Biochar production
- Thematic Strategy:
- Production
- Key Staff:
- Prof. Ondřej Mašek, Dr. Peter Brownsort, Kyle Crombie , Jason Cook, Audrey Roy-Poirier
UKBRC Bespoke Biochar Development and Production Facilities
Using our small, medium and large pyrolysis units in the biochar labs, we aim to understand how the conditions of production affect biochar carbon stability, the suitability of biochars for enhancing soil processes, and the composition and properties of the gaseous and liquid products of pyrolysis.
Development of the “bespoke biochar” concept in UKBRC labs has made considerable progress, particularly on the screening of biochar. On the development and production side, our ongoing strategy for bespoke biochar production research consists of three stages.
Stage I: is a lab-scale batch pyrolysis unit capable of producing up to 30 g of biochar per batch. The unit can operate either in a fixed bed or fluidised bed mode and allows us to control precisely the key operating parameters (temperature, heating rate, residence time etc.) and monitor and record its performance.
Stage II: is a continuous bench-scale pyrolysis unit able to produce up to 2 kg of biochar per hour. This unit also allows precise control of the operating conditions and is flexible in terms of feedstock and throughput.
Stage III: is a pilot-scale slow pyrolysis unit capable of producing up to 20 kg of biochar per hour in a continuous mode and housed in a purpose built, dedicated new building. Due to its multi-zone electric heating, the unit allows for very good control of the production temperature and heating rate even at this relatively large scale, and is crucial for our efforts in scaling up bespoke biochar production.
Farm-scale unit: We also have a prototype pyrolysis unit commissioned as part of a PhD research project on a working arable farm in East Lothian. It is a batch process unit taking up to 100kg of feedstock at a time. A diesel burner heats the reaction chamber which is fitted with a thermocouple for process temperature control and a mechanical auger for feedstock agitation and biochar removal. A water cooled condenser allows separation of syngas and bio-oil.
Relevant Projects:
- Advanced Carbon Materials from Biowaste - GreenCarbon-ETN
- BIOMAC project (EU Horizon 2020)
- Biochar Risk Assessment Framework (BRAF)
- Biochar in Forestry
- Biochar in growing media: A sustainability and feasibility assessment
- Biochar: Socio-economic and biophysical “fit”
- C-Sink project (EU Horizon Europe)
- Calibrating a method to compare biochar carbon stability
- CarboPlex - Development of C-rich biochar-mineral complexes for soil amendment, C sequestration and beyond
- DAC and other GGR technologies (Phase 2) - Biochar Platform
- EU COST Action
- Interreg IVB North Sea Region: Climate Saving Soils
- Investigating the optimum conditions for biochar production
- Leverhulme UK-Canada network
- MSc / BSc Module: Novel Strategies for Soil Carbon Storage
- Scottish Biofuel Programme
- Taking commercial apple production to Net Zero
- The analysis of integrating a pyrolysis biochar system within a working arable farm
- The biochar-soil-plant interface: unlocking the potential for a sustainable phosphorus fertiliser
- Use of biochar in phosphorus recycling and recovery
- Use of mineral additives to boost biochar yield and properties
Publications:
Harnessing green tide Ulva biomass for carbon dioxide sequestration. Park, Jihae; Lee, Hojun; De saeger, Jonas et al.
In: Reviews in Environmental Science and Bio/Technology, 02.09.2024.Hübner T, Mumme J. 2015. Integration of pyrolysis and anaerobic digestion - use of aqueous liquor from digestate pyrolysis for biogas production. Bioresource Technology 183:86-92
Reza MT, Mumme J, Ebert A. 2015. Characterization of hydrochar from hydrothermal carbonization of wheat straw digestate. Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery doi:10.1007/s13399-015-0163-9
Reza MT, Rottler E, Tölle R, Werner M, Ramm P, Mumme J. 2015. Production, characterization, and biogas application of magnetic hydrochar from cellulose. Bioresource Technology 186:34-43
Dicke C, Lühr C, Ellerbrock R, Mumme J, Kern J. 2015. Effect of hydrothermally carbonized hemp dust on the soil emissions of CO2 and N2O. BioResources 10:3210-3223
Erdogan E, Atila B, Mumme J, Reza MT, Toptas A, Elibol M, Yanik J. 2015. Characterization of products from hydrothermal carbonization of orange pomace including anaerobic digestibility of process liquor. Bioresource Technology 196:35-42
Crombie, K., Mašek, O. 2014. Investigating the potential for a self-sustaining slow pyrolysis system under varying operating conditions. Bioresource technology 162: 148-156
Crombie, K., Mašek, O. 2014. Pyrolysis biochar systems, balance between bioenergy and carbon sequestration. Global Change Biology Bioenergy.
