Physicochemical Properties of Biochars Produced from Biosolids in Victoria, Australia

Yumeng Yang, Barry Meehan, Kalpit Shah, Aravind Surapaneni, Jeff Hughes, Leon Fouché and Jorge Paz-Ferreiro
Additional contact information
Yumeng Yang: School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Australia
Barry Meehan: School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Australia
Kalpit Shah: School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Australia
Aravind Surapaneni: South East Water Corporation, Waters Edge, 101 Wells Street, Frankston 3199, Victoria, Australia
Jeff Hughes: School of Science, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Australia
Leon Fouché: South East Water Corporation, Waters Edge, 101 Wells Street, Frankston 3199, Victoria, Australia
Jorge Paz-Ferreiro: School of Engineering, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne 3001, VIC, Australia

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-13

Abstract: Some of the barriers associated with the land application of biosolids generated in wastewater treatment plants can be eliminated simply by converting the biosolids into biochar using a thermal conversion process called “pyrolysis”. In the current work, eight biosolids from four different wastewater treatment plants in southeast Melbourne, Victoria, Australia were collected and pyrolysed to produce biochars at two different temperatures (500 and 700 °C). In addition, characterisation studies were carried out on the biochars to obtain their physicochemical properties, which were subsequently compared with the properties of the parent biosolids. The major findings of the work demonstrated that biochars exhibited large decreases in DTPA-extractable metals such as Cd, Cu, and Zn, and also led to favorable changes in several chemical and physical characteristics (i.e., pH, Olsen P, electrical conductivity, and surface area) for agricultural land application compared to their original form (i.e., biosolids). Overall, the study suggests that there is great potential for converting biosolids to biochar using pyrolysis. This may not only improve the properties of biosolids for land application, but also has potential to reduce the risk to receiving environments and, furthermore, eliminate many of the costly elements associated with biosolids stockpiling and management.

Keywords: biochar; pyrolysis; biosolids; heavy metals; phosphorus (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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