Biochar and concrete - Singapore research

Scientists develop new construction method to create stronger buildings

Biochar as a Building Material | Mechanical Engineering

Biochar as a Building Material | Mechanical Engineering

Speaker: 

Dr. Kua Harn Wei

Associate Professor and Assistant Dean (Academic)

School of Design and Environment

National University of Singapore

About: 

A by-product of pyrolysis of biomass, biochar has been widely studied as a type of soil enhancement and even a replacement of carbon nanotubes in a wide range of applications, including as capacitors and sensors.

The Smart Materials Laboratory of the Department of Building, National University of Singapore, has been working on producing and studying a wide variety of sustainable building materials that utilize biochar as a key ingredient. For example, increase in strength and decrease in water absorption of mortar and concrete have been achieved by adding up to 2% wt of biochar that is produced from mixed wood wastes. Current efforts include the use of food waste as a viable feedstock for biochar that is used to enhance the performance of mortar, as well as using biochar as a mean of immobilizing special species of microbes that are capable of self-healing of cracks in concrete.

The aim of this seminar is to trigger more conversation and thinking on using biochar in a wider range of building materials and technology, including the use of biochar in additive manufacturing of building components.

Gasifier lab trials at NUS, Singapore

Co-gasification of woody biomass and chicken manure: syngas production, biochar reutilization, and cost-benefit analysis

Abstract

The management and disposal of livestock manure has become one of the top environmental issues at a global scale in line with the tremendous growth of poultry industry over the past decades. In this work, a potential alternative method for the disposal of chicken manure from Singapore local hen layer farms was studied. Gasification was proposed as the green technology to convert chicken manure into clean energy. Through gasification experiments in a 10 kW fixed bed downdraft gasifier, it was found that chicken manure was indeed a compatible feedstock for gasification in the presence of wood waste. The co-gasification of 30 wt% chicken manure and 70 wt% wood waste produced syngas of comparable quality to that of gasification of pure wood waste, with a syngas lower heating value (LHV) of 5.23 MJ/Nm³ and 4.68 MJ/Nm³, respectively. Furthermore, the capability of the gasification derived biochar in the removal of an emerging contaminant (artificial sweetener such as Acesulfame, Saccharin and Cyclamate) via adsorption was also conducted in the second part of this study. The results showed that the biochar was effective in the removal of the contaminant and the mechanism of adsorption of artificial sweetener by biochar was postulated to be likely via electrostatic interaction as well as specific interaction. Finally, we conducted a cost-benefit analysis for the deployment of a gasification system in a hen layer farm using a Monte Carlo simulation model.

IBI Webinar - Biochar building materials & composites

 

International Biochar Initiative - Educational Webinar Series

 Biochar Building Materials & Composites

 May 23, 2017 • 5:00 - 6:30 pm EDT

While the use of biochar as a soil amendment has been researched for more than a decade, the use of carbonized biomass in building materials and other composites is just beginning to flourish.  Not only can carbon be sequestered in building materials, but using biochar can lower the embodied energy of such materials.  Importantly various properties of the building materials and composites can be enhanced when biochar is added to cement and other materials.  This Webinar brings together three of the leaders in the field of biochar use in building materials and composites to provide a glimpse into the latest research on this topic.
Hans-Peter Schmidt, head of the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Strategies, was an early pioneer in using biochar in plasters and concrete.  He applied his biochar enhanced plaster to his wine cellar as well as to the headquarters of the Ithaka Institute and has made a variety of different building materials.  Hans-Peter will provide an update on how his early biochar based materials have fared as well as an update on other more recent research collaborations on the use of biochar based materials in tunnels.
Harn Wei Kua, an Associate Professor at the National University of Singapore, has worked on sustainable building materials and methods for many years.  He has recently published a paper on the benefits of using biochar made from food waste and saw dust in cementitious mortar which will be described in this webinar.  He will also speak about the various concrete properties that biochar can improve.
John McDonald-Wharry is a researcher based in New Zealand that has been studying the use of biochar in various construction and composite materials.  He will provide an overview of how material properties typically change with increasing degree of carbonization (or charring intensity), and discuss different approaches to creating composite materials from chars and carbonized biomass.  John will also address various claimed functionality of char-containing composites and what evidence is currently available as well as some potential issues and challenges with biochar-containing composites and their research, development and implementation.
This webinar will be of interest to architects, urban planners, the construction industry, as well biochar producers, researchers, climate researchers and more.  An interactive Q&A period will follow at the end of the Webinar. 

