Open AccessEffect of Wheat Straw Biochar on Thermophysical Properties of Loessial Soil
Author(s) -
Baowei Zhao,
Yonggan Zhao,
H. Liu,
Y. Q. Li,
Ke-qin Duan,
X. Zhang
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
nature, environment and pollution technology/nature, environment and pollution technology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.154
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 2395-3454
pISSN - 0972-6268
DOI - 10.46488/nept.2021.v20i03.010
Subject(s) - biochar , amendment , thermal diffusivity , water content , soil water , pyrolysis , bulk density , porosity , straw , soil thermal properties , organic matter , chemistry , soil science , environmental science , field capacity , geotechnical engineering , geology , thermodynamics , inorganic chemistry , physics , organic chemistry , political science , law
Soil thermophysical properties are the key factors affecting the internal heat balance of soil. In this paper, biochars (BC300, BC500 and BC700) were produced with wheat straw at the temperatures of 300, 500 and 700°, respectively. The effects of biochar amendment at the rates of 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% on the thermophysical properties (thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and thermal diffusivity) of a loessial soil were investigated with and without water content respectively. Although the bulk density of soil significantly decreased with biochar amendment, due to enhancing soil porosity and organic matter content, the thermophysical properties of soil did not change largely with biochar amendment rate and pyrolysis temperature. Water content exhibited significant effects on the thermophysical properties of soils added with biochars, where the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of soil were linearly proportional to water content, the thermal diffusivity initially increased and then decreased with the increase of water content. In the meanwhile, there was no significant correlation between the biochar amendment rate or pyrolysis temperature and thermophysical properties. The results show that water content should be mainly concerned as a factor when the internal heat balance of loess soil is evaluated, even though the soil is amended with biochar.