Effect of Wheat Straw Biochar on Thermophysical Properties of Loessial Soil

Abstract

Soil thermophysical properties are the key factors affecting the internal heat balance of soil. In this paper, biochars (BC300, BC500 and BC700) were produced with wheat straw at the temperatures of 300, 500 and 700°, respectively. The effects of biochar amendment at the rates of 0%, 1%, 3%, and 5% on the thermophysical properties (thermal conductivity, heat capacity, and thermal diffusivity) of a loessial soil were investigated with and without water content respectively. Although the bulk density of soil significantly decreased with biochar amendment, due to enhancing soil porosity and organic matter content, the thermophysical properties of soil did not change largely with biochar amendment rate and pyrolysis temperature. Water content exhibited significant effects on the thermophysical properties of soils added with biochars, where the thermal conductivity and heat capacity of soil were linearly proportional to water content, the thermal diffusivity initially increased and then decreased with the increase of water content. In the meanwhile, there was no significant correlation between the biochar amendment rate or pyrolysis temperature and thermophysical properties. The results show that water content should be mainly concerned as a factor when the internal heat balance of loess soil is evaluated, even though the soil is amended with biochar.

Keywords

• biochar, bulk density, thermophysical properties, loessial soil