Solvent-extractable polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons in biochar: influence of pyrolysis temperature and feedstock.
Abstract
Despite the increasing agricultural use of biochar as a way of combining the utilization of biomass for energy production with the removal of CO(2) from the atmosphere, it is not known how variations in pyrolysis temperature and feedstock type affect concentration and composition of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) that inevitably form and associate with biochar. To close this knowledge gap, we quantified 11 unsubstituted three- to five-ring PAHs as well as alkylated forms of phenanthrene and anthracene in grass and wood chars produced in 100 °C increments across a temperature range (100 to 700 °C). Our results show that solvent-extractable PAH concentrations in biochars produced at heat treatment temperatures (HTTs) of 400 and 500 °C greatly exceed those observed at higher and lower temperature, supporting a low HTT solid-phase formation mechanism operable at temperatures commonly used for industrial biochar production. The maximum extractable yield of 'pyrolytic' unsubstituted PAHs for grass (22 μg g(-1) at HTT = 500 °C) greatly exceeds the value for wood (5.9 μg g(-1)). Moreover, PAH signatures (e.g., total monomethylphenanthrene to phenanthrene ratios, MP/P ~2-3) at intermediate temperatures (400 °C) resemble those of fossil oils rather than that commonly attributed to pyrolytic products. Further research is needed to characterize the PAH evolution in modern pyrolysis reactors and assess the fate of biochar-bound PAHs in soils and sediments. Various commonly applied PAH ratios and indicator compounds show promise as markers for specific feedstock materials and pyrolysis conditions of biochars in environmental systems.
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The proportion of methylated/total PAHs is usually considered an indicator of combustion completeness as during combustion, the methylated component of the compound is lost first.
“The proportion of methylated/total PAHs is usually considered an indicator of combustion completeness as during combustion, the methylated component of the compound is lost first (Keiluweit et al. 2012) (Table 4).”
From Chemical composition of wildfire ash produced in contrasting ecosystems and its toxicity to Daphnia magna (2019) · cites this paper as Keiluweit et al. 2012
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- Authors
- Keiluweit, M., Kleber, M., Sparrow, M. A., Simoneit, B. R. T., & Prahl, F. G.
- Affiliations
- Oregon State University (US)
- Corresponding author
- Keiluweit, Marco
- Venue
- Environmental Science & Technology
- Publisher
- American Chemical Society (ACS)
- Published
- 2012-08-13
- Volume
- 46
- Issue
- 17
- Pages
- 9333-9341
- ISSN
- 0013-936X (ISSN-L)
- 1520-5851
- OpenAlex
- W2150870999
- Cited by
- 296
- References
- 57
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 32 · 2022: 16 · 2021: 27 · 2020: 25 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 22 · 2016: 19 · 2015: 27 · 2014: 19 · 2013: 12 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 13.02
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Environmental Science & Technology (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Health, Toxicology and Mutagenesis › Toxic Organic Pollutants Impact
- Physical Sciences › Engineering › Biomedical Engineering › Thermochemical Biomass Conversion Processes
- Physical Sciences › Environmental Science › Water Science and Technology › Adsorption and biosorption for pollutant removal
- Keywords
- biochar, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, pyrolysis temperature, feedstock type, grass biomass, woody biomass, PAH ratios, carbon sequestration
- MeSH terms
- Anthracenes, Charcoal, Poaceae, Hot Temperature, Models, Molecular, Phenanthrenes, Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbons, Solvents, Wood
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