Evaluating Plant Available Water in Biochar-Amended Soils A Preliminary Study Towards Enhancing Lunar and Martian Regolith for Plant Growth

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1 Evaluating Plant Available Water in Biochar-Amended Soils A Preliminary Study Towards Enhancing Lunar and Martian Regolith for Plant Growth Maribel Dominguez Department of Chemical & Materials Engineering (CHME) New Mexico State University-Las Cruces, NM 2015 INTERNATIONAL WORKSHOP ON ENVIRONMENT AND ALTERNATIVE ENERGY November 11, 2015

2 Outline Waste management Plants Regolith Earth Moon Mars What has been done What s being done How this can be used in space 2

3 Waste Management 3

4 Biomass Feedstocks Pecan Shells Orchard Prunings Cotton Gin Trash Yard Waste

5 Shuttle Waste A crew of four makes ~2,500 kg of solid waste in one year 5

6 Plants

7 7

8 Methods of Pyrolysis Mode Conditions Bio-oil Biochar Gas Fast Moderate temperature (500ºC) for 1s 75% 12% 13% Intermediate Moderate temperature (500ºC) for 10-20s Slow Low temperature (400ºC) with very long solids residence time 50% 20% 30% 30% 35% 35% Gasification High temperature (800ºC) with long vapor residence time 5% 10% 85% Typical product yields (dry basis) obtained by different modes of wood pyrolysis (Winsley, 2007). 8

9 Types of soils Sandy Loam Drains quickly Larger particles Clay Loam Small Particles Good absorption Drainage problems Bad aeration 9

10 %20Zotarelli.pdf 10

11 HYPROP Tensiometer and WP4C Dewpoint Potentiometer

Unimodal van Genuchten/Mualem model (van Genuchten, 1980) Where: θ is the volumetric water content h is the soil water tension or height Θ s, θ r, α and n are model parameters

12 Unimodal van Genuchten/Mualem model (van Genuchten, 1980) Where: θ is the volumetric water content h is the soil water tension or height Θ s, θ r, α and n are model parameters Brewer, Catherine E., and Idowu, O. John. Designof Biomass Pyrolyzer-Desalination Unit Interface for Distributed Biochar and Clean Water Production. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. 12

13 Regolith Earth Lunar Martian

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15 Lunar Regolith Simulant Basaltic volcanic cinder cone deposits from a quarry near Flagstaff, AZ 15

16 Martian Regolith Ferrous minerals, oxides, sulfides Reddish color Pyroxene, basalt, Casulfates 16

17 Martian Regolith Simulant Samples collected from the Pu u Nene cinder cone located in the saddle between Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanoes on the island of Hawaii. 17

18 Research Done Made Biochar from local waste Amended local soils with biochars Measured soil water potential of amended soils 18

19 Future Research: Make biochar out of local waste 19

20 Future Research: Amend local soils

21 Future Research: Measure soil water potential Brewer, Catherine E., and Idowu, O. John. Designof Biomass Pyrolyzer-Desalination Unit Interface for Distributed Biochar and Clean Water Production. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. 21

22 Conclusion Soils here and there need help to grow plants Plant available water (PAW) is affected by amendments. Biochars have potential for improved PAW 22

23 ... Acknowledgements Dr. O. John Idowu Brent Carrillo Flavia Mitsue Yamashita Yunhe Zhang Tier 1 Proof of Concept Grant through NMSU as part of a cooperative agreement with the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation NASA TEERM travel funding 23

24 Reference Brewer, Catherine E., and Idowu, O. John. Designof Biomass Pyrolyzer-Desalination Unit Interface for Distributed Biochar and Clean Water Production. Rep. N.p.: n.p., n.d. Print. 24

25 Information and Questions Maribel Dominguez Poster # mdomi255@nmsu.edu

Assignment 8: Comparison of gasification, pyrolysis and combustion

AALTO UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF CHEMICAL TECHNOLOGY KE-40.4120 Introduction to biorefineries and biofuels Assignment 8: Comparison of gasification, pyrolysis and combustion Aino Siirala 309141 Assignment submitted