Biochar from orange waste as a filter medium for domestic effluent treatment aimed at agricultural reuse

Abstract

Brazil is the world's leading orange grower, and this agro-industrial sector produces a sizable amount of by-products. Because biochar has the potential to be used as a filtering medium in wastewater treatment systems, it can be advantageous to produce biochar from orange trash as an efficient way to use these resources. The purpose of this study was to assess how temperature affects the synthesis of biochar and to describe the adsorptive qualities of the material for use in filtration systems for agricultural reuse. The produced material was examined for its chemical composition, crystalline structure, morphological changes brought about by the conversion of biomass into biochar, surface area, and average pore size. The pyrolysis temperatures used to produce biochar ranged from 350 to 650°C for 60 minutes. Based on the advantageous physicochemical characteristics for usage as an adsorbent, 550°C was determined to be the ideal temperature. The orange biochar system outperformed the gravel system in terms of macronutrient removal, according to the filtration results using septic tank effluent. The elimination of magnesium (62.09%) and total phosphorus (31.58%) was noteworthy. These findings indicate a promising and long-term wastewater treatment option by indicating that the treated effluent may be suitable for use in some crops.

Keywords: biochar, horizontal flow, sewage treatment, wastewater.