Slow pyrolysis technology will maximize the resulting biochar product with yield about 30 percent of the raw material of biomass. With the modern technology of slow pyrolysis JF BioCarbon , operating conditions for the production of biochar can be arranged in such a way as to get the target with the desired qualitiy of biochar, in addition to raw material of its biomass which is also very influential in the quality of the resulting biochar. Characteristics of biochar production factor depending on, among others:
-the type of raw material
-treatment of raw materials prior to the production of biochar
-temperature production
-production residence time
-heating rate
-levels of oxygen during production
Research presented at a recent American Chemical Society annual meeting suggests that biochar plus chemical fertilizer yields increased growth of winter wheat and several vegetables by 25-50% compared to chemical fertilization alone. Soil Science Society of America experiments found that biochar supplemented with fertilizer outperformed fertilizer alone by 60%.
Reason for biochar use are likely to be one or more, but not necessarily all, of the following :
-reducing requirements for other inputs, such as conventional fertilisers
-sequestering carbon and hence reducing atmospheric greenhouse gas concentrations
-increasing crop yields by addressing a constraint to growth (e.g. Poor soil structure, low PH etc)
-increasing the quality of the crop by addressing a constraint (e.g. Poor nutrient uptake resulting in low protein content)
-remediation of contaminated soils
-improving the physical properties or aesthetic of the soil or growing media (e.g. Making it dark in colour, decreasing bulk density etc.)
Biochar will enrich Soil organic matter |
When we see the biomass thermal conversion such as torrefaction, fast pyrolysis, gasification and hydrothermal carbonization will look real that slow pyrolysis technology is the most appropriate and best to produce biochar in terms of the quality and quantity of biochar.This is because Torrefaction mainly to produce fuel in the form of torrified wood, fast pyrolysis primarily to maximize product biooil with applications especially for fuel and chemicals production, gasification applications for energy by maximising its gas products and hydrothermal carbonization (wet pyrolysis) mainly produces solid products which are suitable as fuels such as application co-firing in coal powerplant.
Agro-industries business such as sugar cane and palm oil plantations that produce abundant biomass waste is very potential for harnessing the JF BioCarbon technology because of the dual benefits, in plantation sector with biochar application and fulfilment of environmentally friendly energy for agro-industrial operations.