2015 Biochar Trials

Last year we ran a similar trial through the program on Jib JIb Farm in Northampton. The initial aim of the trial was to see if there was a potash response to the application of wheat straw biochar in a wheat crop. JIb Jib was chosen because of its low potassium responsive soils.

Mining Potassium
On their website, CSBP state that “Straw contains an average of one percent potassium (K), so if you remove two tonnes per hectare of straw from a paddock, that removes 20 kg K/ha. To replace that potassium would require an application of 40 kg /ha Muriate of Potash”.

Our own research is showing that when you process a material into biochar, it concentrates the nutrients. We thought that by harvesting the straw and processing it into biochar, we could potentially “mine” potassium from soil types high in it and move it (through the char) to soil types low in potash.

Biochar Analysis
Unfortunately, when we processed the wheat straw into biochar and tested it, we still found quite low amounts of potassium (0.85%), (NB: This was only one test). Interesting, a poultry litter biochar has approx. 2.8% K and a wheat straw/poultry litter biochar blend has 3.18% K.

When you take into account the costs of collecting the straw, transportation and processing into biochar, it soon becomes clear that applying MOP is still the most economical practice to replace potassium.

However, we are yet to understand the co-benefits of applying biochar to soils and this need to be better understood to fully gain an appreciation of the real value. However,  once we realised that applying biochar to replace potash is currently nonviable, our attention shifted to the benefits of blending a biochar with fertilisers.

Australian Biochar Research
Research conducted by the South Australian No Till Farmers Association (SANTFA) is showing an increase in fertiliser efficiency when biochar is blended at low rates with traditional fertilisers and banded under the seed. You can find more information on the work SANTFA has done with biochar here. We wanted to see if we could get similar results on soil types in the Northern Wheatbelt.

Trial Highlights
The trial was seeded on the 30th April with 80 kg of Magenta wheat. Emergence was good however, the dry spell in late May/June caused the plants to run up. This impacted the potential yield of the various treatments severely. Tissue tests were taken during the season and the trials were harvested on the 30/10/2015.

Overall there was no significant difference between any of the treatments in terms of yield, grain weight, protein and screenings. The control (no fertiliser) yielded 1.46t/ha and returned the highest gross margin at $379/ha. Nutrient levels in the soil were sufficient and not a contributing factor in determining yields in this location for the 2015 season.

Treatment 11 – 100kg of wheat straw biochar + 110kg of Agras was the highest yielding biochar/fertiliser treatment which yielded 1.56t/ha with a gross margin of $307/ha. This is something that could be explored further however, the cost and logistics of collection and processing wheat straw into biochar makes this uneconomical at this stage.

Treatment 4 – 55kg of Ktill plus and 35kg of biochar yielded 1.48t.ha and returned the second highest gross margin at $341/ha  This is consistent with SANTFA results however, as much as we like this, we cannot base any assumptions considering the rest of the results.

While there were no significant standouts in the tissue tests, it was interesting to see that Treatment 4 had the same amount of P as Treatment 12 -110kg of Agras Extra and 30kg of MOP banded. It has been reported that biochar can release soil bound P, at half the cost for a similar yield this could be investigated further.

See the full list of treatments and results of the 2015 trials here.

2016 Trials

A trial of this nature needs to be continued over a long period of time. There is evidence that the benefits of biochar are not seen in the first

year of application and that continued applications over a number of years see the best results. That being said, we applied and were successful in another round of the NACC funding.

Trial Design
We designed the 2016 trials to ensure that we placed the new treatments on the old plots. Therefore, the control would continue to have no fertiliser and those treatments with biochar, would receive similar amounts as the year before, thereby building the amount of biochar in those particular plots.

Unfortunately, a farm worker accidentally went into the paddock and worked it up a day before we were due to seed the trials. This was disappointing, as it meant that we could not be sure where exactly the 2015 treatments were. After discussions with NACC we decided the change the trial site to a new location.

