Production of biochar from food waste (The Netherlands)

Using food waste to generate biochar is an innovative and modern approach that attracts the attention of nations around the globe. Five food samples were collected from the supermarket in Delft city, namely rice, beans, banana, plantain, and cassava and taken to the lab. The samples’ particle size was first reduced to a smaller size of approximately 3-5mm, after which they were homogenised and grained before they were characterised. The samples were dried in an oven at 105⁰C for 24 hours for the purpose of removing the moisture from the samples. After drying, they were incinerated in a muffle furnace at 550⁰C for three hours. The remaining ash residue was then used for characterising the samples. About 5.0 mg of each sample was put into a thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) device for running pyrolysis. During the pyrolysis process, the thermal behaviour of each biomass was observed, considering the time and temperature at which the various compositions present in each sample were degraded, and the mass loss rate was also considered. At the end of the TGA analysis, biochar was formed as solid-rich product.