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Characterization of mesoporous biochar produced from biogas digestate implemented in an anaerobic process of large-scale hog farm

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Abstract

Using a laboratory-scale pyrolyzer, porous biochars were produced at a wide operating temperature range from 300 to 800 °C for holding times of 30–120 min from biogas digestate (BD), which was derived from the anaerobic digestion unit in a large-scale pig farm. The resulting biochars were characterized by elemental analyzer, oxygen-bomb calorimeter, inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), pycnometer, surface area and porosity analyzer, and energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The pore properties of the BD-based biochar products were on an increasing trend as pyrolysis temperature increased, indicating that operating temperature at about 800 °C seemed to be the optimal condition for producing biochar. The Brunauer-Emmet-Teller (BET) surface area of the optimal biochar was about 110 m2/g due to its mesoporous feature. Furthermore, the mineral elements of the optimal biochar were rich in calcium (Ca), phosphorus (P), magnesium (Mg), silicon (Si), iron (Fe), and potassium (K), which should be present in the forms of phosphates, carbonates, oxides, silicates, or their composites. Based on the pore properties and chemical characteristics, the BD-based biochar could be used as an excellent soil conditioner.

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Acknowledgements

We appreciated the analytical assistances by the Instrument Centers of National Chung Hsing University in elemental analysis (EA), National Ching-Hwa University in inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometer (ICP-OES), and National Pingtung University of Science in energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).

Funding

This research has been granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Taiwan (grant no. MOST 105-ET-E-020-001-ET).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Graduate Institute of Bioresources, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 912, Taiwan

    Wen-Tien Tsai

  2. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 912, Taiwan

    Yung-Yu Fang & Po-Hung Cheng

  3. Department of Biomechatronics Engineering, National Pingtung University of Science and Technology, Pingtung, 912, Taiwan

    Yu-Quan Lin

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  1. Wen-Tien Tsai
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Correspondence to Wen-Tien Tsai.

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Tsai, WT., Fang, YY., Cheng, PH. et al. Characterization of mesoporous biochar produced from biogas digestate implemented in an anaerobic process of large-scale hog farm. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 8, 945–951 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-018-0344-4

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