2016 Treatments
The trials were seeded on the 27th April. 80kg of Magenta was sown. Treatments include:

•     Treatment 1       Control – No fertiliser
•     Treatment 2       Farmer Treatment – 110kg Ktill Plus
•     Treatment 3       Farmer treatment plus 35kg biochar
•     Treatment 4       Farmer treatment plus 70kg biochar
•     Treatment 5       50% Farmer Treatment plus 35kg biochar
•     Treatment 6       50% Farmer Treatment plus 70kg biochar
•     Treatment 7       50% Farmer Treatment

We aim to keep this trial going for a number of years and will keep you updated on its progress, we will be holding a field walk as part of our obligation to NACC’s program, so watch this space for details.

We are also interested expanding these trials over the wheatbelt. If you or your grower group is interested in working with us to trial biochar in your area, please contact us.

We are very pleased to announce that we have received funding from Innovation Centre WA to conduct biochar emission testing on our pyrolysis process. The biochar emissions testing is very important in the commercialisation of our technology and will provide invaluable feedback going forward.

We are focusing the biochar emission testing on two industries where our technology could be utilised, poultry farms and waste water treatment. This funding will enable us to perform biochar emissions testing on sewage sludge and poultry litter and use this information as a preliminary investigation on the likely pollutants emitted from the plant and as an indication on plant performance.

Poultry Farm Biochar

Poultry farms produce significant amounts of poultry litter (a mixture of manure and bedding material). Currently, birds are grown in sheds on 7 week cycles. At the end of each cycle, the litter is removed and stockpiled until there is sufficient quantity to transport away where it is spread on agricultural land as a fertiliser. This stockpiling attracts flies, emits odors and releases greenhouse gases. There are also increasing food safety and environmental concerns about its application on agricultural land in un-modified forms. There are currently no alternatives to this treatment.

Bio-solids Biochar

The waste water treatment industry produces an enormous quantity of sewerage sludge (bio-solids). Sewerage sludge contains heavy metals, is classified as a hazardous waste and must be disposed of carefully, generally at significant cost. Our technology is ideally suited to process sewerage sludge n site to produce a non-hazardous biochar.

The information gained from the biochar emission testing will enable us to manage further development of the kiln in terms stack emissions before conducting a comprehensive full scope of testing according to the Waste Incineration Directive (WID) under the Environmental Protection Act. Comprehensive testing will be critical when we begin to build our first project.

The biochar emission testing will include:

The preliminary testing (if positive), will enable us to show various stakeholder (such as investors) that our prototype meets Australian Emission Standards. And, if negative, give us the information we will need to make changes to the kiln in order to alleviate the problem.

Energy Farmers Receive Biochar Trials Funding

We are pleased to announce our application to the Northern Agricultural Catchments Council (NACC) to run biochar trials has been successful.

The aim of the biochar trials will be to demonstrate potassium response to the application of wheat straw biochar to soils in a cereal crop.

Many Australian farmers burn crop residue to control chemical resistant weeds. There is however an opportunity to capture this residue to produce bioenergy and biofuels. To achieve this outcome, it is important to understand how the by-products of the bioenergy process, such as biochar will affect our cropping systems.

Farmers on soil types low in Potassium import potassium in the form of Muriate of Potash (MOP) to use in wheat crops. Since wheat straw is quite high in Potassium, we will ask the question, is there is potential to mine Potassium from soil types typically high in Potassium, process the straw through pyrolysis to produce bioenergy and biochar and use the biochar to replace potassium in a cropping regime? This trial will test this hypothesis.

The biochar trials will also include treatments of biochars made from waste resources (such as chicken manure) blended with traditional fertilisers to ascertain yield response. The demonstration site is Northampton shire, Western Australia. The soil is a typically, lower performing loamy sand. It is moderately acidic with low levels of Nitrogen, Phosphate, Potassium and Organic Carbon.

We have engaged Grant Thompson from Crop Circle Consulting to carry out the biochar trials.

