Project Number: 6657-13630-005-01
Project Type: Nonfunded Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Oct 01, 2010
End Date: Sep 30, 2012

Objective:
To characterize animal manure biochars/hydrochars produced from pyrolysis and hydrothermal carbonization under various process conditions using advanced solid-sate 13C NMR spectroscopic techniques.

Approach:
Chemical structures of biochars/hydrochars made from animal manures using pyrolysis or hydrothermal carbonization techniques will be characterized via advanced 13C solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopic techniques. Biochar samples will be produced by pyrolyzing animal manures (swine manure and chicken litter) at 400 to 600°C. Hydrochar samples will be produced by hydrothermally carbonizing animal manures at 250°C for 20 hrs. The NMR techniques include quantitative direct polarization/ magic angle spinning (DP/MAS), cross polarization/ total sideband suppression (CP/TOSS), dipolar dephasing, 13C chemical shift anisotropy (CSA) filtering, two-dimensional (2D) 1H-13C heteronuclear correlation (HETCOR), together with recoupled C-H long-range dipolar dephasing techniques.