| | Category | EV | L19 | An Alternative Pathway For Waste Streams |
| | Abstract | The purpose of this project is to produce biochar from what one would |
| | consider waste Phragmities, Cherries, and Orange Peels, determine if the |
| | biochar produces a more environmentally friendly water runoff than |
| | fertilizer, determine if the plant fertilizer effects soil quality, determine if |
| | change in temperature during pyrolysis effects the Biochar’s porosity, and |
| | determine if change in temperature during pyrolysis effects the Syngases |
| | produced. Biochar will have a more environmentally friendly effect on |
| | amending the soils. Also, the amount of nitrogen, potassium, and |
| | phosphorus will vary with the biowaste. Varying the temperature during |
| | pyrolysis different gases will be produced as well as a change in porosity |
| | in the biochar. The elemental analysis of the samples with Biochar added |
| | shows that the soils were amended by the addition of the biochar. |
| | However, the fertilizer didn’t amend the quality of the soils over time. For |
| | the most part all of the samples had a pH within the optimal range pH 5.8- |
| | 7.0; however five samples had values below the optimal range |
| | (Clay/Fertilizer, Top Soil/Cherry Biochar, Sand/Cherry Biochar, Top |
| | Soil/Orange Biochar, and Top Soil/Fertilizer). It is known that fertilizer make |
| | soils acidic. The Boiling point of all of the Biofuels synthesized were above |
| | 208 oF. With the Biofuel of cherries (500oF) showing peaks at 240oC. |
| | The 900oF Phragmities showed peaks in the C14 hydrocarbon which has |
| | a retention time of approximately 8 minutes. Whereas the other Biofuels |
| | had an elution time of only two minutes. Also in some cases as |
| | temperature increased to 900oF peaks decreased. The highest amounts of |
| | Nitrate were found in Clay/Control, Clay/Orange Biochar, and Top |
| | Soil/Cherry Biochar. The lowest amounts of Nitrate were found in |
| | Clay/Phragmities Biochar which contained 1.034 mg/L. Cherries yielded the |
| | highest amount of organics among the 3 starting materials. Cherries at 900 |
| | oF contained approximately 31.4% of organics. The organic oil can be |
| | potentially recovered and can be used as renewable chemical feedstock |
| | or fuel. |
| | Bibliography | 1) Abend, Lisa. "Carbon: The Biochar Solution - TIME." Breaking News, |
| | Analysis, Politics, Blogs, News Photos, Video, Tech Reviews - TIME.com. |
| | Web. Fall 2010. |
| | <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1864279,00.html>. |
| | 2) "DEQ - Control and Management of Invasive Phragmities." SOM - State |
| | of Michigan. Web. Winter 2010. <http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7- |
| | 135-3313_3677_8314-178183--,00.html>. |
| | 3) "Michigan Cherry Growers Could Be Helping Others Instead of |
| | Dumping Produce." Breaking News, Current Events, Latest News and |
| | World Events at Allvoices.com. Web. Summer 2010. |
| | <http://www.allvoices.com/contributed-news/3926615-michigan-cherry- |
| | growers-could-be-helping-others-instead-of-dumping-produce>. |
| | 4) "Name The Factors Which Influence The Thickness Of Orange Peel?" |
| | Foodista.com - The Cooking Encyclopedia Everyone Can Edit. Web. Dec. |
| | 2010. <http://www.foodista.com/question/WR3BDM66/name-the-factors- |
| | which-influence-the-thickness-of-orange-peel>. |
| | 5) "Biochar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia." Wikipedia, the free |
| | encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Dec. 2009. |
| | <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biochar>. |
| | 6) "Gardening with Biochar FAQ / FrontPage." Gardening with Biochar |