Crombie, K., Mašek, O., Cross, A., Sohi, S.P.. 2014. Biochar–synergies and trade‐offs between soil enhancing properties and C sequestration potential. GCB Bioenergy 7:1161–1175
Sohi SP, McDonagh J, Novak J, Wu W and Miu L. Biochar systems and system fit. 2015. In: J Lehmann, S Joseph (Eds) Biochar for Environmental Management, 2nd Edition. Routledge, Abingdon, UK, pp 737-761
Shackley, S., Sohi, S.P., Ibarrola, R.E., Hammond, J., Masek, O., Brownsort, P., Cross, A., Prendergast-Miller, M., Haszeldine, S. 2012, Biochar, Tool for Climate Change Mitigation and Soil Management. In: R Meyers (ed.), Encyclopedia of Sustainability Science and Technology, Springer Verlag, New York, pp. 913-961 http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5770-1_6
Han Y, Cao X, Ouyang X, Sohi SP, Chen J. 2015. Adsorption kinetics of magnetic biochar derived from peanut hull on removal of Cr (VI) from aqueous solution: Effects of production conditions and particle size. Chemosphere 145: 336–341
Shepherd JG, Sohi SP and Heal KV. 2016. Optimising the recovery and re-use of phosphorus from wastewater effluent for sustainable fertiliser development. Water Research 94:155–165
Bachmann HJ, Bucheli TD, Dieguez-Alonso A, Fabbri D, Knicker HE, Schmidt H-P, Ulbricht A, Becker R, Buscaroli A, Buerge D, Cross A, Dickinson D [...] Masek O, Mumme J, Carmona M, Calvelo R, Rees F, Rombolà AG, de la Rosa JM, Sakrabani R, Sohi SP, Soja G, Valagussa M, Verheijen FGA, Franz F. 2016. Toward the standardization of biochar analysis: The COST Action TD1107 interlaboratory comparison. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry 64: 513–527
Masek O, Buss W and Sohi SP. Standard biochar materials. 2018. Environmental Science and Technology 52:9543-9544
Masek O, Buss W, Roy-Poirier A, Lowe W, Peters C, Brownsort P, Mignard D, Pritchard C and Sohi SP. 2018. Consistency of biochar properties over time and production scales: A characterisation of standard materials. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 132:200-210
Buss W, Graham MC, Shepherd JG and Masek O. 2016. Risks and benefits of marginal biomass-derived biochars for plant growth. Science of the Total Environment. 569/70: 496–506.
Buss W, Graham MC, Shepherd GJ and Masek O. 2016. Suitability of marginal biomass-derived biochars for soil amendment. Science of the Total Environment. 547:314–322.
Buss W and Masek O. 2016. High-VOC biochar – Effectiveness of post-treatment measures and potential health risks related to handling and storage. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 23: 19580–19589.
Buss W, Mašek O, Graham M and Wust D. 2015. Inherent organic compounds in biochar –their content, composition and potential toxic effects. Journal of Environmental Management 156: 150–157.
Buss W and Masek O. 2014. Mobile organic compounds in biochar – a potential source of contamination – phytotoxic effects on cress seed (Lepidium sativum) germination. Journal of Environmental Management 137: 111–119.
Buss W, Graham MC, MacKinnon G and Masek O. 2016. Strategies for producing biochars with minimum PAH contamination. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 119: 24–30.
Shepherd JG, Buss W, Sohi SP and Heal KV. 2017. Bioavailability of phosphorus, other nutrients and potentially toxic elements from marginal biomass-derived biochar assessed in barley (Hordeum vulgare) growth experiments. Science of the Total Environment 584/5:448–457
Shepherd JG, Joseph S, Sohi SP and Heal KV. 2017. Biochar and enhanced phosphate capture: Mapping mechanisms to functional properties. Chemosphere 179:57–74
Verheijen, F.G.A., Graber, E.R., Ameloot, N., Bastos, A.C., Sohi, S.P., Knicker, H. (2014) Biochars in soils: new insights and emerging research needs. European Journal of Soil Science 65:22–27
Ibarrola R., Evar B., Reay D. - Biochar commercialisation in Mexico. 24pp.
Cross, A., Sohi, S.P. (2011) The priming potential of biochar products in relation to labile carbon contents and soil
organic matter status, Soil Biology & Biochemistry, 43: 2127-2134Sarah Carter and Simon Shackley (2011), Biochar Stoves: An Innovation Studies Perspective (AIT & IDRC-CRDI).
