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Preparation of biochar and its adsorbing performance evaluation in the petroleum hydrocarbon

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Abstract

The biochar pyrolyzed from the sludge is porous and non-polar and can be used as an adsorbent for polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) pollutants. However, the adsorption process and effect of biochar on the widespread mixed petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants (including saturated hydrocarbons, resins, aromatic hydrocarbons and asphaltenes, etc.) are not thoroughly revealed. Among diverse treatment technologies, pyrolysis can effectively achieve the reduction of the excess sludge and obtain biochar. The characteristics of biochar are inseparably bound to the pyrolysis temperature. The physicochemical properties of biochar obtained from excess sludge which was pyrolyzed at different temperatures (300–900 °C) and the performance of it in absorbing actual ground crude oil were investigated in this study. The results showed that as the pyrolysis temperature increased, the polarity of biochar decreased, and the honeycomb or layered structure containing plenty of micropores appeared. The petroleum hydrocarbons’ removal efficiency of biochar with the pyrolysis temperature of 700℃ was up to 96.01%, which was the highest among all biochar. In addition, the leaching test showed that only four metal ions were detected, of which the highest concentration was 4.78 × 10−2 mg/g of K+. It indicated that the biochar derived from excess sludge was expected to become environment friendly materials to avoid soil pollution during the process of oil extraction and processing. This study provided new sights for the treatment of excess sludge and the application of the produced biochar.

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Data availability

The datasets used in the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

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Funding

This study was funded by the National Key Research and Development Program of China (2020YFC1807100), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 42077213), and the National Water Pollution Control and Treatment Science and Technology Major Project of China (2017ZX07402002-04).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Center of Environmental Pollution Control Technology, Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences, Beijing, 100012, China

    Liyan Deng, Changyong Wu, Liya Fu & Yue Wang

  2. College of Water Sciences, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China

    Liyan Deng

  3. College of Materials Science and Chemical Engineering, Harbin Engineering University, Harbin, 150001, China

    Qin An & Guangmin Liu

  4. Thermal and Environmental Engineering Institute, School of Mechanical Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, 200092, China

    Qin An

  5. Department of Environmental Science and Engineering, Fudan University, Shanghai, 200433, China

    Chunli Wan

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  1. Liyan Deng
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Contributions

Chunli Wan and Changyong Wu designed study. Qin An and Guangmin Liu collected samples and conducted experiments. Liyan Deng and Liya Fu analyzed and visualized data. Yue Wang contributed to data interpretation. Changyong Wu wrote the manuscript with contributions from all co-authors.

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Correspondence to Changyong Wu or Chunli Wan.

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Deng, L., Wu, C., Fu, L. et al. Preparation of biochar and its adsorbing performance evaluation in the petroleum hydrocarbon. Biomass Conv. Bioref. (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-022-03439-4

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