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. 2018 Jan;47(Suppl 1):73-82.
doi: 10.1007/s13280-017-0990-y.

Phosphorus transformations in plant-based and bio-waste materials induced by pyrolysis

James Stephen Robinson  1 , Karen Baumann  2 , Yongfeng Hu  3 , Philipp Hagemann  4 , Lutz Kebelmann  4 , Peter Leinweber  2
Affiliations

Phosphorus transformations in plant-based and bio-waste materials induced by pyrolysis

James Stephen Robinson et al. Ambio. 2018 Jan.

Abstract

Strategies are needed to increase the sustainability of phosphorus (P) fertiliser management in agriculture. This paper reports on the potential of pyrolysis treatment to recycle P from renewable materials previously regarded as wastes. The study used K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) spectroscopy to examine chemical forms of P in the waste feedstock materials and corresponding biochars (pyrolysis at 480-500 °C) of four ligno-cellulosic, plant-based residues and five relatively P-rich livestock and water-treatment by-products, to acquire information on changes in potential P fertiliser value. Pyrolysis enriched P in the biochars by factors of 1.3-4.3, thus offering wide-ranging P fertiliser potential. XANES spectroscopy revealed hydroxyapatite (HAP) as one of the dominant chemical P compounds in the feedstocks, ranging from 14% (rice husks) to 98% (animal bone) of total P. For most materials, pyrolysis increased the proportion of HAP, and pyrophosphates were generated in several cases. These alterations possibly lead to diversity in the P solubility characteristics of the biochars if used as soil amendments; this is an important property of environmentally sound P fertilisers.

Keywords: Bio-waste; Biochar; Fertiliser; Phosphorus.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Stacked normalised P K-edge XANES spectra of the biomass feedstocks and their derived biochars (-B): a plant-based and b bio-waste materials. Sample identification is explained in the “Materials and methods” section
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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