The trial will consist of small plots, each of approx. 0.004ha for each treatment. Each plot will be seeded with a small cone seeder. There will be a minimum of 4 reps for each treatment and include:

• Control (No treatment)
• Standard farmer treatment with traditional fertiliser
• Up to 8 biochar or biochar blend treatments – We have not finalised the treatments at this stage. Biochar would applied either under (deep banded) or with the seed.

Biochar will be produced from locally source wheat straw, shredded and pyrolised by Energy Farmers and analyzed for nutrient and carbon content by The University of Western Australia.

Drivers

Firstly, we were engaged by Chandala Poultry to design a system that would recover the energy from chicken litter the farm produces and use it to meet the farms energy requirements. We did look at other bioenergy technologies including anaerobic digestion but decided, after consultation with the owner, on pyrolysis.

Secondly, technologies to produce biochar in Australia are either too big, needing thousands of tonnes of feedstock to be viable and a very high capital expenditure or the smaller, cheaper technologies, a little underdeveloped.

The final and key driver to start building a biochar kiln was that we wanted to demonstrate bioenergy technology to farmers. We believe that bioenergy and the valuable byproducts produced by the process complements agriculture and closes the nutrient loop. Most farmers have not had the opportunity to visit a bioenergy plant so we decided to bring bioenergy to farmers.

Beginning the process

After making the decision to begin building a biochar kiln, we sourced a design that would meet our requirements:

• Simple and user friendly
• Affordable
• Continuous flow
• Able to be made mobile for demonstration purposes.

We then contacted various Geraldton based (trying to keep it local) firms capable of building a biochar kiln and asked them to quote on materials and some construction work. It was our aim to get the components built and do most of the construction of the biochar kiln ourselves, this way we get to know the machine inside and out.

In the beginning of 2013 we started building the biochar kiln and after some testing quickly found a few issues that needed to be addressed. These included:

Maintaining heat

It is critical to be able to maintain heat inside the biochar kiln for the pyrolysis process to take place. In the beginning, we used minimal insulation and because of this we were losing a lot of process heat. After we addressed this problem we were able to get to operating temperature quickly and maintain the temperature where it was needed, inside the pyrolysis chamber.

Gas vs diesel

Initially we were using LPG gas to heat the biochar kiln however, after looking at the issues and regulations associated with using gas, we decided to use a burner fired on diesel to provide the heat needed to get the process going. We find it easier to manage logistically, just as efficient and a lot safer to operate.

Course material

As we are using augers to move the feedstock into and through the biochar kiln, unless it is ground quite fine we can have some issues, the longer pieces wrap around the auger shafts and can block the auger. This necessitated purchasing a tub grinder which we will use to grind organic materials like wheat straw and wood chips.

Moisture content

Feedstock moisture content is also very important. If the moisture is too high then the process does not work and we have to use a lot of energy just to dry the material to a point when it will char. This is inefficient and not what we are trying to achieve. The ideal environment for the biochar kiln is to use an external heat source to heat the chamber then be able to turn it off and rely on the incoming material to provide the energy necessary to maintain the process, this is renewable energy.

This particular problem meant we had to come up with a way to dry the material before we processed it. After long debate we designed and engineered an internal drying system. The dryer is an auger we have installed inside the kiln above the pyrolysis zone. We load the material via a loading auger which feeds into the dryer where it moves along very slowly. The moisture is driven off by the heat produced by the biochar kiln as it moves through the dryer.When it reaches the end of the drying auger the material drops out into the pyrolysis auger.

This auger completes the biochar process, gases bound up n the material are released as the material turns to biochar. These gases are then combusted in the gasification zone to create heat.

Where are we now?

Since the upgrade last month we have run the kiln a few times but like anything new, we have had a few teething problems. Namely, with heat expansion and some manufacturing issues with the drying auger. We believe we have sorted out these issues and are looking forward to testing the process again soon.

Stay tuned for updates or contact us to learn more.

Energy Farmers Australia is pleased to announce the development of our first mobile biochar kiln. The kiln has been in the pipeline for well over a year and we have just finished construction. We are in the process of commissioning the unit and expect to have it operating in the next couple of months.