Brownsort PA 2009. Biomass Pyrolysis Processes: Performance Parameters and their Influence on Biochar System Benefits. MSc diss. Univ. of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK.
Brownsort PA and Mašek O 2010. Laboratory Scale Pyrolysis Apparatus. Poster presented in the 2nd UKBRC Annual Conference, Rothamsted, UK.
Mašek O and Brownsort PA 2010. Research on Production of Bespoke Biochar. Poster presented in the 2nd UKBRC Conference, Rothamsted, UK.
Brownsort PA and Mašek O 2010. Pyrolysis Biochar Systems: Comparison of Climate Change Mitigation Effects of Slow, Intermediate and Fast Pyrolysis Processes. Paper presented in the 18th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, Lyon, France.
Shackley SJ and Sohi SP (eds) 2010. An assessment of the benefits and issues associated with the application of biochar to soil. Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, London, UK.
Sohi SP, Shackley SJ, Haszeldine RS, Manning D and Mašek O 2009. Biochar, reducing and removing CO2 while improving soils:A significant and sustainable response to climate change. Evidence submitted to the Royal Society Geo-engineering Climate Enquiry, UKBRC Working Paper 2
Hammond J 2010. Advancing the science and evaluating biochar systems, write up of the 2nd UKBRC Annual Conference, UKBRC Working Paper 6.
Brownsort PA 2009. Biomass Pyrolysis Processes: Review of Scope, Control and Variability. UKBRC Working Paper 5
Brownsort PA, Crombie K, Mašek O, Turrion-Gomez J 2011. Pyrolysis Biochar Syatems: Pilot Scale Pyrolysis Plant for 'Specified Biochar' Production. Paper presented at the 19th European Biomass Conference and Exhibition, Berlin, Germany.
Brownsort PA and Mašek O 2011. Small-scale Continuous Pyrolysis Apparatus: capabilities and initial results. Poster presented in Biochar 2011, 3rd UKBRC Annual Conference, Edinburgh, UK.
Ibarrola, R., et al. Pyrolysis biochar systems for recovering biodegradable materials: A life cycle carbon assessment.
Waste Management (2011), doi:10.1016/j.wasman.2011.10.005Mašek O, Budarin V, Gronnow M, Crombie K, Brownsort P, Hurst P (2012) Microwave and Slow Pyrolysis Biochar - Comparison of Physical and Functional Properties. Journal of Analytical and Applied Pyrolysis 100:41–48
Gronnow MJ, Budarin VL, Mašek O, Crombie KN, Brownsort PA, Shuttleworth PS, Hurst PR (2012) Torrefaction/biochar production by microwave and conventional slow pyrolysis – comparison of energy properties. Global Change Biology Bioenergy
Downloadable PDF of UKBRC pyrolysis facilities
Sohi, S.P. (2013) Pyrolysis bioenergy with biochar production – greater carbon abatement and benefits to soil, GCB Bioenergy, 5:i-iii
Crombie, K., Mašek, O., Sohi, S.P.. Brownsort, P., Cross, A. (2013) The effect of pyrolysis conditions on biochar stability as determined by three methods, GCB Bioenergy, 5:122-131
Sohi, S.P. (2012) Carbon storage with benefits, Science, 338: 1034-1035
Carter, S. and Shackley, S. (2012) Biochar: Biomass energy, agriculture and carbon sequestration, Boiling Point 60:42-45.
Mašek, O., Brownsort, P., Cross, A., & Sohi, S. (2011). Influence of production conditions on the yield and environmental stability of biochar. Fuel. doi:10.1016/j.fuel.2011.08.044
Shackley, S., Carter, S., Knowles, T., Middelink, E., Haefele, S., Sohi, S., Cross, A., Haszeldine, S. (2012), Sustainable gasification-biochar systems? A case-study of rice-husk gasification in Cambodia, Part I: context, chemical properties, environmental and health and safety issues, Energy Policy, 42: 49-58.
Shackley, S., Carter, S., Knowles, T., Middelink, E., Haefele, S., Haszeldine, S. (2012), Sustainable gasification-biochar systems? A case-study of rice-husk gasification in Cambodia, Part II: Field trial results, carbon abatement, economic assessment and conclusions, Energy Policy, 41:618-623
Iliffe R 2009. Is the biochar produced by an Anila stove likely to be a beneficial soil additive?. MSc Diss. UKBRC Working Paper 4