Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Effect of partial replacement of bentonite with biochar in liner soils

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Biomass Conversion and Biorefinery Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Biochar made from pyrolysis of biomass has wide applications as a soil amendment to reduce emission of greenhouse gases and improve the geotechnical properties of soil. Bentonite enhanced sand mixes are widely used as liner material in construction practice of landfills. Experimental investigation on partial replacement of bentonite with biochar was carried out in compacted M sand bentonite mix (80% M sand and 20% bentonite) which satisfied the requirements of liner soils. Biochar prepared from wood shavings using in-house developed pyrolysis kiln and rice husk biochar prepared using heap method were used in this study. The effect of partial replacement of 10% and 15% bentonite with both wood and rice husk biochar was studied. Examination of the results showed that in both wood and rice husk biochar samples, increase of biochar content decreased the maximum dry unit weight and increased the optimum moisture content. The samples with 10% biochar gave hydraulic conductivity less than 1×10−9 m/sec. In both wood and rice husk biochar samples, free swell, strength, and cracking potential decreased with increase in biochar content. Results indicate that both wood and rice husk biochar up to 10% can effectively replace bentonite in compacted M sand bentonite mixtures.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Ministry of Mines, Government of India (2018) Sand Mining Framework

  2. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (1985) Draft minimum technology guidance on double liner systems for landfills and surface impoundments – design, construction and operation: (EPA/530-SW-014), Office of Solid Waste and Emergency Response, Washington, D.C.

  3. Mc Kissock I, Walker EL, Gilkes RJ, Carter DJ (2000) The influence of clay type on reduction of water repellency by applied clays: a review of some West Australian work. J Hydrol 231-232:323–332. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0022-1694(00)00204-3

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Iravanian A, Bilsel H (2012) Volume change behavior of sand-bentonite liner and the effect of cement enhancement In: Atalar C, Das B M (eds) Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on New Developments in Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering, Near East University, Nicosia, North Cyprus,2012

  5. Vanapalli K, Lu (2012) A state-of-the art review of 1-D heave prediction methods for expansive soils. J Geotech Eng 6(1):15–41. https://doi.org/10.3328/IJGE.2012.06.01.15-41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Ferber V, Auriol JC, Cui YJ, Magnan JP (2009) On the swelling potential of compacted high plasticity clays. Eng Geol 104(3-4):200–210. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2008.10.008

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Kumar H, Cai W, Lai J, Chen P, Ganesan SP, Bordoloi S, Liu X, Wen YP, Garg A, Mei G (2020) Influence of in-house produced biochars on cracks and retained water during drying-wetting cycles: comparison between conventional plant, animal, and nano-biochars. J Soils Sediments 20:1983–1996. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11386-020-02573-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Bordoloi S, Garg A, Sreedeep S, Lin P, Mei G (2018) Investigation of cracking and water availability of soil-biochar composite synthesized from invasive weed water hyacinth. Bioresour Technol 263:665–677. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biortech.2018.05.011

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Srinivasarao, Gopinath KA, Venkatesh G et al (2013) Use of biochar for soil health enhancement and greenhouse gas mitigation in India: NICRA Bulletin 1/2013

  10. Brown R (2012) Biochar production technology. In: Biochar for environmental management. Routledge, pp 159–178

  11. Reddy KR, Yaghoubi P, Yukselen-Aksoy Y (2015) Effects of biochar amendment on geotechnical properties of landfill cover soil. Waste Manag Res 33(6):524–532. https://doi.org/10.1177/0734242X15580192

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Ajayi AE, Horn R (2016) Comparing the potential of clay and biochar in improving water retention and mechanical resilience of sandy soil. Int Agrophys 30:391–399. https://doi.org/10.1515/intag-2016-0009

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Malongweni SO, Kihara Y, Sato K, Tokunari T, Sobuda T, Mrubata K, Masunaga T (2019) Impact of agricultural waste on the shrink–swell behavior and cracking dynamics of expansive soils. Int J Recycl Org Waste Agric 30:391–399. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40093-019-0265-7

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Wong JTF, Chen Z, Chen X, Ng CWW, Wong M (2017) Soil-water retention behavior of compacted biochar-amended clay: a novel landfill final cover material. J Soils Sediments 17:590–598. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11368-016-1401-x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Chang J, Clay DE, Clay SA, Chintala R, Miller JM (2016) Biochar reduced nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide emissions from soil with different water and temperature cycles. Agron J 108(6):2214–2222. https://doi.org/10.2134/agronj2016.03.0100

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Venkatesh G, Gopinath KA, Sammi Reddy K et al (2018) Biochar production and its use in rainfed agriculture: experiences from CRIDA.CRIDA-NICRA Research Bulletin 02/2018

  17. Ahamedna M, Marshall WE, Rao RM (2000) Production of granular activated carbons from selected agricultural by-products and evaluation of their physical, chemical and adsorptive properties. Bioresour Technol 71:113–123. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0960-8524(99)00070-X

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Keiluweit M, Nico PS, Johnson MG, Kleber M (2010) Dynamic molecular structure of plant biomass-derived black carbon (biochar). Environ Sci Technol 44:1247–1253.doi. https://doi.org/10.1021/es9031419

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Booker J, Quigley R, Rowe R (1995) Clayey barrier systems for waste disposal facilities. CRC Press, London. https://doi.org/10.1201/9781482271928

    Book  Google Scholar 

  20. Bordoloi S, Kumar H, Hussain R, Karangat R, Lin P, Sreedeep S, Zhu HH (2020) Assessment of hydro-mechanical properties of biochar-amended soil sourced from two contrasting feedstock. Biomass Conv Bioref. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-020-00946-0

Download references

Acknowledgements

Authors are thankful to DST-SAIF Kochi, Kerala, for extending their instrumental technical support in carrying out XRD studies.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Research Scholar, Division of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Veena V

  2. Division of Civil Engineering, School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Sobha Cyrus

  3. School of Engineering, Cochin University of Science and Technology, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Benny Mathews Abraham & Babu T. Jose

  4. Department of Civil Engineering, AISAT, Kochi, Kerala, India

    Benny Mathews Abraham

Authors
  1. Veena V
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Sobha Cyrus
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Benny Mathews Abraham
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Babu T. Jose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sobha Cyrus.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of interest

The authors declare no competing interests.

Additional information

Publisher’s note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

V, V., Cyrus, S., Abraham, B.M. et al. Effect of partial replacement of bentonite with biochar in liner soils. Biomass Conv. Bioref. 13, 2079–2087 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01319-x

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13399-021-01319-x

Keywords

Search

Navigation