This unit is mobile and will process approx. 200-300 kg/hour. Initially we will use it to produce biochar for field trials and to demonstrate bioenergy technology to farmers and farmer groups throughout WA.

How the Biochar Kiln Works

The process uses a diesel burner to heat the chamber, we then introduce biomass via a single screw auger. As the biomass moves along the chamber it heats and the gases bound up in the biomass are released. Initially, we will flare the gases however, we plan to utilise the gas to produce electricity during the next phase. We have a number of thermocouples throughout the kiln to monitor the temperature. We also have the ability to introduce water to the kiln which we can use to regulate the operating temperature and to quench the char.

Building the Knowledge of Biochar

We will be testing the process with a range of different feedstocks to determine biochar quality, yield and energy output. We are in the process of identifying markets for the biochar however, in the shorter term we will be offering the char to farmers, farmer groups and other interested parties to conduct trial work. This trial work will be invaluable going forward and important to the uptake of biochar production and the development of the biochar/bioenergy industry. We are also developing a life cycle assessment of the biochar kiln process, investigating the carbon farming opportunities under the Carbon Farming Initiative and seeking environmental approvals.

Energy Farmers intends to keep the agriculture and bioenergy community informed about the development of the kiln through updates on our website, the International Biochar Initiative and Bioenergy Australia. You can also contact us to find out more information.

The emerging bioenergy industry will create opportunities for farmers to control weeds as farmers look at efficient and cost effective ways to capture biomass such as wheat straw to feed bioenergy projects. In the process, machines like the Glenvar Harvest Direct could be the tool that farmers use to not only harvest this resource but remove weeds seeds from paddocks as well.

Current System

Currently most farmers either lay the crop residue in rows and burn it, or use chaff carts to capture the chaff which they later burn. However, considering the problems farmers have with chemical resistant weeds and the efforts and expenses going to controlling the problem, the Glenvar system offers a chemical free opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

Glenvar – How it Works

The system uses a conveyer belt to transfer crop residue from the back of the harvester into a conventional baler towed behind. The machine is costly and needs a skilled operator familiar in both harvesting and bailing, it will also slow down harvest as farmers maximise the amount of biomass they take (while keeping enough straw on the paddock to protect the soil from erosion) but the benefits of using the system far out way the cons.

Energy Farmers – The Opportunity

Energy Farmers believe farmers have an opportunity to get together and offer large amounts of crop residue to feed these bioenergy projects. One or more Glenvar systems could be contracted or owned by a group of farmers to collect the straw from the most weedy paddocks on each farm. This would negate the need to invest in a machine themselves.

The emerging bioenergy industry will offer many opportunities for farmers in the future. Sustainably produced energy and fuels will be in high demand and farmers, who own the resource will be in a good seat to capitalise.

Checkout a video of the system.

West Australian agricultural cropping systems have wheat straw in abundance and at the moment we are not utilising this resource to our and our communities’ advantage. Wheat straw for bioenergy is a feasible option and Energy Farmers is working to develop projects that use wheat straw for bioenergy.

Current situation

Most farmers in Western Australia are cropping year in year out. Wheat, canola and lupins grown in rotation gives farmers the option of using alternative chemicals to take out weeds however, chemical resistance is still an issue. Burning crop residue is one option that farmers have to break that weed seed cycle but this is where we are missing the opportunity, the straw is literally going up in smoke.

When talking about burning we are only speaking about burning the harvest rows, not the whole paddock. During harvest farmers direct the straw coming off the sieves and rotors into a narrow row and then come back in March or April and burn these rows. Harvest trials carried out by Energy Farmers in 2011/12 in Mullewa show that straw yields of 1 tonne of straw for every 1 tonne of grain are achievable by bailing this harvest row with a conventional baler.

