Assessing the influence of biochars on the hydraulic properties of a loamy sand soil
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ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Assessing the influence of biochars on the hydraulic properties of a loamy sand soil M. Stylianou1,2 · C. F. Panagiotou2,4 · E. Andreou1 · F. Frixou1 · A. Christou3 · P. Papanastasiou1,2 Received: 7 September 2020 / Revised: 20 October 2020 / Accepted: 23 October 2020 © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract A laboratory analysis is presented in this study that evaluates the impact of three different biochars, derived from biowastes of sludge (SDB), manure (MDB) and spent coffee grounds (SCGDB), on the physical properties of a loamy sand soil. Column experiments are conducted to measure the hydraulic conductivity and water content of these biochars when mixed with soil at a fixed concentration (5% with respect to (w.r.t) reference soil) under saturated conditions. The results show a substantial increase of the hydraulic conductivity for the biochars derived from SCGDB and SDB, whereas no changes were observed for MDB. The saturated water content is increased with the addition of SCGDB and trivial changes are observed for the remaining treatments. Numerical computations using HYDRUS-1D are conducted for a hypothetical scenario, revealing the different impact that each biochar has on the reference soil. Keywords Loamy sand soil · Biochars · Hydraulic conductivity · Soil water storage · HYDRUS-1D
1 Introduction Biochar is a charcoal derived from the thermal decomposition under oxygen-deficit conditions of a wide range of carbon-rich biomass materials, such as grasses, leaves, hard and soft woods, and agricultural and forestry residues. Biochar production from biomass material has been reported as a potentially viable strategy for developing negative carbon emission technologies for climate change mitigation and also as a material for effective amendment of relatively poor agricultural soils. As a biochar has a highly porous structure and large specific area [1], it can alter soil
C. F. Panagiotou
[email protected] 1
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
2
NIREAS-International Water Research Center, University of Cyprus, P.O. Box 20537, 1678 Nicosia, Cyprus
3
Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Agricultural Research Institute, P.O. Box 22016, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
4
Eratosthenes Centre of Excellence, Limassol, Cyprus, Cyprus University of Technology, P.O. Box 22016, 1516 Nicosia, Cyprus
structure and porosity through changing pore size distribution, bulk surface area and soil bulk density [2]. Hence, it affects soil hydraulic properties, such as soil water retention capacity and hydraulic conductivity [3–5]. For this reason, there are many studies that show the beneficial impact of biochar as soil amendments. For example, Basso et al. [6] suggested that biochar added to sandy loam soil increases water holding capacity (WHC) and thus might increase water available for crop use. Ulyett et al. [7] also observed an increase of soil water content for the sam
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