Biochar Prepared by Microwave-Assisted Co-Pyrolysis of Sewage Sludge and Cotton Stalk: A Potential Soil Conditioner

Junshen Qu, Daiying Wang, Zeyu Deng, Hejie Yu, Jianjun Dai and Xiaotao Bi ()
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Junshen Qu: Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Daiying Wang: Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Zeyu Deng: Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Hejie Yu: Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Jianjun Dai: Beijing Advanced Innovation Center for Soft Matter Science and Engineering, State Key Laboratory of Organic-Inorganic Composites, College of Chemical Engineering, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
Xiaotao Bi: Clean Energy Research Centre, The University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC V6T 1Z3, Canada

Sustainability, 2023, vol. 15, issue 9, 1-18

Abstract: The reduction and safe disposal of sewage sludge remains an urgent problem worldwide. In this work, biochar prepared from co−pyrolysis of sewage sludge and cotton stalk at different mix ratios and different pyrolysis temperatures was prepared using a novel microwave-assisted auger reactor. The obtained biochar samples were mixed with selected soil samples at different mix ratios for a short−term plant−growing test to examine their abilities as a soil conditioner on nitrogen fixation and retention. The addition of biochar could increase the total nitrogen in the soil to 0.3951% compared to 0.0403% in the untreated soil, while the concentration of available nitrogen could be increased to 114.45 mg·kg −1 compared to 47.95 mg·kg −1 in the untreated soil. Moreover, the introduction of biochar to the soil also contributed to the growth of corn seedlings, which grew at a rate of 3.41 cm·d −1 compared to 3.03 cm·d −1 in untreated soil. The results show that the addition of biochar can enrich total soil nitrogen before and after incubation and promote the growth of corn seedlings, providing a potential route for the safe disposal and resource recovery of sewage sludge.

Keywords: microwave-assisted co-pyrolysis; sewage sludge; cotton stalk; total nitrogen; available nitrogen; soil conditioner (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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