Capturing the resource

While conventional bailing is OK, we believe the best option to capture the resource is with the Glenvar Bale Direct. The Glenvar system is a baler connected to the back of the harvester. The system uses a belt to move the material from the harvester to the baler where it is baled normally. We understand the concerns farmers have with this system. Balers are complex, need skilled operators and using the system will probably slow down harvest. However, the advantage of using the system is that residue and weeds are collected in a one pass operation.

Wheat straw is typically around 15-25% moisture and has a net calorific value of around 13-15 MJ/kg.  It contains nutrients such as potash however, has high amounts of silica which gives a relatively high ash content which and can lead to slagging and fouling problems during the combustion process.

Being a low density product, transport is an issue and one of the biggest limitations for any bioenergy project. Bale weights need to be kept to a maximum to alleviate this problem as well as sourcing straw for bioenergy projects close to where the facility is to be built.

Conversion technologies

Some of the emerging technology options to produce bioenergy and biofuels from wheat straw include:

Cellulose to ethanol – which is microbial or enzymatic conversion of biomass materials through fermentation. Fermentation involves microorganisms that use the fermentable sugars in biomass for food and in the process produces ethanol and other byproducts.

Pyrolysis – there are two types of pyrolysis fast and slow. Fast pyrolysis occurs between 300-550C and occurs in less than two seconds. The process produces a vapor which, once condensed turns into a fluid called pyrolysis oil. This oil can be used as a fuel source for boilers but needs to be further refined into transport fuels.

Slow pyrolysis occurs at around 400C and has longer residence times. The process releases the gases bound up in the biomass. These gases can be burnt to create heat or scrubbed (cleaned) to use in a gas fired motor driving a turbine.

Nutrient value

The nutrient value of the straw is also very important. If farmers are going to be removing straw from their paddocks then they will be also removing nutrients and these nutrient will need to be replaced. It does not make sense to us to replace these nutrients through fossil based fertilisers. Instead by-products of these conversion processes such as biochar can be used to replace the nutrients as well as pick up carbon credits through carbon storage or offsetting fossil based fertilisers.

Energy Farmers has been doing a lot of work on the feasibility of using wheat straw and other crop residues for bioenergy production. If you would like more information please contact us.

The Anaerobic digestion process or AD for short uses micro-organisms to break down organic materials in the absence of oxygen to produce biogas and bioenergy.

Stages of anaerobic digestion

• Hydrolysis – where the organic material is mixed with water and broken down into soluble organic molecules
• Fermentation – where acidogenic bacteria, yeasts and mould convert the molecules into volatile fatty acids (VFA’s)
• Acetogenesis – Acetogens then produce acetic acid, carbon dioxide, ammonia and hydrogen from the VFA’s
• Methanogenesis – methanogens produce methane and carbon dioxide

The Anaerobic Digestion Process

What is biogas?

Biogas is a gas comprised mainly of methane. Methane is highly combustible and can be used for heating, cooling and electrical generation. See below for typical composition of biogas.

• Methane – 50-75%
• Carbon Dioxide – 25-50%
• Nitrogen – 0-10%
• Hydrogen – 0-1%
• Hydrogen Sulphide – 0-3%
• Oxygen – 0-2%

Digestate

Digestate is the by-product of the anaerobic digestion process and is rich in nutrients. Digestate is relatively easy to handle and can be used as a soil conditioner and depending on the nutrient value of the feedstock, used to replace mineral fertilisers.

Conditions for Anaerobic Digestion

Micro-organisms and bacteria involved in the anaerobic digestion process can operate over a wide range of temperatures and conditions however there are some important factors that are important for the anaerobic digestion process to take place.

Temperature

Anaerobic digestion bacteria can be broken down into two main types:

• Mesophilic bacteria  – prefer to operate between 20°C and 45°C. Solids content is around 15% and the residence time usually 60-90 days and;
• Thermophilic bacteria – operate at higher temperatures >50°C. Solid content is greater at 20% – 45 % and residence time from 9-45 days

Mesophilic digestion is a more simple method and relies on ambient temperature whereas thermophilic digestion requires the addition of heat. Thermophilic digestion is much more management intensive and the organisms are a lot more sensitive to temperature change. Ideally, micro-organisms prefer to be maintained at an even temperature throughout the year whatever the process.

pH

The ideal PH for anaerobic digestion to take place is 6.8 to 8.5 however as the anaerobic digestion process takes place, the acidity of the substrate (feedstock) increases due to the increase of organic acids, especially in the early stages of the process.

