Effects of biochar content on gas diffusion coefficient of soil with different compactness and air contents

• Published in: Environmental science and pollution research international Vol. 27; no. 17; pp. 21497 - 21505
• Main Authors: Chen, Fu Quan, Zhao, Neng Kai, Feng, Song, Liu, Hong Wei, Liu, Yu Chuan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.06.2020; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Agricultural land; Aquatic Pollution; Atmospheric Protection/Air Quality Control/Air Pollution; Charcoal; Civil engineering; Diffusion coefficient; Dissolved organic carbon; Earth and Environmental Science; Ecotoxicology; Environment; Environmental Chemistry; Environmental Health; Environmental science; Gaseous diffusion; Hydrology; Landfill; Landfills; Oxidation; Particle size; Permeability; Porous materials; Research Article; Soil compaction; Soil investigations; Soil permeability; Soil water; Soils; Waste disposal sites; Waste Water Technology; Water Management; Water Pollution Control; Biochar-amended soil; Gas diffusion coefficient; Soil air content; Degree of compaction; Pore characteristics
• ISSN: 0944-1344; 1614-7499
• DOI: 10.1007/s11356-020-08594-7

Biochar has been found to be a potentially suitable amendment for landfill cover material and agricultural soil. The addition of biochar can improve the physical (e.g., adsorption capacity) and hydrological properties (e.g., water/gas permeability) of soil. However, no experimental study is available about the effect of biochar content (BC) on the gas diffusion coefficient ( D P ) of soil. The present study investigated the effect of BC on D P under different degree of compaction (DOC; 85%, 90%, and 95%) and soil air contents (SAC; 5%, 10%, and 15%). It was found that DOC and BC had negligible effects on D P when SAC was low (~ 5%). In contrast, when the SAC was relatively high (~ 15%), soil with DOC of 85% had the largest D P for BC ranging from 0 to 15% (w/w). Only when the SAC was large (~ 15%), the addition of biochar generally increased D P .