y:2022:i:16:p:5882-:d:887569

Access Statistics for this article

Energies is currently edited by Ms. Agatha Cao

More articles in Energies from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().