Chemical Properties of Biochar Materials Manufactured from Agricultural Products Common to the Southeast United States

Abstract

The use of biochar as a soil amendment has fostered much attention in recent years due to its potential of improving the chemical, physical, and biological properties of agricultural soils and/or soilless substrates. The objective of this study was to evaluate the chemical properties of feedstocks, common in the southeast United States, and their resulting biochar products (after being torrefied) and determine if the chemical properties were within suitable ranges for growers to use the biochar products as root substrate components. Poultry litter biochar produced at 400 °C for 2 hours had a higher total phosphorus (P), potassium (K), calcium (Ca), magnesium (Mg), sulfur (S), chloride (Cl), copper (Cu), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), molybdenum (Mo), sodium (Na), and zinc (Zn) concentration than biochar made using the same process with mixed hard wood species, miscanthus (Miscanthus capensis), cotton (Gossypium hirsutum) gin trash, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum), rice (Oryza sativa) hull, and pine (Pinus sp.) shavings feedstocks. The pH of the biochar products ranged from 4.6 for pine shaving biochar to 9.3 for miscanthus biochar. The electrical conductivity (EC) ranged from 0.1 dS·m−1 for mixed hardwood biochar to 30.3 dS·m−1 for poultry litter biochar. The cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the biochar products ranged from a low of 0.09 meq/g for mixed hardwood biochar to a high of 19.0 meq/g for poultry litter biochar. The water-extractable nitrate, P, K, Ca, Mg, sulfate, boron, Cl, Cu, Fe, Mo, Na, and Zn were higher in poultry litter biochar than in all of the other types of biochar. The high EC and mineral element concentration of the poultry litter biochar would prevent its use in root substrates except in very small amounts. In addition, the high degree of variability in chemical properties among all of the biochar products would require users to know the specific properties of any biochar product they used in a soil or soilless substrate. Modifications to traditional limestone additions and fertility programs may also need to be tested and monitored to compensate for the biochar pH and mineral nutrient availability. Users should be aware that biochar products made from different feedstocks can have very different chemical properties even if the same process was used to manufacture them.