PKS biochar from BEK system in Malaysia

I think I may have missed this Malaysian publication when it was released. You can read more about the BEK in Malaysia from the BEK tag below.
Link to PDF here

http://jopr.mpob.gov.my/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/jopr2018inpress-haryati.pdf

News from UniKL MICET biochar group

The following announcement has been provided by Prof. Robert Bachmann for the November IBI newsletter:

At present two undergraduate students under the supervision of Dr Amelia Md Som (

http://www.micet.unikl.edu.my/environment/index.php/about-us/staff/academician)

investigate the effect of biochar on phytoremediation of soils contaminated with Cu, Ni, Pb  and  Zn by Helianthus annuus L, while another student, Ms Syila investigates the possibility of using the original Belonio rice husk gasifier for empty fruit bunch. This project is under the supervision of Mdm Asimi Ana Ahmad.

MICET also welcomed two visiting students from Wismar University / Germany, Mr Kevin Busack and Lukas Sievert, who are both recipients of the DAAD RISE Worldwide scholarship (https://www.daad.de/rise-weltweit/en/). Kevin has been given the task to develop a standard operating procedure for APL's biochar experimenter kit (BEK), produce and characterise biochar from oil palm biomass under various process conditions and determine the emission factors for various gases. His project is carried out in collaboration with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB). Lukas' challenge is to improve the upscaled Belonio rice husk gasifier developed by Dr Nsamba Hussein Kisiki in terms of ease of use as well as utilisation of the syngas produced.

Publications:

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1364032114005590

Group website:

http://micet.unikl.edu.my/environment/index.php/component/content/article/90-research/118-the-biochar

Program Coordinator (MGEEB)

UniKL MICET

78000 Alor Gajah

Melaka

http://www.micet.unikl.edu.my/environment

http://www.micet.unikl.edu.my/mgeeb

UniKL - MPOB biochar trials update

The following report has been provided by Dr Robert Bachmann from UniKL on their biochar collaboration work with MPOB...

PKS biochar from BEK

"The Biochar Experimenter Kit (BEK) at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) has now received a shelter place with concrete flooring and flue gas extraction system (Figure 1). Mr Kong Sieng-Huat, master student at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), has established that the BEK is able to give 30 % yield of palm kernel shell (PKS) biochar from the current controlled conditions in batch production (retort mode). The biochar is then subjected to a series of physico-chemical characterizations to determine the most suitable biochar to be used in the designed field trial study (see below). A mini workshop was also conducted recently from 17-19 October 2012 to give local participants a better understanding on the operation of the BEK. "

BEK protected from elements in its new shelter

Rainshelter with automatic irrigation system

 with drips for 200 plants

"In March 2012, construction of a plant nursery facility began at Universiti Kuala Lumpur (MICET), Melaka, funded by the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) (Figure 2). The purpose of this facility is to study the effect of biochar produced from oil palm plantation waste such as PKS, oil palm trunk, empty fruit bunch (EFB) and fronds on the growth of oil palm seedlings. Parameters such as cation exchange capacity (CEC), soil pH and water holding capacity, biomass yield, and chlorophyll content of palm oil leafs are investigated. The nursery has a capacity for 200 plants with an automatic irrigation system. The project is conducted by postgraduate (Arasu Uttran) and final year undergraduate students (Farain Zainal and Subki Awang) from the Environmental Engineering Technology Section supervised by Dr Robert Thomas Bachmann (UniKL MICET and Dr Loh Soh Kheang (MPOB). "


Reported by:
Sieng-Huat Kong (free2rhyme0628(at)hotmail.com) &
Arasu Uttran (arasu_biotech(at)yahoo.co.uk)

For further enquiries kindly contact:
Dr Loh Soh Kheang (MPOB): lohsk(at)mpob.gov.my
Dr Robert Thomas Bachmann (UniKL): bachmann(at)micet.unikl.edu.my

More reports on biochar research in SEA from IBI

IBI have profiled on their website, work being led from Norway that includes collaborations with researchers in SEA...

Profile: Biochar Field Trials in Zambia, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal as well as New Biochar Characterization Research from a Team in Norway

"Field trial work in Indonesia began in January 2012 with several sites set up in collaboration with the Indonesian Soil Research Institute and UN Development Program. They are based in Sumatra (acid ultisol; corn, dry and wet rice), Kalimantan (acid sulphate soil; wet rice), West-Timor (alfisol; corn), and Sulawesi (sandy, acid soil; corn and cacao).