Cost?

Free to IBI Members or $40 for non-members

To Register

Registration includes access to the slides and a recording of the webinar.
IBI Members register here (go to the upcoming webinars section). Your event link will be emailed to you after successful confirmation about your membership status.
Non-IBI members register here.

Presenters 

Hans-Peter Schmidt
Hans-Peter Schmidt has been a pioneer in the field of biochar since 2008.  He has worked on all aspects of biochar including the creation of a wide variety of biochar production equipment, biochar production in high and low technology scenarios, application techniques, field trial design, biochar characterization, and biochar education (creator of the Ithaka Journal).  In addition, Hans-Peter has designed and used biochar plaster as a building material and is working with researchers on its use in 3D printing. He has extensive experience working across Europe and has worked on developing world projects as well including Nepal, Bangladesh and Ghana.
  Harn Wai Kua
Associate Professor Kua is the current Assistant Dean (Academic) of the School of Design and Environment, and the co-leader of the Smart Materials Laboratory in the Department of Building of the National University of Singapore. He graduated from the Building Technology Program of MIT and his current research interest is in the areas of life cycle sustainability assessment of building materials and bio-based building materials that promote life cycle sustainability.


John McDonald-Wharry
John McDonald-Wharry completed a doctoral research project in chemistry and engineering at the University of Waikato which was started in 2010. This project involved developing structural models for char chemistry, researching techniques for the characterization of biomass chars, and the creation of composite materials from carbonized herbaceous leaf fibers. This research also involved chemical analysis of other carbonaceous materials such as activated carbons, carbon nanotubes, fullerenes, carbon fibers and graphites. In 2014, John was able to apply biochar screening and composite formulation know-how from PhD work to create a range of char-based composites from pine biochars produced by Massey University's New Zealand Biochar Research Centre. John is currently employed on an "Additive manufacturing and 3D and/or 4D printing of bio-composites" project involving composite formulation design and material science research.
Moderator:  Kathleen Draper
Kathleen is a member of the IBI Board and Chair of IBI's Information Hub. She is also the US Director of the Ithaka Institute for Carbon Intelligence. The Institute is an open source net work focusing on beneficial carbon sequestration strategies which simultaneously provide economic development opportunities both in the developed and developing world. She is an editor and writer for The Biochar Journal, sponsored by the Ithaka Institute. Kathleen also works with various different universities and individuals on projects that are investigating the use of biochar in cement and other building and packaging products to develop products with lower embodied carbon which can be made from locally available organic waste. She has written extensively about various topics related to biochar and is a co-author of the book "Terra Preta: How the World's Most Fertile Soil Can Help Reverse Climate Change and Reduce World Hunger".
For more information:
For more information or if you have any questions about registration please email Vera Medici at vmedici@ttcorp.com.  If you have suggestions for future webinars, please send them to: webinars@biochar-international.org.
If you are interested in learning more about the topic of biochar building material, consider attending the upcoming workshop Biochar From the Ground Up, June 12 - 16 in Summertown, Tennessee.
Want to become an IBI member?  Visit our membership page to help support IBI

Singapore Workshop Report

The following report is Co/ Prof. Ng Wei Cheng at NUS...

The 2nd Renewable Energy and Biochar workshop, organized by the CREATE E2S2 program, was successfully held at the CREATE Tower of the National University of Singapore (NUS) on 19 January 2017. The workshop featuring five distinguished academic speakers in the area of renewable energy and biochar (Prof Ruzhu Wang, Prof Yong Sik Ok, Prof Chi-Hwa Wang, Prof Yanjun Dai and Prof Tianshu Ge) attracted about 40 participants with quite a number of biochar industry players. The industry panel discussion session in the workshop has also served as a good platform to promote dialogue between researchers in Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and industry for potential collaborative opportunities.
In the workshop, Prof Ok from the Korea Biochar Research Center (KBRC), Kangwon National University talked about the research trend in biochar in a presentation titled “SMART biochar technology? A shifting paradigm towards advanced materials and energy/environment research”. He shared how the initial research on using biochar for soil improvement and carbon dioxide sequestration, has expanded and found new applications in engineering, health care and life sciences. The increasing number of research publications over the past few years shows that the biochar topic is getting more popular. While biochar in general is accepted as being harmless to the environment, he cautioned that the source of the feedstock for the production of biochar may give rise to PAHs (Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons) and should be tested for toxicity. Last but not least, he also showcased his biochar related research work in a diverse spectrum of applications, as well as his industry collaborative projects with some of the biggest companies in Korea.

