Biochar: a sustainable solution for solid waste management in agro-processing industries

ABSTRACT

Agro-processing is a major industry in Canada. The processing of an agricultural product generates an enormous amount of water and solid waste. Appropriate management of these waste streams has become a challenging issue. The present study proposes a concept of circular bio-economy whereby solid waste from one agro-processing industry is used as a feedstock for producing biochar, which is then used in another agro-processing industry for wastewater treatment. The biochar after wastewater treatment can be used for agricultural soil applications. This article describes a study on the pyrolysis of oilcakes from crambe and meadowfoam seeds. The pyrolysis of oilcakes obtained from crambe and meadowfoam seeds is conducted in a furnace-heated reactor at 450 °C and 550 °C and the properties of char, oil and gas are studied. The biochar is then used for wastewater treatment. This article discusses the results.

KEYWORDS:

• Waste management
• circular bio-economy
• pyrolysis
• agricultural waste
• biochar

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (EG - 500512), Nature's Crop International and PEI Potato Solutions Incorporated.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada [grant number EG - 500512].