High Carbon Wood Ash

Presenter(s)

Brian Coughlan, Wood Ash IndustriesFollow
Andrew Carpenter, Northern TilthFollow
John Miedema, Biological Carbon

Location

CC 162

Start Date

15-10-2013 3:15 PM

End Date

15-10-2013 5:00 PM

Session Description

Ash from biomass boilers that contains high concentrations of carbon has been found to have biochar-like properties. Three experts describe the commercial use of high carbon wood ash as a compost additive, as a soil amendment for fertility and remediation, for stormwater filtration, and for traditional liming.

• High Carbon Wood Ash Applications & Potential Uses - Brian Coughlan, Wood Ash Industries, Ontario, Canada

Public and private research has found that high carbon wood ash is a promising tool for environmental cleanup and in agricultural applications, with some of the same characteristics as biochar.

• High Carbon Wood Fly Ash as a Biochar Soil Amendment-Andrew Carpenter, Northern Tilth, Maine

Northern Tilth studied high carbon fly ash blended with low fertility, slightly acidic top soil, among the results: the pH of the soil changed, but the plant tests suggested that there were no adverse effects.

• Biomass Boiler Biochar in Stormwater Filtration - John Miedema, Biological Carbon, Oregon

Char from biomass boilers has applications in stormwater control, industrial roof drains, green roofs, erosion control, and bioswales.

Bio and Photo

High Carbon Wood Ash Applications & Potential Uses - Brian Coghlin, Wood Ash Industries, Ontario

Wood Ash Industries has conducted many research programs with private sector companies, government, and universities. These joint venture programs have placed it on the leading edge of wood ash research using high carbon wood ash. Potential applications include using high carbon fly-ash in remediation for soil and groundwater, in treating acid mine drainage and absorbing heavy metals, and as a substitute for activated carbon in a gold cyanidation circuit. High carbon wood ash is a promising tool for environmental cleanup and in agricultural applications.

High Carbon Wood Fly Ash as a Biochar Soil Amendment-Andrew Carpenter, Northern Tilth, Maine

Northern Tilth and Resource Management Inc. initiated a soil blending study of high carbon fly ash from a New England wood heated steam plant. The organic matter content, as measured by loss on ignition (LOI) on this fly ash average 60.8% ( higher than the typical > 30% organic matter content found for other biomass power plants in the region). The high carbon fly ash was blended with low fertility slightly acidic top soil at three different application rates and soil fertility, soil carbon content, seed germination and early plant growth were studied. Results of this bench scale trial indicated that this high carbon fly ash provides many of the major benefits that have been attributed to biochar as a soil amendment including: increased CEC, increased soil fertility, increased stable carbon, increased carbon sequestration, and improved soil tilth. As expected, pH increased with increasing application rates, but adverse impacts to soil fertility associated with alkaline soils were not evident in this trial.

Flyash Biochar in Filtration - John Miedema, Biological Carbon, Oregon

Biological Carbon, LLC, has spent several years developing char products from wood and high carbon wood ash. Char from wood boilers can have very high carbon concentrations and a high conductivity and a high cation exchange capacity. High carbon wood ash has been useful for meeting regulated limits for pollutant concentrations in stormwater and for establishing vegetation after construction. John will describe testing biomass chars as soil amendments, in filters for industrial roof drains, for erosion control, and in bioswales.