Biochar Research

This is the beginnings of an undergrad research project examining the differences between the effects on soil cation exchange capacity, moisture and pH of two different biochar particle sizes as well as the impact of biomasses of plants grown in the two amended soil types.
If interest is expressed I'll show you guys the actual instruments and how to test for the above variables, or any other aspect folks are curious about.

This is very exciting for me because it is my first research project on my own. Start to finish. I have assisted in research but never been a PI before! :)

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• biochar
• biochar research
• biochar test plots
• test plots
• greenhouse
• biochar greenhouse
• agriculture
• soil particle size

[SocietyofEnoch]

Sweet! I am eager to hear your results. I imagine that larger is better, up to a point, since Terra Pretta has been shown to support a wide range of microorganisms, which aid in the breakdown and sequestering of nutrients and making them bio available. I imagine bio char is one of the reasons old growth forests, ones that have historically experienced fires and recovered, thrive and are so vibrant, because of the presence in the soil of large pieces of charred tree remains.

[madeofyucca]

@SocietyofEnoch Yes. Fire often plays a very important role in nutrient cycling in many different ecosystems. I think majority of product would be ash though..

[MArizaga1965]

Hi, how you measure the cation exchange capacity? I'm very interested What college is doing this experiment?

thank you very much

[madeofyucca]

@MArizaga1965 I am actually sending the cation exchange samples to a lab that has more equipment than our soil lab. I want very accurate data.

I am in the Env. Science program at Northern New Mexico College.

[kdraper2]

What was your feedstock for the biochar and how was it produced (e.g.. fast or slow pyrolysis)?

[madeofyucca]

@kdraper2 wood chips and slow

[chillshack]

@threeredstars Ok, it was just a friendly suggestion for you to avoid misrepresentation in communicating your results in your scientific reports. If I was marking your report, I'd have to deduct marks for use of misleading terminology.

[SocietyofEnoch]

@madeofyucca There would be more ash than charcoal. It is my understanding that the biochar holds the mineral ions provided by the ah, so they don't leach out the next time it rains.

[threeredstars]

@chillshack Thanks for the clarity but I already added it to my soil so we'll wait to see if it helped or hurt. Honestly though, this is desert soil so I dont think there is much you can do to hurt it. HAHAHA I'll try Biochar next time. Thanks again.

[chillshack]

Congratulations. I love this documentary of your research. It's pleasing to find a researcher comparing particle size :) Do you have a hypothesis?

[chillshack]

@threeredstars No, share the message, you did not produce biochar, you produced charcoal. If you allowed the organic material to burn in the open air, with plenty of oxygen, then the material was not pyrolised. You get a hotter, and faster burn with plenty of oxygen. Starve the fire of oxygen, you get a cooler, and slower burn. These factors impact on disintegration of the molecules in your organic matter.