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Exploring efficiency of biochar in enhancing water retention in soils with varying grain size distributions using ANN technique

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Abstract

Recently, incentives have been provided in many countries, including Canada and Denmark, to produce biochar for construction usage. This is done because biochar is carbon negative and can help achieve the emission reduction goal of 2030. This technical note aims to analyse the efficiency of biochar in soils with varying grain size distributions for enhancing soil–water characteristic curve (SWCC). The combinations of biochar content and grain size distributions corresponding to the maximum and minimum efficiencies were explored. Artificial neural network-based model for predicting SWCC as a function of soil suction and grain size distribution was developed. A new factor (the ratio of fine (silt + clay) and coarse (sand) content) was proposed for the interpretation of the efficiency of biochar in soils. The newly developed model is able to predict SWCC reasonably well. Biochar amendment is found to influence both dry and wet sides of soils with a clay content lower than threshold content (6–8%). Beyond threshold content, the influence of biochar appears to reduce. However, in the case of high sand content soils (90%), the normalized water content value on the drier side is generally higher as compared to soils with lower sand content. Based on the sensitivity analysis, it was found that the ratio of fine to sand content is the most influential, while biochar content is the least influential.

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Availability of data and materials

Data used to support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon request.

Abbreviations

ANN:

Artificial neural network

BAS:

Biochar amended soils

MAPD:

Mean absolute percentage deviation

NWC:

Normalized water content

PAW:

Plant available water

PWP:

Permanent wilting point

R 2 :

Coefficient of determination

SWCC:

Soil–water characteristic curve

WRC:

Water retention capacity

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Acknowledgements

The authors acknowledge the financial support received from Ministry of Education (MoE), India, and the seed grant received by IIT Jammu.

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The authors would like to acknowledge the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Department of Higher Education, India.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Guangdong Engineering Center for Structure Safety and Health Monitoring, Shantou University, Shantou, China

    Ankit Garg

  2. Department of Civil Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology, Jammu, India

    Insha Wani & Vinod Kushvaha

  3. School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, China

    Honghu Zhu

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  1. Ankit Garg
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Garg, A., Wani, I., Zhu, H. et al. Exploring efficiency of biochar in enhancing water retention in soils with varying grain size distributions using ANN technique. Acta Geotech. 17, 1315–1326 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11440-021-01411-6

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