In June 2012, the team will establish field trials in Malaysia on degraded sandy soils using biochar produced from rice husk. Rice husk is one of the main waste biomass materials in the area and it will be produced at local rice mills (where the pyrolysis heat is used for drying the raw rice) and then compared to a material produced in a more controlled system based on the Belonio stove (a different stove model). The Malaysian partners include the University of Kuala Lumpur and the Malaysian Agricultural Institute (MARDI). The university of Kuala Lumpur has experience with producing biochar and possesses small scale equipment including a biochar experimental kit (BEK) which can produce a “designer biochar”.

http://www.biochar-international.org/profile/Zambia_field_trials_and_research?goback=.gde_2446475_member_135381937

May 2011 IBI Newsletter - SEA reports

The May IBI newsletter features 3 reports that have been covered by BIG-SEA...

• BIOCHARM Report: Finding from Biochar Research in South and Southeast Asia (http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2011/01/biocharm-project-final-report-now.html)
• Mindinao Terra Preta-Biochar Initiative (http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2011/05/terra-preta-sanitation-biochar-tps-b.html and http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2011/01/terra-preta-sanitation-project-in.html)
• The first BEK Installed in Malaysia (http://sea-biochar.blogspot.com/2011/03/bek-arrives-in-malaysia.html)

Also featured is the setting up of large scale field trials in North Carolina (http://www.biochar-international.org/profiles/northcarolinafarmcenter). It is this scale of research that is badly needed in the tropical plantation setting, to rapidly develop our understanding on the agricultural benefits that are predicted in tropical SEA with the development of a biochar industry.

Large scale field trials are being discussed and planned but are constrained by the availability of suitable biochar.  This supply constraint is one of the issues I am currently focusing on.

BEK arrives in Malaysia

On Friday and Saturday this week, I visited the team at the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB... the research arm of the Malaysian palm oil industry) who were assembling the first BEK in Malaysia.  This may also be the first BEK in SEA but, as previously reported, GEK has arrived already in the Philippines.

This initiative is part of the biochar research collaboration between MPOB and UniKL MICET, as reported previously by Dr Robert Bachmann (BIG-SEA, 18Jan11).

"The BEK (Biochar Experimenter’s Kit) is a reconfiguration of GEK components to create a multi-mode pyrolysis machine for characterized biochar and bio-oil making.  The BEK supports multiple pyrolysis process modes in direct combustion (updraft, TLUD and stratified downdraft), indirect combustion retort, and sweep gas through bed heat transfer." (BEK website)

1st run on palm kernel shell

Jay from  ALL Power Labs in Berkeley, California was on hand to guide the assembly process and provide some initial training. The first solids consumed by the BEK were palm kernel shell, one of the more easily digestible biomass waste feed-stocks from the PO industry. More difficult wastes such as EFB will be targeted for production research and soil trials. More on this in the future, as BEK develops an appetite for a high fibre diet (the baby currently does not have any teeth).

Biochar related activities in Malaysia

Below are 3 more news items for the January edition of the IBI newsletter Co/ Dr Robert Bachmann from UniKL in Malaysia...

UniKL degree students have carried out preliminary studies on heat transfer efficiency, particulate and CO emission as well as biochar production potential of improved (Paul Anderson's TLUD, Crispin Pendecott's VESTO) and traditional Malaysian cooking stoves. Biofuels tested include crushed coconut shells and EFB pellets. Experiments will be repeated this year to verify the findings from 2010. Our improved cooking stove test project is also participating in a cooking stove survey spearheaded by IBI (personal communication with Kelpie Wilson, IBI communications editor) for the 2011 World Bank study advertised last year. Two degreee students from the Royal Agriculture University, Cambodia, have been selected to join our team for a period of 6 months.

UniKL is also collaborating with the Malaysian Palm Oil Board (MPOB) to convert solid palm oil mill waste into syngas, biooil and biochar. Experiments are carried out at lab- and field-scale in terms of biochar production and soil trials. AllPowerLabs' Biochar Experimenter Kit (BEK, http://www.biochar-international.org/AllPowerLabs/BEK) is currently being set-up at MPOB to produce biochar for field trials in the second half of 2011.

Scientists from MARDI (Malaysia), UniKL, Cornell University (USA) and NGI (Norway) have also joined forces to investigate the sequestering of carbon and improve soil quality and crop yield.

GEK Workshop in Philippines

This workshop is more about energy production but there is potential and interest for BEK as a biochar research tool in the region.

Jim's report from Tuwa the Laughing Fish, an ecovillage a bit north of Manila in the Philippines