Assessment of Biochar from Chicken Litter and Sawdust for Soil Amendment

The study aims at evaluating the produced biochars from biomasses (chicken litter and sawdust) through pyrolysis process. Proximate analyses of both biomass and biochar samples, TGA, SEM-EDS analysis for point detection of heavy metals, and spectrophotometric analysis through acid-leaching method for heavy metal detection in a bulk were studied, respectively. Significant changes were observed for biomasses converted into biochars regarding moisture, ash, volatile content, fixed carbon, and calorific value. The time-vs-temperature graph in TGA indicated the transition zones and volatile eruption sections where both the biochars showed similar characteristics, while the time-vs-mass percentage graph indicated different results for two different biochars showing that chicken litter has less volatile content than sawdust. SEM-EDS images indicated fibrous structure of the biochars and showed the characteristic x-rays of different elements on some specific points. For heavy metal analysis of chicken litter sample, Cd was detected in a higher amount than the sawdust biochar.