As the process develops more methanogens will be produced and raise the PH however, it needs to be monitored. If the substrate is allowed to become to acid or alkaline the performance of the micro-organisms will decline to a point where methane production stops.

An Oxygen Free Environment

“Anaerobic” is from a Greek word meaning “living without air” and anaerobic organisms will die if oxygen is allowed into the system. Gas tight conditions are essential for anaerobic digestion to take place.

Anaerobic Digestion Reactors

There are three main types of anaerobic digestion reactors.

Complete Mix

Complete mixed digester vessels are insulated and maintained at a constant elevated temperature in the mesophilic or thermophilic range and suitable for wastes with 3-10% solids.

The digester is usually comprised of an insulated tank with mixing and heating ability. A gas tight cover is used to trap the methane or the gas is piped to a storage area. Waste heat can be used to heat water that is circulated throughout the tank in most situations reducing the retention time.

Plug Flow

Plug-flow digesters are a long, rectangular container, often built below-grade, with an airtight, expandable cover. They are suitable for ruminant animal manure with a solids concentration of 10% to 15%.

Plug flow digesters have a waste collection system, an area to mix the manure with water and the digester itself. As material is added to one end of the digester it pushes older manure toward the end of the tank. The gas is captured by the expandable cover. A plug-flow digester requires minimal maintenance.

Covered Lagoons

A covered lagoon anaerobic digester is basically a hole in the ground lined with plastic sheeting that acts as a manure storage area and an airtight cover.  The cover traps methane gas produced during decomposition of the manure and a suction pipe extracts the gas for use.

Covered lagoons are a very simple method for recovering energy from manures; they have a low capital cost however they are not very efficient and not suitable for colder environments

Benefits of anaerobic digestion

• Greenhouse gas emission reduction
• Carbon farming
• Energy production
• Fertiliser value of digestate
• Replaces fossil based energy
• Odour suppression
• Vector control
• Weed and pathogen control

The Grains Research and Development Corporation released a fact sheet in January 2013 titled Understanding Biochar.

The key points outlined that:

• Biochar is a purpose-produced charcoal and its composition varies according to the feedstock used and production conditions such as temperature and time.
• There is no single type of biochar. Biochar is a stable form of carbon that has potential for carbon sequestration.
• Research suggests it may be useful in decreasing soil greenhouse gas emissions. Biochar can alter the physical, chemical and biological properties of a soil and may improve crop productivity.
• Further study is needed on the performance of biochar in a range of soils and environments before it can be accurately predicted where it may have benefits.
• The economic viability of adding biochar is not yet proven and Australian farmers are currently unable to source large quantities cheaply.

Learn more about biochar.

We recently attended a biochar workshop held in Elmore Victoria, Australia. The 2 day event run by the Kyneton Transition Hub and Bendigo Sustainability Group attracted a diverse crowd with a range of experience in the production and use of biochar.

Dr Stephen Joseph and Dr Paul Taylor ran proceedings and shared their knowledge. Attendees were treated to some of the latest findings in biochar research as well as some “hands on” practical experience in the making of biochar mixes, types of kilns and ways to make biochar, end uses and the benefits of biochar as a soil conditioner/fertiliser.

Biochar is an interesting topic in Australia, the benefits have not been proven to mainstream agriculture as yet and until it is, biochar wont be taken seriously. So far, it’s been the increasing number of small producers and groups like Kyneton and Bendigo that have been spreading the word and sharing the knowledge.

I must give my thanks to the organisers of this event. The hospitality shown was awesome, there was great food and plenty of it, good company (and a couple of beers) around the campfire on the Sat night and a warm swag and tent to keep the Elmore chill out during the night. Thanks very much guys!