Apart from biochar experts in the academia, the workshop has attracted a number of active biochar or charcoal manufacturers in Southeast Asia. For instance, Mr Bryan Lee, a charcoal manufacturer from Sepatang, Malaysia shared a little with us on his charcoal manufacturing facility and the fields in which his charcoal is being utilized in. Mr Balathandautham Tam from Moringa Village also shared his coconut plantation planning in Palembang, Indonesia that involves the setting up of coconut oil production and conversion of coconut shells to charcoal. Besides Indonesia, he also has some plans for plantation in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. 

More interestingly, big multi-national companies such as Sembcorp Industries Ltd, a leading energy, water, marine and urban development group, has also shown deep interest in biochar development in the region. Additionally, the workshop has also drawn the attention of an investment group that is interested in our integrated technology that handles both wet and dry waste, and yet capable of producing biochar. Last but not least, Mr Trevor Richards from the International Biochar Initiative (IBI) also shared a little about IBI and the upcoming plan of a 3-day practical biochar workshop in Thailand toward the end of February 2017, covering both production and applications.

Singapore biochar workshop - 19 January!

I've only just got notice on this workshop today. It came together at NUS around visiting experts to their campus. They have room for more participants so do get in touch with Wei Cheng quickly, if you are interested...

"We cordially invite you to participate in the 2^nd Renewable Energy and Biochar Workshop on 19 Jan 2017.

Date                      : 19 Jan 2017 (Thursday)

Time                      : 9am – 12noon

Venue                  : NUS CREATE Tower lv15 seminar room (Directions)

Agenda                : Please refer to the attached flyer

We are honoured to have a few well-known overseas academic experts from China and Korea (see attached [dropbox link, TR] flyer for speakers’ profile) to share their research work and their views in this field.

Additionally, this workshop also aims to promote collaboration between industry and academia in areas including but not limited to renewable energy and biochar.

All are welcomed. Kindly RSVP by email to Mr. Wei Cheng Ng (erinwc(at)nus.edu.sg) by 16 Jan, 5pm.

Thank you and we look forward to your participation in the workshop.

Best Regards,

Wei Cheng Ng

On behalf of

Professor Chi-Hwa Wang

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

National University of Singapore, 4 Engineering Drive 4, Singapore 117585

Phone: (65) 6516-5079; Fax: (65) 6779-1936; E-mail: chewch(at)nus.edu.sg"

I've asked if sessions can be recorded or broadcast... they are looking into it but no guarantee on this.

 

Biochar and urban trees

The following link leads to my post to ABE website on a new article published by The Biochar Journal. The article is focused on temperate climate urban planting in Sweden but I think it is still highly relevant to urban tree planting in the tropics.

Click above to link: http://soilcarbon.org.nz/biochar-urban-trees/

Malaysia has some experience with urban biochar planting which has been highlighted in the past...
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.my/.../bandar-utama-history...

Singapore also has a strong history in urban tree research...
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.my/2016/01/biochar-gets-mention-in-singapore.html
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.my/2015/02/biochar-compost-and-tree-growth.html
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.my/2012/07/application-of-char-products-improves.html
http://sea-biochar.blogspot.my/2011/08/ibi-august-newletter-draft-big-sea.html

If you have any other stories related to urban biochar applications in the SEA region, then please get in touch. 

Singapore Biochar workshop @ SET2016

The 15th International Conference on Sustainable Energy Technologies (SET 2016) will take place in Singapore from 19th to 22nd July 2016, hosted by the National University of Singapore (NUS). I've been collaborating with NUS on biochar development in Singapore and this has led to the following workshop. Closing date for SET2016 abstracts is 15 March. We are looking for international speakers for the biochar workshop and please spread the word on SET2016. You can see the full workshop program by clicking on the following link... http://set2016.chbe.nus.edu.sg/workshop_on_biochar.pdf

"This workshop plays two important roles. Firstly, it formalizes the development of a Singapore-based biochar interest group and network that involves a wide range of stakeholders; yet, this network has an international relevance and reach, this serves as a connection platform for local stakeholders with regional and international networks, including the International Biochar Initiative. Secondly, it aims to highlight the kind of challenges faced in developing the knowledge base and applying biochar to the various industry contexts in Singapore."