EUBCE 2024 - Anders NORDIN - A New Innovative and Cost-Efficient Process Concept for Producing Activated Biochar for Soil Amendment

A New Innovative and Cost-Efficient Process Concept for Producing Activated Biochar for Soil Amendment

Short Introductive summary

Biomass materials pyrolysed to biochar’s have been proven to offer a range of benefits when used for soil amendment (a desired, direct and sustainable carbon sequestration as the pyrolysed product is stable in soils and remain there for hundreds to thousands of years; enhance soil fertility and water retention; increased crop yields and thereby increased carbon sequestration by increased biomass production). Production processes for biochar in the medium and smaller scales are however suffering from either complex and thus costly designs for the processing, or simple and questionable smaller-scale pyrolysis units with severe losses, emissions or unused material streams. As pyrolysis is already an inherent process of normal combustion, it would potentially be possible to utilize existing wood chip combustion systems with only small modifications to accomplish extensive local biochar production. The objectives of the present work were therefore to document and present a new, interesting and cost-efficient process concept for producing biochar in the small- and medium process size-range, as well as to report the first results from the designed pilot plant.