Biochar as a Medium for Water Treatment

Casey Cook Baysville Sep 21, 2010 19:23 pm

Hello:
I am a recent graduate of the Environmental Technician Program at Sir Sandford Fleming College and a current student of the Ecosystem Management Technology Program.
I am part of a group of four students that have been linked with the Centre For Alternative Wastewater Treament (CAWT), to research biochar as a medium for water treatment. We will be conducting bench scale experiments to determine the effect of metals in an aqueous solution filtered through biochar.
Our preliminary research shows articles primarily geared to agricultural uses for the potential of biochar.
We are looking to purchase 3 or 4 types of biochar and information on any person/group conducting studies in this area that would be willing to contribute to our project.

Thank You
Casey Cook
Environmental Technician
Student-Ecosystem Management Technology

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Aaron Boulton-Chaykowski Calgary Sep 22, 2010 11:26 am

Sounds interesting. Have you contacted a group called SHAC Environmental? I know that they have products they manufacture and use in wastewater treatment that are similar to the biochar you mentioned.

You should be able to find out more by sending an email to [email protected]

Cheers

Aaron

Aaron Boulton-Chaykowski
Water Management Analyst
City of Calgary, Water Resources
Canada

Deb Avalone-King Augusta Sep 22, 2010 12:19 pm

This person contacted me a few years back seeking government funding to continue his char creation/carbon sequestration research. It's possible he may still be working on his project and might potentially be a source for purchasing char you could use for your project??? It might be worth a try at contacting him to find out.

Greg Martin
Chemical Engineer/Master Gardener
227 Peck Rd.
Acton, ME 04001
He's working on designs to generate char from bio-mass while using the waste heat, ideally for cogeneration of electricity and heat, but at least for either. Creating char can sequester half the carbon, while liberating heat from all the hydrogen and the other half of the carbon. The char, when produced properly is an increadibly good soil additive. It preserves the vascular structure of the plant creating a capillary network for holding water with surface chemistry that acts as a cation exchange surface, holding the nutrients that plants require rather than allowing them to leach from the soil and pollute waterways. It also returns the minerals from the biomass to the soil. He was working on perfecting the process for making the char properly and hope to introduce this product soon. Another great thing about this is that the char lasts for thousands of years in the soil. Archeologists take advantage of this to date fires from tens of thousands of years ago.

This is the email address I saved from his 2007 inquiry...GREG MARTIN [[email protected]]

deb Avalone-King
Maine DEP
United States

Greg Martin Acton Mar 15, 2014 8:13 am

Hi Deb,

Thanks, I am still at it and this year I've started a biochar business, Maine Biochar. My e-mail address has since changed. People can reach me at [email protected]

I've been working on proper ways to make high quality biochar for soil applications since 2006 and I've got a good system now. That and CO2 levels hitting 400ppm convinced me to launch the business at the end of last year. If anyone is looking for a local biochar supplier please don't hesitate to contact me.

Regards,
Greg Martin
Maine Biochar

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